Out with the old, in with the new—so the adage goes. At its monthly luncheon meeting on Feb. 5, the Santa Maria Chapter of California Congress of Republicans will present its new officers, including Loretta Thomas, president; Dr. Michael Moats, vice president; Audrey Mussell, recording secretary; Jim Neuschwander, treasurer; Barbara Ubben, corresponding secretary; and Mary LaFaille, membership chair. The buffet-style lunch will be held at the Santa Maria Terrace. Cost is $15, and reservations are required. To RSVP, contact President Thomas at 922-2893 or Membership Chair LaFaille at 937-2381 before Feb. 1 at noon. CCR was founded in 1989 as a mainstream conservative grassroots organization and is officially chartered as part of the California Republican Party. For more information about the California Congress of Republicans, visit ccrgop.org.
Matt Kokkonen, 33rd Assembly District seat candidate, has added a former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion to his list of endorsements. According to a press release from the Republican’s camp, Chuck “The Iceman” Lidell started training professionally in Santa Barbara at the age of 12. He made his UFC debut in 1998 with a decisive victory over Noe Hernandez and went on to develop a reputation as a devastating striker with victories over Tito Ortiz, Renato Sobral, and Wanderlei Silva. On May 26, 2004, Lidell knocked out Randy Couture in two minutes, winning the light heavyweight title. He defended the title successfully five times until finally surrendering his belt after losing a match-up with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. However, the press release said, he plans to fight again in an attempt to regain his title possibly in June or July of this year. “I’m proud to have ‘The Iceman’s’ endorsement,” Kokkonen said in the release. “Endorsements by real local heroes like Chuck Liddell mean a great deal more than endorsements from politicians who got California, the cities, and the counties into our current financial morass.”
This article appears in Jan 28 – Feb 4, 2010.