Mimi Walters

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -California Republicans have uniformly said this week that they're focused for now on helping U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) win the presidency with the state's help.

But that's not to say that the delegation attending this week's Republican National Convention isn't also looking both internally and ahead, for the top up-and-coming party members who could someday be the party's representative in the governor's house or the U.S. Senate.

When asked, here are some of the names party insiders mention as possible future GOP stalwarts from California:

I'm puzzled this month, recently an all-too-common state of being for me, about how what appears to be an organized effort in California to corner the anti-illegal immigration argument again has flown pretty much under the news radar.

Citing constituent frustration over federal inaction on immigration, 23 pieces of legislation are being "sponsored" by Republican members of the state assembly. These proposals could set new standards in challenging federal authority over foreign visitors to our country. Maybe they're just new campaign platforms since the deadline for submitting many of these bills has passed and it's widely agreed that they're all pretty much DOA for other reasons.