Michael Smolens: What’s behind Maienschein’s jump from Republican to Democrat

Jan. 24--Democrats last year nearly won the Assembly district that was represented by Republican Brian Maienschein. Now they have. On Thursday, the six-year incumbent and former San Diego City Council member announced he has left the Republican Party and become a Democrat.

In November, Maienschein avoided defeat to a relatively unknown Democrat, Sunday Gover, by all of 607 votes. He likely would have lost that bid for a fourth two-year term had it not been for the unofficial support from much of San Diego's Democratic establishment.

Not only did powerful figures including Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzaez and Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins decline to endorse Gover, they had expressed appreciation for important bipartisan votes by Maienschein.

Maienschein cited President Donald Trump, shifts in the Republican Party and his own evolving views as reasons for his decision.

"Donald Trump has led the Republican Party to the extreme on issues that divide our country, but his leadership is not the lone reason for my change in party affiliation," he said in a statement.

"I too have changed. As the Republican Party has drifted further right, I -- and my votes -- have changed. As a single father to two girls I am guided by my hopes and dreams for their future."

There's another shift that's hard to ignore: His district has gone from solid red to purplish-blue in just six years, reflecting a trend throughout San Diego County.

The 77th District stretches from Kearny Mesa up through Poway and the northern San Diego city suburbs of Rancho Peñasquitos and Rancho Bernardo, and over to Rancho Santa Fe and Carmel Valley. In November 2012, when Maienschein was first elected, Republicans held an eight-point voter registration advantage. That shrunk to less than half a percentage point by the June 2018 primary and come November had flipped to Democrat by nearly a percentage point.

Voters registered with no political preference held a plurality of about one point in the district last fall.

State and local Republican leaders issued blistering condemnations of Maienschein.

"It's unfortunate that Brian's takeaway from his extremely close re-election was that his political future depended on becoming a turncoat," said Assembly Republican leader Marie Waldron of Escondido. "Unfortunately some people run for office simply because they want a job, regardless of political philosophy. It appears that Brian falls into this category."

"Brian Maienschein has shown himself to be the absolute worst kind of politician; someone making decisions based on politics instead of principles," said Tony Krvaric, chairman of the Republican Party of San Diego County.

". . .Blaming President Trump doesn't cut it as we had the same president in 2018 as today. I call on Brian Maienschein to do the honorable thing and resign immediately, allowing voters to elect someone under honest pretenses."

That wasn't the unanimous take from Republicans, however.

"Brian Maienschein is a good man with a principled heart," said Assemblyman Chad Mays of Yucca Valley, a former Assembly Republican leader. "He's a great legislator that represents his (district) well. I'm sure this decision did not come easy for him. He didn't leave the Republican Party, the party left him."

Maienschein told reporters in Sacramento that he had been thinking about changing parties for a while.

His switch grows the Democratic Assembly majority over Republicans to 61-19.

Maienschein's move gave a jolt to the California political world, but in retrospect doesn't seem that surprising. There was the tacit support from big-name Democrats and some labor organizations, the changing district and his reputation for bipartisanship.

Maienschein has sided with Democrats on various issues such as equal pay in the workplace, protecting women's reproductive rights and certain gun control measures. He cast a crucial vote to pass a bill to fund affordable housing that was perhaps Atkins' top legislative priority in 2017.

"Regardless of party affiliation, he has always been someone I could work with and sometimes find common ground," Atkins said in a statement. She said she has known Maienschien since they both first ran for City Council about two decades ago.

But he still voted like a Republican on many bills.The Gun Owners of California last year gave him a 75 percent rating, the same ranking he received from the American Conservative Union in 2017.

Gonzalez, a former San Diego labor leader who chairs the powerful Appropriations Committee, has been good friends with Maienschein for years. Given his views and where the Republican Party is at today, she regularly questioned him about why he still belonged to the GOP. They discussed whether he would change parties.

"To suggest we haven't talked about political ideology would be a joke," she said in an interview. "We discussed it a lot. He is to the left of many Democrats in the Legislature."

"I'm really proud of him," she continued. "This is a hard thing to do."

She should know. Her husband, county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher, left the GOP to become an independent as an Assembly member running for mayor in 2012, and eventually became a Democrat. He has been harshly targeted by San Diego GOP forces ever since.

Gover, who had been considering another run against Maienschien, issued a measured statement.

"Clearly our campaign had a massive impact and it's good news that Mr. Maienschein has finally left the Republican Party, but simply switching parties doesn't address the issues our community needs championed in Sacramento," she said, leaving the door open for a rematch.

In December, Gonzalez explained that her stance in that race stemmed from her friendship with Maienschein, his votes and his views.

Then she added, "The demographics of his district have clearly changed, and I'm certain electing a Democrat there will be a priority in 2020 for all of us," she said.

No doubt.

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