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The 2016 election cycle will require the Republican Party to find more attractive candidates in the heavily Democratic state of California, according to Harmeet Dhillon, recently re-elected vice chair of the state GOP. Dhillon who made history in 2013 as the first woman and first Indian-American to be elected vice chairman of the California Republican Party, was re-elected in a unanimous vote on March 1 at the state party convention in Sacramento. Dhillon has been an aggressive party strategist and spokesperson for the GOP in the blue state, using creative tactics to gain traction for Republicans.
An attorney by profession who doubles as legal adviser to the state GOP, Dhillon filed a lawsuit March 6, a week into her re-election, against the Asian American Small Business Political Action Committee, alleging the PAC had misled voters about being bipartisan and had infringed trademark laws by using the iconic Republican elephant image in its mailers going into the March 17 state Senate special election from District 7.
In an interview with News India Times, Dhillon said the 2016 presidential election cycle throws up different challenges than the 2014 off-election year. While a low voter turnout during midterms typically favors the dominant party, in this case the Democratic Party, the Presidential race and the primaries that go with it, presents other opportunities and challenges. “So the challenge is recruiting better candidates who are more attractive to voters, aggressive registration drives etc.”
Plus, there’s another challenge coming around the pike, she said. The U.S. Supreme Court is to rule in early June on the constitutionality of Arizona’s Independent Redistricting Commission’s authority over congressional redistricting in lieu of the state legislature which took the issue to court. According to attorneys fighting that case, if the Arizona legislature prevails in the Supreme Court, only state legislatures would be permitted to draw congressional districts, effectively ending independent congressional redistricting everywhere. California being a blue state this would potentially skew congressional districts to further favor Democratic candidates.
A few years ago Californians voted in a Citizens Redistricting Commission, and Dhillon hopes the Supreme Court does not strike down the similar body in Arizona. “The decision will affect California because we have a Citizens Redistricting Commission and if that gets struck down, then every seat (in California) will be thrown into play.”
As vice chairman, Dhillon stands-in for the chairman, speaks to Republican groups around the state, mediates disputes within the Republican fold, and is the main media spokesperson for the party.
Prior to becoming vice chairman, Dhillon was chair of the San Francisco Republican Party, and a member of the California Republican Party’s Executive Committee, as well as the chair of its Networks Leadership Committee, where she spearheads the CRP’s coalition-building and outreach efforts throughout the state.
As an attorney she has received several awards and recognition including being listed among Northern California Super Lawyer. Dhillon’s early interest in constitutional litigation led to a stint at the Department of Justice, to a decade of practice at prestigious international law firms, to founding the San Francisco-based law firm Dhillon & Smith in 2006.
