Oscar Braun is running for State Senate

Southcoast resident Oscar Braun is running for Jackie Speier’s California State Senate seat in District 8. Braun is the only Republican to announce his candidacy in the heavily Democratic district.  Three Democrats, Mike Nevin, Lou Papan, and Leland Yee are running in the June primary. The Daily News [no news online] reports that Braun says he was asked to run by the chairman of the San Francisco Republican Party.

Braun has been heavily involved in Coastside politics, particulary the campaign to prevent expansion of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District to the Coastside and the failed effort to incorporate the rural Coastside as the town of Los Pueblecitos. He operates numerous websites and organizations, including Oscar Knows, and California Watershed Posse (a.k.a. Save Our Bay and Half Moon Bay Coastside Foundation). 

Braun, who described himself to the Mercury News as "very litigious", has been warring with the government of the County for years, since they got into a dispute over building permits. In November, San Mateo County and Oscar Braun settled two civil rights lawsuits that Braun brought against the county.  The county agreed to process permits for a cell phone tower, horse stable and water system on his ranch, and to study a new local government for the Southcoast. Braun also attempted to use the courts to halt construction of the Devil’s Slide Tunnel.

Braun lost the domains pescaderopebble.net, pescaderopebble.org and pescaderopebble.info to the Half Moon Bay Review’s owners in binding arbitration before the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2002.  The Pescadero Pebble has been part of the Review’s full name since 1937. Braun still operates a website called "The Pebble.info", whose URL (confusingly) is thepebble.net.

CORRECTION:  An earlier version of the story said the Review sued Braun. We should have said "The Review’s owners filed a complaint before the World Intellectual Property Organization." Coastsider regrets the error.