Campbell resigns as Placer GOP chair

ROCKLIN - The architect of an unprecedented surge in Republican growth in Placer County over the past five years, Ken Campbell, has resigned as Placer County Republican Party chairman.Campbell tendered his resignation after failing to sway Central Committee members Wednesday to back off on a motion to support Measure H.Campbell made an emotional plea to the 26 members present to stay neutral for the regional university advisory vote on the special election ballot Nov. 8 but could muster only four supporters.While the vote to support Measure H could be construed as a stinging rebuke, Campbell said Thursday that he had been considering stepping down for several months because of the tug of family and business considerations. He remains on the Central Committee but said he's unsure whether he'll run for a slot on the panel again.Campbell, 48, said he wants to spend more time with his wife and children on their 284-acre horse ranch in Lincoln. A dentist who stopped practicing five years ago as his responsibilities with the local party grew, Campbell said he'll also dedicate more time to an investment portfolio that currently spans 68 counties."I've been on autopilot too long," Campbell said.Campbell's spirited bid to secure Republican neutrality on Measure H was countered by a detailed defense of the measure by Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, president and CEO of Roseville's KT Communities. Tsakopoulos outlined how his father, real estate magnate Angelo Tsakopoulos of Sacramento, had offered the 600-acre regional university site near Roseville with an adjacent 500-acre parcel that would be developed to pay for construction of the school. After the Christian Brothers lay Catholic order backed off, school proponents saw the special election as an opportunity to put an advisory ballot measure to voters that would show universities that Placer County seriously wanted a world-class school, he said.The Board of Supervisors approved the measure appearing on the ballot on a 3-2 vote. Campbell opposed the move at the time, describing it as ballot-box planning and setting a precedent in Placer County for making decisions that ultimately amounted to supervisors abrogating their own powers on planning issues. Supervisors Bruce Kranz and Ted Gaines were at Wednesday's meeting and both said they supported the project and the advisory ballot was not a vote that would sway their opinions. Gaines said he believed the university offer, estimated to be worth half a billion dollars, and was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He later added that his eventual vote is "not predetermined." Kranz said he is "inclined to support" the university plan, "based on what I know now."Campbell said Thursday despite the differences at the meeting there was no effort by Republicans to force him out. He added that reports he was stepping down because he had lost support from the two organized wings of the party - the Republican Congress and the more conservative Republican Assembly - were untrue."That's garbage," Campbell said. "If I wanted to continue on I could. I know I ruffled the feathers of a couple of supervisors but they're not the Republican Party."Following the 23-4 vote, Campbell - who had led the party through five years of unprecedented growth in Placer County - tendered his resignation.Reading from a statement he had prepared before the meeting, Campbell outlined the work he had accomplished with the party over the past five years. Among the highlights were increasing the average Republican vote in elections from 53 percent to 60 percent, creating an endorsement process to back local measures and non-partisan candidates, winning an award in 2002 at the state Republican convention as the best performing county Republican central committee in the state, and garnering more than 24,000 signatures on the Gray Davis gubernatorial recall drive.But the increase in registered Republicans is what Campbell said Thursday he is most proud of. When he was elected chairman in May 2000, Republican registration was at 48.2 percent of registered voter totals."As a result of our registration effort, we took this county from 48.2 percent Republican to a high of 52.55 percent Republican, the highest in the state," Campbell said in his resignation statement. "Currently no other county is over 50 percent Republican."At the same time, Democrat percentages dropped from 34 percent to a low of 28.92 percent, the lowest in the state."No other county is below 30 percent Democrat registration," Campbell said.Campbell was at the forefront of a party with a registration effort organized to draw upon as many as 1,000 volunteers."We were a little county when I first took over and now we are a big player in California," Campbell said.Dean Forman, the Republican treasurer, was elevated to replace Campbell as chairman on a unanimous vote. The Colfax resident is a certified employee benefits specialist and has served on the Roseville Joint Union High School District."I am honored and excited to serve as the chairman of this dynamic board," Forman said. "Ken Campbell served five strong years and left big shoes for me to fill. Ken laid a solid foundation and now it is my job to take us to the next level."Aaron Park, Republican Assembly president, said he wishes Campbell well."It was obvious he was tired and needs to take a step back, recharge and refocus," Park said.The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.