Dana Rohrabacher

COSTA MESA — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) will run for re-election in 2012, members of his staff said Wednesday, dispelling rumors that he might retire at the end of his current term. The congressman, who last year moved from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa, could face off in a territory reshaped by redistricting. The fiery 12-term Republican is out of the country while a citizens group looks to change his and other representatives' constituencies. Created by state voters in 2008, the 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission is tasked with revamping California's state and national districts with the latest census results instead of leaving the revamping up to lawmakers.

I certainly would much prefer to have Dana Rohrabacher over B-1 Bob that's for sure -- as our representative. GERRY MACKEY Newport Beach Someone with a superior intellect does not make a statement like, "they all know I've got 30 IQ points on Dana Rohrabacher." Bob Dornan talks nonstop as if he is bestowing great wisdom on the rest of us. But listen carefully if you can force yourself to do so, and you'll learn that his thoughts are disconnected by his constant need to boast and threaten.

S.J. Cahn Former Rep. Bob Dornan "is inching closer to" a run against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, and will make a final decision by the first week in October, Dornan said Tuesday. "Why should I not think about getting rid of (him)?" Dornan said, stressing that he feels Rohrabacher did not tell him the truth about his past drug use. Rohrabacher has admitted to using marijuana and LSD in the '60s. The only thing likely to keep him out of the race would be a new radio talk show contract.

Alex Coolman Democrats can talk all they want about the appeal of their positions to Orange County voters, but Dana Rohrabacher thinks election results pretty much speak for themselves. The Republican incumbent in the 45th Congressional District says he has kept his political formula fairly simple because it's one that people like and one that has kept him in office for six terms. "The most important thing is that I've remained true to my fundamental goals, which I believe are consistent with the goals of the people who live in our congressional district," Rohrabacher said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. What goals are those?

AUGUST 11: Newport Bay Area Democratic Club picnic. Details to be announced. (949) 733-3439 or CarlMariz@aol.com. 14: Orange County Young Republicans general meeting, 7 p.m. at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel. (949) 475-5559. 15: Rep. Chris Cox is scheduled to speak at a luncheon of the Newport Harbor Exchange Club at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum at noon. The museum is at 151 E. Coast Highway. 19: Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee general meeting, 7 p.m. at the South Coast Plaza Westin Hotel, 686 Anton Blvd.

COSTA MESA — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) on Friday responded to a published report showing that more than half of his campaign donations for a three-month period went to his wife, who works as his campaign manager. "The only people who've paid attention to this are the people scouring all the details that are looking into something that they can try and make look like it's some kind of violation or ethically wrong," Rohrabacher said. "Obviously, this is the only thing they can find.

After 22 years at the helm of the GOP club he founded, former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson will finally be able to retire. The Newport Beach politico and members of the club, called Principles Over Politics, recently decided they'll form committees to take over Ferguson's duties so he can relax a little. He tried to shut down the club two years ago, in part because of his and his wife's health concerns. But people who come to the group's monthly breakfasts were so insistent that Ferguson, now 83, agreed to keep the club going with the caveat that someone else would take over.

"She can't just get by on her looks anymore." -- John Matthews, a lifelong Newport Beach resident, on a 1941 Newport Beach fire boat he's restoring "We need to set a community standard that discourages hate crimes from happening. They could be triggered off by incidents such as 9/11 or be caused by a change in demographics. But hate crimes largely happen because of ignorance, and that's why we need to help build relationships between diverse young people at an early age."

President Bush and congressional Democrats appear to be crafting dueling measures to stimulate a weakening economy. Both sides favor some sort of tax cuts, but they differ on who should get them. What do you think Congress and the president should do to help the sluggish economy recover?   In my opinion, we should avoid having government “do something” just to show we are “doing something” if that “something” does not help.

Where was Cox when Newport needed him? While I enjoyed reading the article outlining Rep. Chris Cox's efforts to help the Islamic Institute of Orange County in its time of need, I must admit I couldn't help but feel like a witness to the theater of the absurd ("Muslims call on Cox for detention aid," Dec. 28). The institute is in Anaheim, and while I can acknowledge that the congressman's offer of help is an offshoot of his status as chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I couldn't help but wonder what Cox might have accomplished had he worked in the best interests of his constituents in Newport Beach (remember us?

Your April 6 story, "Owners speak out against harbor rent increase," did not really reflect the seething anger in the Newport Beach City Council Chambers over an unbridled attempt to increase the city's revenue. The reason: The attendees were too gentlemanly and ladylike to express their true views about the mayor, two councilmen and the city manager who lectured the citizens as if they were schoolchildren. The foursome tried to appear to listen while their minds were made up and closed.

COSTA MESA — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) on Friday responded to a published report showing that more than half of his campaign donations for a three-month period went to his wife, who works as his campaign manager. "The only people who've paid attention to this are the people scouring all the details that are looking into something that they can try and make look like it's some kind of violation or ethically wrong," Rohrabacher said. "Obviously, this is the only thing they can find.

Whether they're just saying it for political gain or from bad advice, the current crop of GOP presidential candidates are wrong to criticize plans to pull out of Iraq by the end of the year, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) said this week. First on Twitter on Sunday, then in an interview with the Daily Pilot on Wednesday, Rohrabacher said the military should get out as fast as possible. "If we're going to get out of Iraq, the sooner the better. I don't understand some of my GOP colleagues & Presidential candidates," Rohrabacher posted on his Twitter account.

COSTA MESA — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) will run for re-election in 2012, members of his staff said Wednesday, dispelling rumors that he might retire at the end of his current term. The congressman, who last year moved from Huntington Beach to Costa Mesa, could face off in a territory reshaped by redistricting. The fiery 12-term Republican is out of the country while a citizens group looks to change his and other representatives' constituencies. Created by state voters in 2008, the 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission is tasked with revamping California's state and national districts with the latest census results instead of leaving the revamping up to lawmakers.

COSTA MESA — U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) on Tuesday defended an unusual trip he made to Honduras with now-Costa Mesa Councilman Jim Righeimer. The trip was discussed in U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks and published in The New York Times . "I'm a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I was there to make sure that I fully understood all the forces that were in place in Honduras, and also to give legitimacy to the government that had been elected there," Rohrabacher told the Daily Pilot.

He likes to surf. In fact, he’s slightly hard of hearing because he spends too much time in the ocean. And he thinks marijuana should be legalized among adults in California. It’s a waste of resources, he says, for police to try and catch dope smokers who grow the stuff in their own backyards. He thinks global warming is a complete and utter lie, that illegal immigration must be stopped, and that there’s no such thing as dirty air any more. You should have seen Southern California when he was growing up, he said.

I was shocked the Daily Pilot did not endorse Keith Curry. The city hall issue you mentioned was strongly debated at the council level, appropriable so since it involved campaign promises and the adopt- ed general plan update voter approval changes. Also, his lively discussions with then-Mayor Steve Rosansky had more to do with Rosansky’s inappropriately not supporting the council majority that appointed him. Councilman Curry has done more for Newport Beach in the short time he has been on the council than anyone else, and he deserves our vote.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher should do less apologizing for Jack Abramoff and offer more criticism of his friend, the disgraced Washington lobbyist who was sentenced to four more years in prison Thursday, according to Rohrabacher’s Democratic rival for Congress, Debbie Cook. “You would hope your friends would help keep you out of trouble and keep you from avoiding the errors of judgment Abramoff made, and I don’t know that Dana has ever done that. He has just defended him,” Cook said.