San Diego GOP chair resigns after failed endorsement maneuver

Driving the news: The party's governing board unanimously elected Corey Gustafson, a brewery owner and unsuccessful congressional candidate, to replace Whitsell, Fox 5 reported.

The intrigue: Whitsell told a party committee earlier this month that its previous endorsement of Hayes applied only to last month's primary and called for a new general election endorsement vote, as Voice of San Diego scooped.

• In an email to party officials, Coronado Republican Mayor Richard Bailey called Whitsell's maneuver an unprecedented abuse of power and violation of party bylaws.

Context: Hayes won the GOP endorsement in June with support from over two-thirds of the party's governing board, but DeMaio won more than twice as many votes in last month's primary.

• Hayes and DeMaio are now in a November runoff in the county's most conservative assembly district, giving added weight to the party's endorsement in the Republican-on-Republican contest.