Tom Del Beccaro, the former chairman of the California Republican Party running for an open U.S. Senate seat, says he thinks the drought affecting residents in his state will cause voters to turn to the GOP.
In an Monday interview with The Daily Caller, Del Beccaro cited the drought and blasted the policies of Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown when asked why he thinks a Republican has a shot in the race to succeed outgoing Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.
“The issue cuts across all demographics, all political lines,” Del Beccaro said. “And I mean you literally had Jerry Brown come out and say to people, you have to give up your front lawn. Which is equivalent to giving up the American dream.”
Speaking by phone from the road in San Diego, Del Beccaro said: “The arrogance of, ‘you have to give up your lifestyle’ versus government having a responsible plan presents an opening that probably has never existed in the last 20 years for Republicans.”
The Republican also argued that the “unemployment caused by a lack of water hits the Latino community the hardest.” He also spoke of the impending “collision course between our immigration policies and our water policies.”
“There’s not enough water for the people here,” he said. “Yet they expect over the next 20 years or so another 15 to 17 million people will come…You can’t ration your way to 17 million more people.”
California Attorney General Kamala is the most high-profile Democrat in the race. Another Republican, Rocky Chávez, is also running.
Del Beccaro is painting Chávez, who said he would vote to repeal Obamacare, as not sufficiently conservative.
“So obviously, someone who supports Obamacare isn’t going to do well among Republicans and someone who supports the flat tax and a common sense solution to our water problems will,” Del Beccaro said.