SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California Republicans are gathering this weekend to chart a course forward following stinging defeats in the 2018 election. More than 1,300 party delegates are meeting in Sacramento for a three-day convention. The highlight is a vote for a new chairman to lead the party into 2020. Last fall Democrats swept all statewide races and picked up seven U.S. House seats. The candidates for GOP chair are Jessica Patterson, a party organizer; Travis Allen, a former state lawmaker; and Steve Frank, a longtime party activist. Frank and Allen favor close ties to Trump. Patterson prefers to keep the president at arm’s length. All three pledge a greater focus on nuts-and-bolts party organizing.