California State Assemblyman and San Diego mayoral candidate Nathan Fletcher, seen as one of the California Republican Party’s most promising future possibilities for statewide office, announced today he’s abandoning the GOP and “partisan politics” to become an independent.

The defection of Fletcher, who served in the Marine Corps for more than a decade and is an Iraq war veteran as well as a spouse of a prominent GOP activist — Mindy Tucker Fletcher, the former campaign spokeswoman for George W. Bush — is an ominous sign for the state Republican Party.

First, here’s Fletcher’s own words on the move to become an independent as posted today on his website, nathanfletcher.com:



Fletcher’s move underscores the challenges and internal divisions in a party that now lags 13 points behind Democrats in voter registration in solidly blue California. The San Diego GOP did not endorse Fletcher — seen by many party activists as too moderate — in the San Diego mayoral race, which served as a statewide stepping stone for another moderate Republican, Pete Wilson, who later become U.S. Senator and then governor.

In his message to voters, Fletcher references what he calls the divisive partisan battles he has fought in his own party.

“I don’t believe we have to treat people we disagree with as an enemy,” Fletcher says in his message. “I’ve fought in a war and I’ve seen the enemy. We don’t have enemies in our political environment here…but in today’s political environment, you’re expected to play the game.”

“I’ve been told by people in the Republican Party that I’m not very good at this…I could care less about playing the game.”

“It’s time to have a mayor and a city government that reflects our people,” he says. “I’ll be an independent mayor to get things done, and I hope you’ll join me.”

Fletcher’s dramatic move is bound to focus more attention on the future of the GOP, and we’ll have more on the decision and its ripple effects.

Stay tuned.