Former SoS and Legislator Bruce McPherson Ditches GOP

Joins Asm. Nathan Fletcher as GOP exiles

by Brian Leubitz

Bruce McPherson was never really the vote that Republicans wanted to have to count on, but, he was a fairly reliable Republican. Well, a moderate Republican, of the sort that is currently getting pushed out of the GOP across the nation.  Well, count McPherson as one of the exiles.

The man long known as the only Republican who could get elected in Santa Cruz is no longer a Republican. Bruce McPherson said Tuesday he is dropping his GOP party affiliation and listing no preference, joining a growing bloc of California voters who've renounced party identification.

"That's who I am," McPherson said. "During my years in the California Legislature, I was widely recognized as the most independent voice in either the Assembly or the Senate. Now more than ever I think we need leaders who make decisions for the community and the people, not what's best for the party." (Merc News)

McPherson is currently running for a Santa Cruz county Supervisor seat, and will likely be elected in the run-off in November if he hasn't already. (The votes are still being counted.) And in Santa Cruz, he'll still be pretty conservative for the County. But in the end, he's what he always was, a California Forward kind of guy.

As for the CA GOP...well, follow the registration numbers.