Golden State Today

“She takes zero shit from anyone,” veteran political strategist Chris Faulkner said in support of State Sen. Melissa Melendez’s possible run for Lieutenant Governor of California.

Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore), a 52-year-old mother of five, filed paperwork for her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor back in August but has been quiet about her candidacy. Melendez has been known to rock the boat since she first arrived in Sacramento in 2012 as the 67th District Assemblywoman. 

“Sen. Melendez has, literally, called bull[expletive] on things in Sacramento that are outrageous to normal people,” Faulkner said. 

Real estate mogul Angelo Tsakopoulos (left) with daughter Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (right). | File photo

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was Lieutenant Governor prior to assuming his current position, has been a frequent target of Melendez’s. 

Earlier this year, Melendez was part of a lawsuit against Newsom alleging he has expanded and abused executive powers during the Covid pandemic. Despite losing a bid in court to rein in Newsome, she filed legislation that would do so and then lambasted Democrats when they killed it in a committee vote.    

She has also targeted Newsome's so-called “nanny state” policies she said are damaging the state's economy through unnecessary overregulation. 

Melendez has shaken up the California GOP establishment as well. 

She was an early supporter of Trump's candidacy. In 2016, she attended Trump’s inauguration and in 2018 sat on a roundtable with Trump in which she discussed illegal immigration. Melendez has spoken out against illegal immigration and the economic factors that allow it to flourish in California.  

In 2017, Melendez resigned from GOP leadership in protest after then-Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes brokered a greenhouse gas emissions deal with Democrats. Mayes stepped down from his leadership position not long after before dropping out of the Republican Party altogether and becoming an independent. 

in 2018, Melendez sponsored successful legislation that gave state employees whistle-blower protection after staff reported fear of retaliation surrounding the reporting of sexual harassment and misconduct in the State Capitol. 

In May, Melendez was elected to the state Senate in a special election. 

It did not take long for her to take aim at the next challenge by filing paperwork for her candidacy for Lieutenant Governor. If successful, she would become the first Republican to gain statewide office since Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governorship ended in 2006. 

Faulkner said Melendez already has more of a profile than the incumbent. 

“She is an opinion leader across the state on the ongoing incompetence of the Newsom administration and if you did a poll today, I guarantee more people know who Melissa Melendez is than the current Lieutenant Governor,” Faulkner said. 

Current Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis won office in 2019 after a long history as a political appointee. Prior to being elected, she was an appointee as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary during the Obama administration and also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and the California State Democratic Central Committee. 

Kounalakis may be most well known for her family’s big spending on her campaign. Her father, multimillionaire real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, infamously gave $5 million to a political action committee in support of Kounalakis’ campaign.  

Tsakopoulos has a rumored net worth of around $600 million.  

In contrast, Melendez put herself through college as a member of the U.S. Navy, where she became a Russian translator and served in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations. She started a transcription business after her military career. 

“She is an accomplished veteran, small business owner, mother and [owns] a stellar record as a legislator on important issues like fighting against increases in cost of living and demanding accountability from the shadowy leviathan that is our state bureaucracy,” Faulkner said.  

In her senate campaign, Melendez dominated the field in fundraising. She also garnered 56% of the vote. 

Faulkner said Melendez has the tools, team and ready-made core support to propel her to broader support in a statewide position. 

“Sen. Melendez has a bigger audience on social media than almost any other state legislator,” he said. “That gives her a microphone directly into the hearts of base voters that would not only vote for her but donate to her and support her candidacy. Around the statehouse, her Chief of Staff Jared Yoshiki is known as one of the sharpest policy minds in the Republican caucus.” 

The election will be held on Nov. 8, 2022. 

“By 2022, swing voters outraged at the inability of the state government to provide fundamental services will overcome their preference to vote for a Democrat,” Faulkner said.