I've just learned from sources in the Lincoln Club that Carol Rudat has made a strong - successful so far, though incomplete - attempt to seize control of the Lincoln Club's endorsements process for races involving the Orange City Council and the Orange County Water District Board.

People who followed the 2006 elections will recall that Rudat was the Newport Beach resident who ran for Orange City Council in an attempt to achieve some sort of vengeance for the wrongs she perceived were committed against her husband who was formerly the Orange City Manager.  The candidate she tangled with most was now-Councilman Denis Bilodeau.  She ran nasty hit pieces against him; he hit back with the fact that she was carpetbagging for city council.  She posted signs promoting her anti-Bilodeau web site; he attempted to prevent these signs from sticking around.  There were two council seats available.  The first-place candidate was Mayor Mark Murphy, as expected.  Bilodeau grabbed second place and the second seat while Rudat won third place and the title of first loser.

Lo and behold, in 2008, Bilodeau is running for reelection for Orange County Water District, Division 2.  Bilodeau's only opponent is Bill Nelson.  Guess what?  Rudat, who recruited Nelson for the race, has been seen promoting him to potential endorsers and donors.  Just this past June, Nelson ran for Serrano Water District, Division 1 and came in last, with 133 votes.  His run against Bilodeau seems quixotic considering that he has no candidate statement while Bilodeau is an incumbent and does have a candidate statement.

As Nelson's patron, Rudat is presumably going to dump a boatload of money into defeating Bilodeau...um, electing Nelson.  She jumped up immediately to volunteer to effectively be the Lincoln Club's endorsement committee for OCWD, Division 2 and for Orange City Council.

The Lincoln Club rules explicitly state that they can only endorse Republicans.  In the OCWD race, Bilodeau is a Republican, and well, Nelson qualifies - he's been a Republican for a whole three months.  She clearly jumped the gun on the Orange City Council race because she doesn't have anyone to turn to in this race.  The only Republicans in this race for two council seats are incumbent Jon Dumitru (who would back Bilodeau over Rudat in a heartbeat - and rightly so) and businessman Stuart Campbell.  Rudat's only hope is Campbell, but my sources state that while Rudat has actively sought after Campbell as an ally, he has (so far) not agreed to side with Rudat.

Campbell, like Nelson, is attempting to take out an incumbent (the incumbents for the two seats, Dumitru and Democrat Tita Smith, are both running for reelection), yet does not have a candidate statement himself.  If you can't even get a candidate statement, there's little chance you'll knock off an incumbent.

I'm told that Rudat has delivered an endorsements committee recommendation for Nelson and may do the same as Campbell (in an apparent attempt to secure his alliance), but these are subject to confirmation by the Lincoln Club.

Rudat is clearly attempting to build a political structure to support her own 2010 campaign for a seat on the Orange City Council.  Her efforts to avenge her husband's professional conflict and her political conflict have gotten even more ridiculous than they were before.

I urge the Lincoln Club to protect its integrity and stop Rudat:  Do not accept Rudat's endorsements committee's recommendations!

If these candidates want these endorsements, they should be evaluated legitimately by the Lincoln Club not through Rudat's evaluations.