Several leaders of the state's Republican party were in Iowa and plan to travel to South Carolina, the Bee reports, but in the state itself, efforts have been fairly quiet. Mitt Romney, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have established fundraising operations, according to the newspaper, but that is about the extent of the activity in California related to the race.
"Sadly, we are irrelevant," Celeste Greig, president of the conservative California Republican Assembly, told the Bee. "Come June, there will be a nominee. We will not have been at the table."
Four years ago, California had a February primary for both the Democratic and Republican contests, but Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation last year to return the primary to June, in consolidation with the other statewide primaries. Some Republicans wonder why the state doesn't push to have an earlier primary, given the number of voters in the state, according to the Bee.
California's June 5 primary is one of the last in the nation this year, according to USA Today, being held on the same day as elections in Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota, and three weeks before Utah's June 26 election, the final one in the race.
