The California Republican Party is turning to GOP strategist Karl Rove, the "architect" of former President George W. Bush's political campaigns, as it works to rebuild its own brand in the Golden State.
The party has tapped Rove as the keynote speaker for its spring convention in Sacramento, which will take place the first weekend in March. He'll address members at a Saturday night banquet at the Hyatt Regency.
Rove, who served as a senior adviser and chief of staff to Bush in the White House, has more recently been the figurehead for American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, two groups that have spent millions backing GOP candidates across the county.
The convention will mark the first official gathering of GOP operatives and delegates since the 2012 election, when Democrats dominated at the polls. Voters ousted several GOP congressional incumbents, gave Democrats a supermajority in both houses of the state Legislature and approved a $7 billion tax measure backed by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. The GOP's share of the electorate fell to less than 30 percent of registered voters.
Former GOP Senate leader Jim Brulte is expected to take the reins as party chairman in leadership elections conducted during the convention. Many within the party are counting on him to improve the party's fundraising and prospects for political success.
PHOTO CREDIT: Then White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove listens as President George W. Bush, not shown, speaks with reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington in this April 2, 2007, file photo. AP Photo/ Gerald Herbert.
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