Lincoln Club of the South Bay - Gone

Above, Assemblyman Bob Beverly and Armand circa 1976. Photo by Ken Huthmaker.

It has been some 30+ years since I lived in the South Bay of Los Angeles County.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, I was active in Republican and local politics along with working as a field representative for Assemblyman Paul Bannai, chairman of the Young Republicans of El Camino College and area chairman for three Reagan presidential campaigns.

Back in those days, the "Big Kahuna" in Republican Party circles was the Lincoln Club that was based in the then-51st Assembly District. These were the days when Bob Beverly was State Assemblyman (and later Marilyn Ryan) in the 51st.

Each year, in February, the big political social event of the year was the annual Lincoln Day Dinner that the Lincoln Club organized. It was a huge event, often drawing anywhere between 400 to (maybe) even 1,000 attendees.

I had a talk today with a South Bay political activist and asked him if the Lincoln Club still existed. He said he hadn't heard of any Lincoln Club activities (or even the name "Lincoln Club") in years.

We speculated that many of the activists "of the day" probably either died or moved out of state, allowing the Republican Party to wither and die out. I guess there was nobody around to fill the void in leadership positions.

That's too bad. This seems to be one (of many) reasons why California has become a one-party state full of socialists. The GOP ceased being a viable party in California.

Allan Hoffenblum Dies At 75

Above, Allan Hoffenblum.

Allan Hoffenblum, GOP political strategist and publisher of California Target Book, died at 75.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Hoffenblum died at home due to unspecific causes last Friday. It reported that he had been in declining health in recent weeks.

I met Hoffenblum back in 1974 during Assemblyman Paul Bannai's re-election campaign.

Hoffenblum himself ran for the state assembly seat being vacated by Robert G. Beverly in 1976 in a crowded field of GOP candidates during the primary. I backed R. Spencer Douglass during that race which was ultimately won by Marilyn Ryan.

I found Hoffenblum to be affable. He knew his stuff in campaign management, although I did fault him for taking on too many campaigns at once in 1980, which caused the losses of Assemblymen Bannai and Robert Hayes.

To read more, go here.

Remembering Senator Bob Beverly

Above, Assembly Minority Leader Bob Beverly and Armand at a Paul
Bannai fundraising dinner on May 6, 1976. Photo by Kenneth Huthmaker.

The other day, I was thinking about the "old days" in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County when I was chairman of my assembly distict Republican central committee.

Back then, I was an elected member of the 53rd Assembly District Republican Central Committee. The committee chose me to be chairman. The GOP was well-represented in the South Bay with Paul Bannai as State Assemblyman in the 53rd Assembly District and Assemblyman Robert G. Beverly in the neighboring 51st Assembly District. Beverly was elected to the State Senate in 1976.

Since I have not lived in the South Bay since 1986, I hadn't heard much of state politics in the area. I knew State Senator Robert G. Beverly of Manhattan Beach had been in retirement, but haven't heard any news about him for some time. He was known in some GOP circles as "the great white father of the South Bay."

So, this morning, I did a Google search and found that former Senator Beverly passed away at age 84 on October 13, 2009.

The Los Angeles Times wrote:

Robert G. Beverly, a Republican who served in the state Legislature for nearly 30 years and may be best known for consumer-protection legislation that led to California's lemon laws, has died. He was 84. 

Beverly, who also was a lawyer, died Wednesday of complications related to Parkinson's disease at his home in Manhattan Beach, said his son William.

Beginning in 1967, Beverly represented the South Bay in the Assembly. Nine years later, he jumped to the Senate to represent the 27th District, which eventually stretched from Rolling Hills to Downey. Term limits forced him to retire in 1996. 

Former Gov. George Deukmejian, who was a close friend, called the moderate Republican "a very effective legislator."

Although Beverly was a moderate, we got along well and he had a very capable staff that was led by his administrative assistant Tom Martin. Those were the days when California had a viable Republican Party. It has since become a one-party state ruled by lunatic leftists.

I am sorry to learn of Beverly's passing nearly 5 years later.