San Diego County GOP chair resigns after endorsement switch-up

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The chair of the Republican Party of San Diego County has been ousted amid controversy surrounding an attempt to withdraw their endorsement of Andrew Hayes in the race for California's 75th State Assembly District in favor of Carl DeMaio.

Corey Gustafson, a brewery owner who previously ran for Rep. Scott Peters' congressional seat, confirmed to KUSI in an interview on Tuesday that he would be replacing current chairwoman Paula Whitsell after a unanimous vote by the party's governing body Monday night.

This comes days after an unprecedented attempt by Whitsell to change the party's previous endorsement in the race for the 75th Assembly District was first made public in a report by Voice of San Diego.

"Last night, we as a party came together," Gustafson said. "We had a unanimous vote to have a new chair, but that wasn't really the point of it. We had two candidates who are running against each other in the 75th [Assembly District] come together for the benefit of the party."

According to Gustafson, the vote of the governing body, called the Central Committee, came as a result of an agreement with both candidates for the seat that was brokered by Whitsell.

Under the agreement, Whitsell would be replaced and the previous endorsement would remain in place. However, he said the party does not plan to fundraise for either Hayes or DeMaio, as part of the deal's terms.

"What we solved last night is all the past bad feelings — again both sides came to a compromise on how we can move forward as a party," Gustafson said.

"We have two Republicans in the race and they're going to battle it out," he continued. "They're going to put their vision forward for the people of the 75th district and we're going to have a Republican who wins that seat."

The race for the 75th Assembly District narrowed to Hayes, a Lakeside Union school board member, and DeMaio, a conservative radio host, after both came out as the top vote-getter sin the March 5 primary election.

DeMaio earned the largest share of votes in the primary at 42.91%. With 18.68%, Hayes narrowly beat out Democrat Kevin Juza, who DeMaio propped up in an apparent bid to sail to a general election victory in the solidly Republican district.

Ahead of the election, in June 2023, the county's Republican Party endorsed Hayes in the race. He was also endorsed by the California Republican Party and an array of Republican elected officials in the county, such as Rep. Darrell Issa and Supervisor Joel Anderson.

DeMaio had not entered the race when the Central Committee voted to endorse Hayes.

Almost a month after election night, however, Whitsell called for a new vote on who to endorse in the race by the Central Committee's Executive Committee, a smaller subgroup that is in charge of governing body.

During the vote, Whitsell asked the Executive Committee to approve an endorsement for DeMaio in the General Election, as Voice of San Diego reported. The vote ultimately failed.