Anderson has said little, but maneuvering by county GOP chairman Tony Krvaric and former state GOP chief Ron Nehring has made clear much is being done of his behalf. San Diego County Republicans took the unusual step of endorsing Anderson’s undeclared candidacy on Monday. This came after county supervisors voted to limit how much political parties could give in local campaigns, the plainest sign imaginable that the majority Republican board is at odds with Krvaric and Nehring and know what they are up to.

The Filner-DeMaio hangover

In conventional political circumstances, the San Diego GOP establishment’s attempt to oust a well-liked, generally conservative six-term incumbent would seem bizarre. Jacob has been a steady advocate of smart, restrained government and has been part of a long-standing GOP majority on the county board that has steered it to great credit ratings and to a better reputation for delivering services than is enjoyed by most of America’s other most populous counties.

But San Diego’s dynamics are not conventional. Krvaric and Nehring are not reticent at trying to throw their weight around, and they despise Jacob’s campaign manager for helping later-disgraced Democratic Congressman Bob Filner get elected mayor of San Diego in 2012. U-T San Diego politics editor Michael Smolens details this story behind the story:

The firm Revolvis has been the preferred agency by GOP leaders and that’s who many of their candidates hire.

The company certainly has been the choice of Republicans at City Hall, working for Mayor Kevin Faulconer and council members Chris Cate, Mark Kersey and Scott Sherman. Revolvis also consulted for an independent committee that supported Councilwoman Lorie Zapf. (Jason Cabel Roe at Revolvis said the company “won’t be involved in Joel’s race.”)

It’s a different story at the county. Supervisors Greg Cox, Bill Horn, Ron Roberts and Jacob — all Republicans — have relied on longtime San Diego consultant Tom Shepard, despite pressure from some party leaders to drop him.

Shepard was a political adviser to Republican Mayor Jerry Sanders, who clashed mightily with Councilman DeMaio. Shepard had worked to elect Fletcher mayor in 2012 and then shifted to Democrat Filner, further earning him the enmity of Krvaric and others GOP officials.

GOP maneuvering’s checkered record

But as Smolens points out, maneuvering by the county Republican establishment …

… hasn’t always worked out.

During the 2012 San Diego mayoral campaign, the party endorsed Councilman Carl DeMaio over Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, who also sought the endorsement and then later left the party to become an independent (and eventually a Democrat). DeMaio and Democrat Bob Filner knocked Fletcher out in the primary, but the Democrat went on to win in November.

Polls showed that Fletcher likely would have defeated either man in a runoff, possibly becoming mayor as a Republican had the party not endorsed DeMaio.

Also in the 2012 election, many GOP leaders lined up behind Steve Danon, a congressional aide who entered the race against longtime Republican Supervisor Pam Slater-Price in a North County district. Slater-Price decided against running for re-election, but Danon lost to Solana Beach Councilman Dave Roberts, who became the first Democrat on the Board of Supervisors in nearly a generation.

Given Jacob’s popularity and the impression that San Diego County conveys of being well-run — even though it is an impression that arguably isn’t merited — it is difficult to imagine her losing to Anderson. But that result wouldn’t be all bad for Anderson, who would still have two years left as a state senator.

“In October 2003, the Cedar Fire … broke out in the Cleveland National Forest, started accidentally by a lost hunter trying to signal rescuers. It burned more than 2,800 structures and caused 15 deaths, almost entirely in East County. …

“In October 2007, the Witch-Creek fire broke out east of Ramona, triggered by a power line buffeted by Santa Anas. Before it was contained, the blaze destroyed more than 1,650 structures — with more than 300 in Rancho Bernardo, within San Diego city limits. Ten people were killed in the Witch-Creek blaze and other county wildfires that fall.”

Local, state, military and federal officials have been preparing for the next California fire apocalypse ever since. U.S Interior Secretary Sally Jewell even came to San Diego County last week to talk about wildfire preparedness and tout what the feds have done to help out, prompted by the state’s extreme drought.

Confidence in the face of chaos

What are these officials saying? There’s lots of grousing about homeowners who haven’t done enough to reduce fire risk by clearing their property of flammables. But by and large, they say they’ve been gearing up for years to prevent encores of 2003 and 2007, and that they think they’re up to the task. They cite additional personnel, big upgrades in technology and equipment, and a healthy emphasis on interagency cooperation.

This official confidence was evident in San Diego County on Wednesday even after a wild day in which at least seven separate wildfires brought out:

“[Officials] stressed that far more resources — both firefighters and equipment — were available than in 2003 and 2007, and that agencies were working well together.

“’This region is the best-prepared it’s ever been,’ said Dianne Jacob, the chairwoman of the county Board of Supervisors.

“’We’ve come a long way in the last 11 years,’ said county Sheriff Bill Gore.”

We shall see. In San Diego, the specter of multiple out-of-control wildfires is so scary that it’s tough to think from a broader perspective. But when you do think from that broader perspective, you start with the fact that there are only a few responsibilities that just about everybody thinks government should do and do well. The most obvious is public safety.

This year in parched California, millions of people with reason to worry about their safety have to hope that the local, state and federal governments rise to the challenge.

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