In 2003, the socially moderate Republicans making up the New Majority got their dream candidate in Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now they’ve got an incoming chairman who’s got the governor’s ear.
Paul Folino, chief executive of Costa Mesa-based Emulex Corp., was elected New Majority vice chair last week and is set to take over as the group’s chairman in July.
Folino will replace Lawrence Higby, chief executive of Apria Healthcare Group Inc. and a one-time member of the Nixon administration.
The move solidifies ties to Schwarzenegger for the New Majority, whose members are executives that give money to moderate Republican candidates and causes.
When Schwarzenegger decided to run in the 2003 recall election, one of his first calls was to New Majority members dining at Newport Beach’s Pacific Club.
Since then, the group has raised millions for the governor and his causes. At a 2003 dinner at Folino’s Coto de Caza home, New Majority members raised $1.4 million for Schwarzenegger’s recall campaign bid.
Folino, who serves on the governor’s job-creation commission, is in the upper ranks of those with ties to Schwarzenegger, a group that also includes Donald Bren, chairman of The Irvine Company.
“I get my fair share of time with the governor,” Folino said.
This week, Folino is co-hosting an Irvine event where the governor is set to talk about his plans for the year.
Folino said he got to know the governor about three or four years ago during the campaign for Proposition 49, Schwarzenegger’s after-school programs initiative.
As for the New Majority, Folino said he plans to continue promoting “positions of fiscally responsible government.”
Folino takes over as the New Majority is looking to expand membership among younger people and into Democratic Los Angeles.
“We’re an inclusive organization, and we’re looking for a broad base of people with moderate republican views,” he said.
The group counts 150 members, up from 100 at the time of the recall vote. Members pay dues of $10,000 a year.
The group stumbled early on in 2000 when it tried and failed to oust conservative Tom Fuentes as head of the local GOP, creating a rift that didn’t heal until last year when Fuentes stepped aside. At the time, Fuentes, now a trustee of the South Orange County Community College District, called the New Majority a group of “misled millionaires.”
The chairmanship adds another hat for Folino, whose day job is running Emulex, a maker of networking devices for data storage networks that’s among the county’s most valuable companies. Last week, Emulex counted a market value of $2 billion.
Folino also serves as chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. He’s set to step down in July. Financier Michael Gordon is expected to be the center’s next chairman.
“We timed me taking over at the New Majority at the same time I’m wrapping up the performing arts center,” Folino said.
Folino said he plans to continue working with the center as well as Chapman University, where he’s a trustee.
