Naturally, it came as a surprise when the Los Angeles Times recently endorsed Republican Lanhee Chen for California State Controller, the office of the state's chief fiscal officer. Chen, a Bay Area policy wonk who worked on Mitt Romney and Marco Rubio's presidential campaigns, has promised to serve as an independent watchdog of Democrats in Sacramento. The Times' editorial board sees value in having someone outside the party structure overseeing the disbursement of state funds and auditing transactions.