Following Mayes' defection from GOP, Republican Andrew Kotyuk to seek Assembly seat

Sam Metz | Palm Springs Desert Sun

After Assemblyman Chad Mayes announced he was leaving the GOP late Thursday, less than a day before the deadline to file to run for state office, Republicans spent Friday scrambling to get a candidate on the ballot to challenge him.

San Jacinto Mayor Andrew Kotyuk pulled papers to run for California’s 42nd Assembly District on Friday morning and submitted them along with filing fees before the county registrar's office closed at 5 p.m.

Kotyuk's supporters rushed throughout the day to gather the necessary signatures to ensure a Republican would be on the ballot.

"Chad Mayes quit the Republican Party, so we don't have a Republican running for office," state party delegate Glenn Stull wrote in an email to local GOP activists, requesting their presence at a realtor's office in Cherry Valley to participate in the signature drive. "This is an urgent request for registered Republicans in the 42nd District to sign his papers."

Barring any challenges to signatures, Kotyuk, Mayes and Democrat DeniAntionette Mazingo will appear on the March 3, 2020, primary ballot.

Kotyuk, 44, said the last-minute entry wasn’t something he had planned, but he felt called to duty after hearing from state party leaders and GOP chapters in Riverside and San Bernardino County. He said he was just starting to think about his campaign, but would focus on quality-of-life issues facing district residents, including education, jobs and transportation.

"I do believe this is a district that'll support a conservative voice," he said. "Local leaders asked me to run and after talking with my wife, I decided we have a real opportunity to help the residents of the Inland Empire."

Mayes 'has let the Republican Party down'

Kotyuk's announcement and support from party leaders came together swiftly after Mayes's decision to run as an independent candidate rather than as a Republican, as he’d done in his first three assembly races.

The California Republican Party, which had endorsed Mayes in October, quickly convened its board of directors to vote unanimously to rescind their support.

"Chad has let the Republican Party down just as he let down the voters of California," the party said in a statement Thursday night. "When he requested our endorsement just six weeks ago, our board was split but did so after a long discussion based on his loyalty to our party. Today’s decision was quick and unanimous."

Mayes said he planned to govern and vote consistent with his record, but didn’t say whether he intends to caucus with Republicans following the change in his registration to "no party preference."

"As an elected official, your job isn't representing parties, it’s representing people," he said.

The 42nd Assembly District, which spans from the San Jacinto and Hemet through the Coachella Valley up to the high desert, has long been a Republican stronghold. In October, Democrats surpassed Republicans in voter registration for the first time. They now outnumber Republicans 88,119 to 87,950. 57,431 voters in the district are registered as "no party preference."

It'll be Mayes and Kotyuk's second time facing off. In June 2018's "top two" primary, Kotyuk finished in fourth place with 12.3% of the vote, behind Mayes (32.8%) and Republican Gary Jeandron (16%) and Mazingo (35.8%).

Mayes has $327,000 in coffers

Independent expenditure committees, which California does not subject to the same campaign contribution limits as candidates, spent more than $620,000 supporting Mayes and opposing his Republican challengers, including $310,00 on advertising and literature against Kotyuk and Jeandron. The committees, which cannot legally coordinate with candidates for office, spent no money supporting or opposing Mazingo, the race's only Democrat and eventual top vote-getter in the primary.

The pro-Mayes independent expenditure committees were funded by groups representing realtors, dentists and insurance and other industries. The Coalition to Restore California's Middle Class was the race's biggest spender, allocating more than $176,000 on pro-Mayes mailers and advertisements and almost $78,000 on materials opposing Kotyuk. The group receives most of its funding from oil and gas companies including Chevron, Phillips 66 and Valero.

Kotyuk received an endorsement from the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers' Association and Atlas PAC, another anti-tax group opposed to California's cap-and-trade program, spent $30,000 of independent expenditure funds on anti-Mayes materials.

In 2018, Kotytuk mainly ran on a small business platform, speaking out against Mayes' vote to extend California's cap-and-trade program, but he also appeared in front of the Palm Desert City Council with the southern California organization No Sanctuary to oppose the state's sanctuary laws limiting the extent local law enforcement can coordinate with federal immigration agents. The group's attempts to lobby the city council to make Palm Desert the first Coachella Valley to publicly oppose California's sanctuary policy were ultimately unsuccessful.

Kotyuk has served on San Jacinto's city council since 2010 and also serves on Riverside County's transportation commission. He has three children and began his career in the U.S. Navy. He now works as a wealth management advisor and also owns a propane business that contracts throughout the Inland Empire.

Mayes begins the 2020 race with more than $327,000 in his campaign coffers and, even after leaving the GOP, will likely continue receiving "third house" support from nonpartisan pro-business groups satisfied with his voting record.

Kotyuk begins the race with $151 in his campaign account and $12,000 in outstanding debts leftover from 2018. That year, his campaign spent $280,000 total. Mayes spent nearly $580,000 on the primary in 2018 — 41% more than he spent in his November runoff against Mazingo.

Mayes ultimately defeated Mazingo by more than 10 percentage points.

Sam Metz covers politics. Reach him at samuel.metz@desertsun.com or on Twitter @metzsam.