OC Political

Sensing that newly elected Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva is vulnerable in the midterm 2014 election, two Republicans has emerged to compete for the chance to unseat her.  Both Republicans are Asian Americans and they were busy working the room at last night’s Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee meeting.

THE CANDIDATE WITH THE EDGE

I do not think there is a front runner on the GOP side yet but one of these two candidates have a minor edge and her name is Young Kim.  She is a Korean American community leader and long time staffer for Congressman Ed Royce.

In my judgment Young have a small advantage right now because of Ed Royce and his strong roots in Fullerton.  Let’s just assume that Royce will go out of his way to help his staffer.  Young Kim is an eloquent public speaker.  She is very presentable in public and can tap into her Korean network of donors for financial support.

Previously Young and her husband Charles lives in La Habra where he was a planning commissioner.  La Habra is not in AD 65 so i’m guessing Young probably moved out of that city already and into a place that is within the district.  Someone overheard her saying that she moved to Fullerton last month.

Young’s decision to run in AD 65 instead of Assemblyman Curt Hagman’s district saved Ed Royce from having to take side in a potentially divisive campaign.  We know how “excited” the Congressman can be when he has to take side in an intra-party fight.

THE CANDIDATE THAT IS ALSO COMPETITIVE

Before Young Kim can take on Sharon Quirk-Silva, she will have to find a way to deal with Councilman Henry Charoen of La Palma.  Henry is a Thai community leader.  Henry was planning to run for assembly two years ago but his city was drawn into Chris Norby’s district.  He ultimately backed out but did put away $50,000.

In June of 2012, Henry was elected to the GOP central committee.

What is dangerous about Henry is that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain by running.  Don’t think that the GOP establishment can bully him out of this race.

THE ANALYSIS

It is good for the Republican Party to have two fine Asian candidates running for state office.  However, to even have a chance at unseating Sharon Quirk Silva, one of them must not run and clear the field for the other.

There just isn’t enough money in Orange County for these two Republicans to bloody each other up in the primary.

From now until the June mid-year financial report, Henry is unlikely to do better than Young in term of collecting high profile endorsements.  Young will beat him at that game but if Henry can focus on raising money – i’m talking posting $150,000 cash on hand by the middle of this year then he is in the hunt and probably the frontrunner.

Likewise for Young, she need to have money to go along with her endorsements.  Having all 25 GOP assembly members endorsing her means little to nothing if she cant put together at least $100,000 by the middle of this year.

This could be an exciting race to watch.