Kirk loses Hesperia race in spite of war chest
How much money does it take to win a City Council race?
Not as much as some might think.
Mark Kirk - a Republican political operative in San Bernardino County and Supervisor Gary Ovitt's chief of staff - lost the Hesperia council race Tuesday by nearly 2,000 votes, despite a huge infusion of cash.
"Anytime you have a campaign, no matter how much money you spend, no matter how much work you do, at the end of the day, it's the voters' decision," Kirk said.
Not as much as some might think.
Mark Kirk - a Republican political operative in San Bernardino County and Supervisor Gary Ovitt's chief of staff - lost the Hesperia council race Tuesday by nearly 2,000 votes, despite a huge infusion of cash.
"Anytime you have a campaign, no matter how much money you spend, no matter how much work you do, at the end of the day, it's the voters' decision," Kirk said.
Hesperia, population 85,500, is one of the smaller cities in the county, which has a population of more than 2 million.
Kirk's challengers, incumbent Mike Leonard and Planning Commissioner Paul Bosacki, raised far less money than Kirk, who amassed at least $162,242 for his campaign, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the city clerk.
By contrast, Bosacki raised $6,568, and Leonard raised $11,188.
In the end, all that fundraising failed to pay off for Kirk.
"Money isn't necessarily the answer in Hesperia," Leonard said. "This is the second time I've run, and both times I ran, there was a lot of money spent against me, and it didn't do any good."
Kirk has two existing political action committees for fundraising, according to the Registrar of Voters office.
And he ranks high in Republican circles. Ovitt, his boss, is chairman of the county Republican Central Committee, of which Kirk is an elected member.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane gave him $5,000, as did Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents the High Desert region.
Leonard speculated that two failed attempts to recall Kirk's father, school board member Robert Kirk, could have hurt the younger Kirk's chances of winning.
Leonard also said he and Bosacki won their seats despite a smear campaign and negative comments in a radio ad by Mitzelfelt.
Bosacki has earned a reputation as a government watchdog through his blog, paveroadsfirst.com.
Kirk said he isn't heartbroken over the loss and is looking forward to relaxing with his family.
"I'm okay with it," he said. "I will be available to help my community out in any way it needs."
lauren.mcsherry@inlandnewspapers.com
Kirk's challengers, incumbent Mike Leonard and Planning Commissioner Paul Bosacki, raised far less money than Kirk, who amassed at least $162,242 for his campaign, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the city clerk.
By contrast, Bosacki raised $6,568, and Leonard raised $11,188.
In the end, all that fundraising failed to pay off for Kirk.
"Money isn't necessarily the answer in Hesperia," Leonard said. "This is the second time I've run, and both times I ran, there was a lot of money spent against me, and it didn't do any good."
Kirk has two existing political action committees for fundraising, according to the Registrar of Voters office.
And he ranks high in Republican circles. Ovitt, his boss, is chairman of the county Republican Central Committee, of which Kirk is an elected member.
Board of Supervisors Chairman Paul Biane gave him $5,000, as did Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who represents the High Desert region.
Leonard speculated that two failed attempts to recall Kirk's father, school board member Robert Kirk, could have hurt the younger Kirk's chances of winning.
Leonard also said he and Bosacki won their seats despite a smear campaign and negative comments in a radio ad by Mitzelfelt.
Bosacki has earned a reputation as a government watchdog through his blog, paveroadsfirst.com.
Kirk said he isn't heartbroken over the loss and is looking forward to relaxing with his family.
"I'm okay with it," he said. "I will be available to help my community out in any way it needs."
lauren.mcsherry@inlandnewspapers.com
Well, just great, . . . another example of the Post-Postmus-Partisan-Political-Machine leveraging its wealth of political influence and cronyism in order to buy another elections. There is a good reason Californians have long decided to keep the ugliness of partisan politics out of local government. Mitzelfelt, Biane, Ovitt, and now Derry, are all (or were) part of the old Postmus cabal. Because they can, they do: hiring more staff than warranted and paying these people with taxpayer's money to carry-out their partisan political agendas. These folks are masters of doling-out political patronage and favors in order to sustain their power base. Even though the the County's unincorporated area has significantly shrunk over the past decade or so, the Board of Supervisors have bloated their staffs way beyond reason or necessity. The fine citizens of Hesperia are to be commended for rejecting Kirk at the polls. It is always good to see ideologues like Kirk get an old fashion political butt-whipping.