Here on OC Political, Fridays and Saturdays are usually light, but with candidate filing closing for most races today at 5 PM, check us out here at OC Political tonight and tomorrow for the final breakdowns of who’s in, who’s out, and what’s the deal in Orange County’s campaigns, ranging from Congress to State posts to County posts to the Fullerton recall to Central Committee.
Author Archive
Candidate Filing Closes Today; Stay Tuned for Updates
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 9, 2012
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Battle for Fullerton: Thirteen Pull Papers for Council
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 8, 2012
The Fullerton recall elections will be on the same day as the June 5 Primary. Fullerton voters will decide whether or not to recall Republican City Councilmen Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley. I blogged about the recall here last week.
Here’s an update on the Fullerton Council candidates (thus far) in the recall replacement elections…
- Richard Albarran: Registered as No Party Preference (Decline-to-State in the pre-Prop 14 parlance), Albarran pulled papers for all three seats.
- Rick Alvarez: A Republican Fullerton Transportation & Circulation Commissioner, Alvarez pulled papers for all three seats.
- Douglas Chaffee: A Democrat and former Fullerton Planning Commissioner, Chaffee pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010.
- David De Leon: A Republican, De Leon pulled papers for all three seats.
- Glenn Georgieff: A Democrat and former Fullerton Library Trustee, Georgieff filed papers for Jones’s seat.
- Matthew Hakim: A Democrat, Hakim pulled papers for Jones’s seat.
- Travis Kiger: A Republican Fullerton Planning Commissioner and blogger at Friends for Fullerton’s Future, Kiger pulled papers for Jones’s seat.
- Barry Levinson: A Republican Fullerton Parks & Recreation Commissioner, Levinson pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010.
- Jane Rands: The Chair of the Fullerton Bicycle Users Subcommittee and Treasurer of the Green Party of Orange County, Rands has filed papers for Bankhead’s seat. She ran for the State Assembly in 2010.
- Roberta Reid: A student registered as No Party Preference, Reid has filed for Jones’s seat.
- Matthew Rowe: Registered as No Party Preference, Rowe has pulled papers for all thre seats.
- Greg Sebourn: The Chair of the Fullerton Citizen’s Infrastructure Review Commission and Assemblyman Chris Norby’s Alternate on the Republican Central Committee, Sebourn pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010.
- Paula Williams: A Democrat, Williams pulled papers for Bankhead’s seat.
In a nutshell, here’s what it looks like…
9 possible candidates for Bankhead’s seat:
- Richard Albarran (NPP)
- Rick Alvarez (R)
- Douglas Chaffee (D)
- David De Leon (R)
- Barry Levinson (R)
- Jane Rands (G)
- Matthew Rowe (NPP)
- Greg Sebourn (R)
- Paula Williams (D)
11 possible candidates for Jones’s seat:
- Richard Albarran (NPP)
- Rick Alvarez (R)
- Douglas Chaffee (D)
- David De Leon (R)
- Glenn Georgieff (D)
- Matthew Hakim (D)
- Travis Kiger (R)
- Barry Levinson (R)
- Roberta Reid (NPP)
- Matthew Rowe (NPP)
- Greg Sebourn (R)
7 possible candidates for McKinley’s seat:
- Richard Albarran (NPP)
- Rick Alvarez (R)
- Douglas Chaffee (D)
- David De Leon (R)
- Barry Levinson (R)
- Matthew Rowe (NPP)
- Greg Sebourn (R)
Candidate filing for the Fullerton Recall ends on March 9, the same deadline as most other offices on the June Primary ballot.
(As you might note, I’ve played it straight, reporting just the facts on this post, rather than doing any analysis. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note my day job is working in the Fullerton office of Assemblyman Chris Norby, who served on the Fullerton City Council from 1984-2002. One of my co-workers in the office is Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who was elected in 2010 and is not a target of the recall.)
Posted in Fullerton | Tagged: Barry Levinson, David De Leon, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Dough Chaffee, Fullerton Recall, Glenn P. Georgieff, Greg Sebourn, Jane Rands, Matthew Rowe, Pat McKinley, Paula Williams, Richard Albarran, Rick Alvarez, Roberta Reid, Travis Kiger | 4 Comments »
PAC Formed for Julio Perez in AD-69
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 6, 2012
Back in November, the Orange County Federation of Labor endorsed Julio Perez for the 69th Assembly District. Then last month, the OC Labor Fed formed the “Orange County Dignity PAC to Support Julio Perez for Assembly 2012.” How much money is in there is unknown, as the next campaign finance reports for the period ending March 17 aren’t due until March 22. However, we do know at least $1,000 was dropped in the committee on February 10, as the PAC’s Form 410 filing indicates the committee qualified on February 10; under California campaign finance rules a committee “qualifies” the day its aggregate contributions reaches $1,000.
Even those March 22 figures for the period ending March 17 aren’t final, as the OC Labor Fed could dump in money at any time. The next campaign finance report due after that covers March 18 through May 19 isn’t due until May 24. The Form 497 report of contributions received in excess of $1,000 is due 24 hours after of receipt; for a candidate the Form 497 must be filed for each $1,000+ contribution received from March 7 (tomorrow) through June 4 (the day before the primary), but for a PAC, the Form 497 must only be filed for each $1,000+ contribution received from May 20 through June 4.
If they wait until March 18 to drop large sums of money into their PAC, the OC Labor Fed could leave everyone guessing until May 24 how much they’re really dumping in the race. May 24 is pretty late in the game for someone to raise (and spend) money to counter the PAC. The PAC could be a paper tiger to scare everyone in the race, or it could be a formidable financial vehicle to promote Perez’s candidacy, and no one will know likely until May 24 (although if they start pounding the district with mail, robocalls, etc., we’ll know it’s the latter by April); this of course assumes that they don’t dump an enormous sum in by March 17, in an attempt to scare donors away from the other candidates.
Posted in 69th Assembly District | Tagged: Julio Perez, OC Labor Fed | Leave a Comment »
Illegal Ballot Designations That No One Will Bother to Challenge
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 5, 2012
Looking through the candidate filing, I noticed a couple ballot designations that do not comply with the State Elections Code and Ballot Designation Regulations. However, no one, not even their opponents, will bother to challenge them.
Fullerton City Council Recall Replacement
(Elections Code Section 13107(a) governs acceptable ballot designations. Subparagraphs 1, 2, and 4 govern the designations of sitting elected officials, so only 13107(a)(3) applies to this post.) A ballot designation must consist of the “principal professions, vocations, or occupations” of a candidate. According to Secretary of State Regulation Section 20714(a):
-
“‘Profession’ means a field of employment requiring special education or skill and requiring knowledge of a particular discipline. The labor and skill involved in a profession is predominantly mental or intellectual, rather than physical or manual…”
- “‘Vocation’ means a trade, a religious calling, or the work upon which a person, in most but not all cases, relies for his or her livelihood and spends a major portion of his or her time…”
- “‘Occupation’ means the employment in which one regularly engages or follows as the means of making a livelihood…”
Roberta Reid has “Student” as her ballot designation. Being a student is not a profession, vocation, or occupation, as defined by the Secretary of State’s regulations. However, “student” is such a horrible designation that none of her opponents would challenge it. Nearly any other ballot designation would help Reid, so anyone challenging the designation would probably be an ally. I mean, really, who’s going to vote for a “student” on the ballot?
Note to all students running for office: Pick “Community Volunteer” as your ballot designation; it sounds good and is virtually unassailable for candidates without full-time jobs.
Democrats’ 55th Assembly District Central Committee
Molly A. Muro has “Business Opportunity Specialist” as her ballot designation. Secretary of State Regulation Section 20716(e) specifically prohibits the word “specialist” as part of a ballot designation. (Indeed, former Assemblyman Alan Nakanishi tried to user “Jobs/Economy Specialist” as his ballot designation in the 2010 Board of Equalization primary, but was forced to use “Jobs, Economy Analyst” instead. Read more about Nakanishi’s attempt here from an old Red County post by Chris Emami and here from Nakanishi’s victorious opponent George Runner.)
However, no one is going to challenge Muro’s designation, even though “Business Opportunity Specialist” actually sounds pretty good. The reason? She’s one of three people running for six seats. She will obviously win since three candidates for six seats means all the candidates win, and there’s still three vacancies left over. Three more people could decide to run, and everyone running would still win.
Posted in Democrat Central Committee, Fullerton | Tagged: Alan Nakanishi, ballot designation, Elections Code, Molly A. Muro, Roberta Reid, Secretary of State | Leave a Comment »
OCEA Robocall Targets Anaheim Council’s Murray, Eastman, and Sidhu – Again
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 28, 2012
OCEA had a Sunday, February 12 robocall and a Saturday, February 11 mailer targeting Anaheim Councilmembers Kris Murray, Gail Eastman, and Harry Sidhu. The Anaheim Chamber dropped a Saturday, February 18 mailer defending the three Councilmembers.
Essentially, these robocalls and mailers are the result of a 3-2 Anaheim City Council (Mayor Tom Tait and Mayor Pro Tem Lorri Galloway dissenting) for a $158 million tax plan favoring GardenWalk Hotel I, LCC on January 24. How the plan works in a nutshell is that GardenWalk Hotel I, LCC will retain 80% of the Transient Occupancy Tax money from the GardenWalk Hotel for the next 15 years. (The Transient Occupancy Tax is known colloquially as the hotel bed tax.) My post here explains the controversy.
Well, yesterday at 2:58 PM, the OCEA launched another robocall targetting Murray, Eastman, and Sidhu. Read the transcript below or click to play:
Hello, I’m Larry Larsen, your Anaheim neighbor and local businessman.
If you want to tell Anaheim Councilmembers Murray, Eastman, and Sidhu it’s wrong to give wealthy corporate developers 158 million tax dollars while they cut public safety, libraries, and parks, now’s your chance: join us at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Tell them to give Anaheim citizens the right to vote and stop the giveaway. Demand your vote! Tell them to put it on the ballot.
Join me and our neighbors tomorrow: Tuesday, 4:30 PM, Anaheim City Hall, 200 South Anaheim Boulevard.
Paid for by Orange County Employees Association (714) 835-3355 HeartofAnaheim.com
This is the same Larry Larsen who did the last robocall.
It looks like Anaheim’s going to be embroiled in this $158 million controversy for the rest of this election year.
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Gail Eastman, GardenWalk Hotel, Harry Sidhu, Kris Murray, Larry Larsen, Lorri Galloway, OCEA, Tom Tait | 3 Comments »
Battle for Fullerton: Rands, Reid, Kiger, Sebourn, Georgieff, and Anonymous Candidate Pull Papers for Council
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 27, 2012
On Tuesday, the Fullerton City Council voted to consolidate the recall elections with the June 5 Primary. Fullerton voters will decide whether or not to recall Republican City Councilmen Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley.
Fullerton’s voters will also vote on replacements for each councilman should one, two, or all three of the recalls succeed. (Remember, the recalls are not an all-or-nothing proposition. The recalls of Bankhead, Jones, and McKinley are technically three separate elections, so it is possible that rather than all three surviving or all three being recalled, one could survive with two recalled or two could survive with the other recalled.) Most people do expect an all-or-nothing result since the recalls seek to remove the three for the same reason, but that doesn’t necessarily have to happen.
In November, the other two councilmembers, Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva and Republican Bruce Whitaker, are up for election. If his recall fails, Jones is up for election in November. If his recall succeeds, Jones’s replacement is up for election in November.
If their respective recalls fail, Bankhead and McKinley are each up for re-election in 2014; if their respective recalls succeed, their respective replacements are each up for re-election in 2014.
Now, here’s a look at the Fullerton Council candidates (thus far) in the recall replacement elections…
Wednesday, February 22 was the first day Fullertonians could pull papers to run in the recall replacement elections. On that day, two candidates pulled papers:
- Jane Rands: The Chair of the Fullerton Bicycle Users Subcommittee and Treasurer of the Green Party of Orange County, Rands pulled papers for all three seats. She ran for the State Assembly in 2010.
- Roberta Reid: Registered as No Party Preference (Decline-to-State in the pre-Prop 14 parlance), Reid pulled papers for all three seats (but filed for Jones’s seat the following day).
On Thursday, February 23, two more candidates pulled papers to run:
- Travis Kiger: A Republican Fullerton Planning Commissioner and blogger at Friends for Fullerton’s Future, Kiger pulled papers for Jones’s seat.
- Greg Sebourn: The Chair of the Fullerton Citizen’s Infrastructure Review Commission and Assemblyman Chris Norby’s Alternate on the Republican Central Committee, Sebourn pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010.
On Friday, February 24, one candidate pulled papers:
- Glenn Georgieff: A Democrat and former Fullerton Library Trustee, Georgieff pulled papers for Jones’s seat.
Oddly, the candidate filing log notes, “In addition, one person has pulled papers for all three seats, but has not yet provided contact information.” (The bolding is in the original log and was not added by me.) This anonymous candidate will need to reveal himself/herself by the close of filing, of course.
In a nutshell for those keeping track, all six candidates (Rands, Reid, Kiger, Sebourn, Georgieff, and the anonymous candidate) pulled papers for Jones’s seat (and Reid already filed for that seat). Rands, Reid, Sebourn, and the anonymous candidate also pulled papers for Bankhead and McKinley’s seats (Kiger and Georgieff did not; and of course, Reid has filed for the Jones seat).
To reiterate for those keeping partisan scores of the councilmembers and candidates, Rands is a Green, Reid is a No Party Preference, Georgieff and Quirk-Silva are Democrats, while the rest (Bankhead, Jones, Kiger, McKinley, Sebourn, and Whitaker) are Republicans. Remember, Councilmembers Quirk-Silva and Whitaker are not recall targets.
Candidate filing for the Fullerton Recall ends on March 9, the same deadline as most other offices on the June Primary ballot.
(As you might note, I’ve played it straight, reporting just the facts on this post, rather than doing any analysis. In the interest of full disclosure, I should note my day job is working in the Fullerton office of Assemblyman Chris Norby, who served on the Fullerton City Council from 1984-2002. One of my co-workers in the office is Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who was elected in 2010 and is not a target of the recall.)
Posted in Fullerton | Tagged: Bruce Whitaker, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Fullerton Recall, Glenn P. Georgieff, Greg Sebourn, Jane Rands, Pat McKinley, Roberta Reid, Sharon Quirk-Silva, Travis Kiger | 7 Comments »
High Court Takes on Affirmative Action; What About Asian People?
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 22, 2012
You’ve likely heard the U.S. Supreme Court is going to hear the case of Fisher v. Texas, a challenge to the race-based affirmative action admissions policy at the University of Texas. In 2003, Grutter v. Bollinger permitted the continuation of race-based affirmative action in public college admissions. However, Grutter was decided 5-4, with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor voting joining the liberal justices to uphold race-based affirmative action while Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the conservative justices to strike it down. Well, what a difference a few years makes: right-of-center swing vote O’Connor has been replaced by solid conservative Justice Samuel Alito, leaving Kennedy the Court’s swing vote, and he’s already on record opposing race-based affirmative action. On top of that, liberal Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from this case. That sets the stage for a historic 5-3 ruling in Fisher v. Texas in the 2012-2013 session to strike down race-based affirmative action in public college admissions.
To be honest, I am shocked at the speed and circumstances of the likely end of race-based affirmative action in public college admissions. I thought it would take another decade to accomplish, and I always figured it would be an Asian-American plaintiff. Asian-American enrollment has soared at virtually every college in which race-based affirmative action has been banned. After Proposition 209 banned race-based affirmative action in California, Asian-Americans have become the plurality or majority at seven of the nine campuses of the University of California (Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz are the two). Study after study after study has found eliminating race-based affirmative action in college admissions increases Asian-American enrollment.
Excerpts from this New York Times article are telling:
…in 2005 Asian-Americans were admitted to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, at a much lower rate (54 percent) than black applicants (71 percent) and Hispanic applicants (79 percent) — despite median SAT scores that were 140 points higher than Hispanics and 240 points higher than blacks.
…
In the late 1980s, [UC Berkeley] administrators appeared to be limiting Asian-American admissions, prompting a federal investigation. The result was an apology by the chancellor at the time, and a vow that there would be no cap on Asian enrollment.
University administrators and teachers use anguished words to describe what has happened since.
“I’ve heard from Latinos and blacks that Asians should not be considered a minority at all,” says Elaine Kim, a professor of Asian-American studies at Berkeley. “What happened after they got rid of affirmative action has been a disaster — for blacks and Latinos. And for Asians it’s been a disaster because some people think the campus has become all-Asian.”
While complaints about affirmative action have long focused on whether whites were being discriminated against in favor of blacks and Latinos, the data indicates affirmative action is neutral for whites and discriminates against Asian-Americans in favor of blacks and Latinos.
The fundamental point to all this is that race-based affirmative action is discriminatory, and the Supreme Court will end this ridiculous bastion of the past in the next 16 months.
Posted in National | Tagged: Affirmative Action, College Admissions, Race, U.S. Supreme Court | Leave a Comment »
OC GOP Shocker: John Campbell Fails to Gain Endorsement
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 20, 2012
Breaking from OC GOP Central Committee: 41 people voted to endorse Congressman John Campbell and 22 people voted against endorsing him.
Out of 63 people, Congressman Campbell needed 42 votes, as a 2/3 vote is required to gain the endorsement.
John Webb successfully blocked the endorsement.
Campbell’s opponents attacked his votes in favor of TARP and against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Posted in 45th Congressional District, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: John Campbell, John Webb | 9 Comments »
Christina Avalos, Make Up Your #@%$ Mind on What You’re Running For!
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 20, 2012
Christina Avalos's Opponents - From Just the 2012 Elections
In honor of Presidents’ Day, I’m posting on someone who’s now run for office more times than either George W. Bush or Barack Obama.
Christina Avalos needs to make up her mind on what she’s running for. In the span of two months, the Orange Democrat has pulled signature-in-lieu petitions for three different offices.
On December 30, Avalos pulled the signature-in-lieu petitions for the 46th Congressional District (her home district) to run against incumbent Loretta Sanchez.
Then on January 20, Avalos pulled the signature-in-lieu petitions to run for the 39th Congressional District against incumbent Ed Royce.
Then on February 17, Avalos pulled the signature-in-lieu petitions to run for the 68th Assembly District (her home district) to run against incumbent Don Wagner.
Maybe she’ll pull for U.S. Senate in March to run against incumbent Dianne Feinstein.
According to the great and comprehensive elections database at JoinCalifornia.com, perennial candidate Avalos ran against Chris Cox in 1998 and Ed Royce in 2002, 2008, and 2010. In 2004, she lost the primary to fellow Democrat J. Tilman Williams, who went on to lose to Royce. In 2006, she lost the primary to fellow Democrat Florice Orea Hoffman. Cox won 67% of the vote in 1998, and Royce won no less than 63% of the vote in each of these five elections. I have no idea what happened in 2000 when Avalos didn’t appear to run for anything.
On behalf of the people of Orange County: Christina Avalos, make up your #@%$ mind on what you’re running for!
Posted in 39th Congressional District, 46th Congressional District, 68th Assembly District | Tagged: Chris Cox, Christina Avalos, Don Wagner, Ed Royce, Florice Orea Hoffman, J. Tilman Williams, Loretta Sanchez, perennial candidates | 4 Comments »
Donald Trump’s Endorsement is Worthless or Even Harmful, in Spite of Emami’s Love for Him
Posted by Chris Nguyen on February 17, 2012
Since Emami said that I “come across as an elitist” last Friday, I guess I’ll just have to point out the ludicrousness of his post praising billionaire Donald Trump’s endorsement of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Although he only implied it in that post, I will point out that in my conversations with him, Emami has confessed to being a Trump follower.
A Fox News poll found that 27% of voters would be less likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate, and only 10% would be more likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate (I can already see Emami chanting, “We are the 10%!”). The remaning 63% are indifferent.
A Washington Post-Pew poll found that 26% of voters would be less likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate, and only 8% would be more likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate (Maybe Emami will chant, “We are the 8%!”). The remaining 66% are indifferent. Among Republicans, 20% would be less likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate, and only 13% of Republicans would be more likely to vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate. The remaining 67% are indifferent.
The less scientific Facebook/Politico poll found that the Trump endorsement had a negative effect on 41% of people and a positive effect on only 10% of people (I guess Emami can go back to chanting, “We are the 10%!”). 49% were indifferent.
Comparing the final results versus the polls in Minnesota, Colorado, and Missouri all showed a shift away from Romney and toward Santorum in the five days after Trump had endorsed Romney and before Republican voters cast their ballots in those states.
It is clear that Donald Trump’s endorsement was at best, worthless, or at worst, harmful, to Mitt Romney.
Posted in National | Tagged: Donald Trump, Mitt Romney | 5 Comments »
OC Political 