CAGOP Update: Melendez Vs Obernolte By The Numbers

There has been a lot of talk about who is the more conservative. Is Jay Obernolte a moderate? Is Melissa Melendez the Conservative?

There is no doubt that Melissa Melendez is a rockstar. There is also no doubt that Jay Obernolte seems to be the candidate of the establishment.

It also bears repeating that Melissa Melendez has been retaliated against in a very public way by Chad Mayes, and Jay Obernolte has not been.

Let’s look at the numbers – which are easy to find on each group’s website under State Legislative Scores. I’ve only posted 2015 and 2016 because those are the two years both have been in the legislature at the same time, meaning they are being judged on the same issues.

Melendez

Group                                              2015                       2016

Howard Jarvis                                 92.80%                   96.50%

Cal Tax                                             100%                      100%

American Conservative Union         100%                       84%

CRA                                                   93%                        87%

NFIB                                                  92%                        83%

NRA – A Rated

Firearms Policy Coalition – A+ Rated

 

Obernolte

Group                                             2015                       2016

Howard Jarvis                                 100%                      100%

Cal Tax                                            100%                      100%

American Conservative Union        100%                       89%

CRA                                                  94%                        94%

NFIB                                                100%                      100%

NRA – A Rated

Firearms Policy Coalition – A+ Rated

Bottom Line – if your primary consideration is how the candidates act on issues, then you can see that Jay Obernolte may actually be more conservative than Melissa Melendez. However, any score above 80% from any of these groups indicates that you are dealing with a Conservative Republican Candidate.

I think then that the primary considerations for the next Assembly Leader are ones of leadership, effectiveness, fundraising, unifying, messaging and the like – not about who is not ideologically pure.