Nolan Frizzelle

Nolan Frizzelle (October 16, 1921 – January 31, 2013) was a Republican politician who represented Orange County in the California State Assembly from 1980 until 1992. In 1992, he was defeated for renomination by Doris Allen after they were redistricted into the same district.

Dr Frizzelle's political activity began in 1954 in Pasadena, California, where he led a movement to challenge the Pasadena public school decision to stop enforcing correct spelling in grammar school. That challenge culminated in the removal of the superintendent. After a move to Orange County in 1955, Dr Frizzelle became active in the Christian Anticommunism Crusade and built a network of conservative contacts in the area. Based on that network he was elected President of the unofficial California Republican Assembly (CRA) and used the influence of that organization to help the conservative Barry Goldwater win the Republican presidential nomination over the liberal candidate Nelson Rockefeller, at the Republican Convention in San Francisco in 1964.

A cohort in the Goldwater campaign was the political columnist Ronald Reagan. In 1964, when conservative Republicans needed a candidate to challenge the incumbent California Gov. Pat Brown (D), Dr. Frizzelle helped convince Reagan to run by providing the first organizational endorsement of Reagan's campaign, from the CRA. Reagan originally asked Dr Frizzelle to run as his candidate for Lt Gov, but later reconsidered and recruited the more moderate Bob Finch for the role. Reagan outdistanced other Republican candidates for Governor, including Joe Shell from southern California and Warren Christopher from San Francisco, and ultimately won the 1966 general election as Governor of California.

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