Ken Mettler eyeing Assembly run
| Monday, Aug 03 2009 04:33 PM
Last Updated Monday, Aug 03 2009 05:16 PM
Kern High School District Trustee Ken Mettler may run for the 32nd Assembly District in 2010.
Or he might run in 2012.
His decision depends on what incumbent Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, does.
Fuller, who would be termed-out of the Assembly in 2012, may run next year for the 18th District State Senate seat held by Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield.
Or she could run for her final term in the lower house.
She's not saying which.
"I feel like I've been really busy with the budget," Fuller said Monday.
She said she needs to continue focusing on that priority, over deciding her next political move.
Mettler said if Fuller runs for Senate, he'll run for Assembly.
"I feel like it's an opportunity for a fiscal and social conservative ascend to higher office," he said.
Bakersfield City Councilman Zack Scrivner, Fuller's local district director, has been rumored to be a possible contender for his boss' seat if she runs for Senate.
Scrivner said he won't consider his options until Fuller makes her decision.
"If Jean decides to run for higher office I'll have several options open to me," he said. "Until she decides, that's not the case."
Republican political consultant Stan Harper said Scrivner and Mettler have been "eyeing" the 32nd Assembly seat for some time.
"Zack is going to have the establishment backing," said Harper, who does not represent either man.
But Mettler, Harper said, has cultivated his conservative credentials and can play the "outsider" card.
It would be an interesting match-up, Harper said.
"I think Mettler is more articulate than Scrivner, but Scrivner is going to be able to raise more money," he said.
Mettler has worked hard to polish his conservative credentials.
He is state president of the California Republican Assembly and was Kern County chairman of the "Yes on 8" campaign against same-sex marriage -- which landed him in the spotlight when he was caught on video punching and kicking an opposing picketer during a confrontation over campaign signs.
More recently he angered educators by suggesting KHSD preserve JV sports through "top-to-bottom" pay cuts. And he opposed the transfer of a portion of Bakersfield's Central Park to the federal government for a courthouse, calling it a subsidy from local taxpayers.
Fuller would not speak specifically about the potential of Mettler running for her post. She said she was happy to see many people showing interest in the seat.
