Author Archive
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 23, 2012
It was suggested to me in an e-mail that instead of posting a list of names running for these Republican Party Central Committee seats, I should lessen the names and explain who these people are that are running.
I was intrigued by the suggestion and decided to do an update today of each Central Committee race and decided to do it in reverse numerical order (simply because I felt like doing it that way). Let’s start with AD 74 which is currently represented by Assemblyman Allan Mansoor.
Emily Sanford– She is currently Scott Baugh’s alternate on the Central Committee and has been a volunteer with the OCGOP. I have heard people say nothing but nice things about her.
Christina L. Shea– She is best known for being one of the Republican members of the always fun Irvine City Council. In 2010 she was unable to run for re-election due to term limits.
Allan Bartlett– The leader of the OC Ron Paul fan club. He is a Libertarian leaning Republican that was recently involved in the blocked endorsement of John Campbell. *Incumbent.
John Draper– I don’t know a lot about him, although he is currently on the Central Committee and appears to be part of the tea party wing of the committee. *Incumbent.
Scott Baugh– Currently the Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County also former Assembly Republican leader. He is usually way out in first place on election night. *Incumbent.
Greg Baker– I could find nothing on him.
Jon Aiken– Jon used to be on the Central Committee and has been a long time volunteer with the OC GOP since at least 2006.
Erik K. Weigand– Erik is one of the really good guys in Orange County politics. He used to be the executive director of the OC GOP and is currently working on the district staff for Assemblyman Jim Silva
Bill Dunlap– He ran for the Central Committee back in 2010 for the 70th district. In fact, he came quite close to winning the seat being just 250 votes short of defeating Allan Bartlett for the 6th and final spot.
Rhonda Rohrabacher– The wife of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and also a political strategist. She has a lot of knowledge of the OC GOP and how it works. She is not an incumbent, but she will have residual name ID from Dana Rohrabacher.
Thomas A. Fuentes Jr.– The son of popular Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes. He was recently appointed to a vacancy on the Central Committee created by the very classy Matt Holder. *Incumbent.
Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: Allan Bartlett, Bill Dunlap, Christina L. Shea, Emily Sanford, Erik K. Weigand, Greg Baker, John Draper, Jon Aiken, Rhonda Rohrabacher, Scott Baugh | 3 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 22, 2012
Every once in a while you see a name pop up in the filing log that is a familiar one despite the fact that you can’t quite put your finger on it. In the case of the race for 73rd Assembly District the name James Corbett popped up as the only potential opponent for Assemblywoman Harkey, and I just knew that I had heard the name before.
It turns put after running a bit of googling that unless we have a unique coincidence on our hands, this is the same James Corbett that was a teacher at Capo Valley High School. The reason why I remembered the name is because he was the teacher that was sued by former student Chad Farnan for what was called “Disparaging Christianity.” I was not in the class so I find it unfair to comment specifically on what was said but according to the Orange County Register Corbett referred to creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense.”
The initial ruling in the case after a 16 month grueling legal battle was that Corbett had violated the first amendment by disparaging students. I truly question why Corbett chose to single out Christianity versus the number of other religions that exist.
After the initial ruling the decision was overturned on appeal and was actually refused to be heard by the Supreme Court according to the OC Register.
If you look at the district and the way it is drawn this is a conservative crowd that is being represented. Diane Harkey has represented them well over the past 4 years and Corbett is just not the right representative for the 73rd District.
Posted in 73rd Assembly District, State Assembly | Tagged: Diane Harkey, James Corbett | 4 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 21, 2012
It appears that Anaheim organizations are not going to sit on their hands and allow the OCEA to attack Councilmembers Harry Sidhu, Gail Eastman, and Kris Murray without a fight. Recently OCEA has put out a robocall trying to get residents to show up to a town hall meeting and also sent out a mailer hitting them on a vote they made to give a tax break to a developer looking to build a hotel in the Anaheim Garden Walk.
The Anaheim Chamber of Commerce has come out with a mailer encouraging Anaheim residents to come out in support of the Councimembers that have come under fire with this mailer:
This could lead to a big fight leading up to this election between these two warring factions. It is important to note that attacking Eastman and Murray is not a great idea for this election since they are not up until 2014.
Also quite interesting is that it appears that the Labor Unions are not in agreement on this issue either as OCEA is coming out attacking the Councilmembers but yet it appears that Patrick Kelly with the Teamsters has come out in support of the Councilmembers according to the mailer from the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce.
Things are starting to heat up in Anaheim.
Posted in Anaheim, Mail | Tagged: Gail Eastman, Harry Sidhu, Kris Murray, Patrick Kelly | 3 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 21, 2012
As you can see from the post written by my esteemed colleague Chris Nguyen, in a major surprise Congressman John Campbell failed to get the endorsement of the OC GOP.
I along with many others in attendance last night was shocked by the results of the vote, with John Campbell falling just 1 vote short of the endorsement. John Webb who is also running for this seat in the 45th Congressional District was also present in an effort to try to block the endorsement.
This particular endorsement began with John Campbell giving a speech on why he deserved the endorsement of the OC GOP. He pointed out that he had been a vocal member of the Republican Party for conservative causes in D.C. After he finished John Webb went up to speak and gave his reasons as to what he offered as a candidate for the seat.
Both men did a solid job in their opening statements and came across as intelligent advocates of conservative principles. Where things started to unravel a bit for Campbell was during the portion where members got to ask questions of the candidates. He was attacked for his positions on Cash For Clunkers, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and TARP.
I have a great deal of respect for Congressman Campbell for coming into a hostile environment and defending his position he took on these specific bills. I absolutely disagree with his position on TARP, but I respect the fact that he stands by the vote and gives his reasons for it.
One important note is that despite John Campbell having some solid supporters in his corner to speak up for him both Congressman Ed Royce and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher who were in attendance, yet failed to chime in on supporting him for the endorsement.
Nobody in Congress is perfect and overall John Campbell has been a solid conservative vote. I would have liked to have seen him get the endorsement of the OC GOP mainly because the last thing we need is for us to get stuck with Sukhee Kang in Congress.
John Webb seems like a really nice guy and a true conservative but I am behind John Campbell in this race and I hope that he can hold onto the seat. I recognize that we have a couple of Central Committee members as bloggers with us who likely differ with my opinion on this and I would like to encourage them to also post on this issue to give a different side of what went down last night.
Posted in 45th Congressional District, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Royce, John Campbell, John Webb, Sukhee Kang | 11 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 20, 2012
Happy Presidents Day to everybody. Despite the Registrar of Voters being closed today, I thought we could take a look at who had filed for Republican Party Central Committee after the first week (incumbents have a *):
55th Assembly District (Hagman)
Brenda McCune
Tim Shaw
Robert Lauten
65th Assembly District (Norby)
Alex Burrola
Baron Night*
Greg Sebourn
Henry Charoen
Jerry Jackson*
Sou Moua
Pat Shuff*
68th Assembly District (Wagner)
Ken L. Williams Jr.
Noel Stone Parrish
Todd Spitzer*
Marcia Gilchrist*
Deborah Pauly*
Chris Emami (Yes, this is me)
Walter H. Myers III
Lynn Schott*
Nick Wilson
Denis Bilodeau*
69th Assembly District (Solorio)
Lupe Moreno*
Charles Hart
Thomas Anthony Gordon
72nd Assembly District (Silva)
Janet Nguyen*
John W. Briscoe
Mark McCurdy*
Dennis R. Catron
Brian Hoops
Matthew Harper*
Dean Grose*
Kermit Marsh*
73rd Assembly District (Harkey)
Dave Duringer
Mary Young*
Mike Munzing*
Alice Anderson*
Norm Dickinson*
Steve Magdziak
Chandra Chell*
Linda Barnes
74th Assembly District (Mansoor)
Emily Sanford
Allan Bartlett*
Christina Shea
John Draper*
Scott Baugh*
Greg Baker
Jon Aiken
I will try to do another update at the end of this week or early next week with another list of who has pulled papers.
Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: Alex Burrola, Alice Anderson, Allan Bartlett, Baron Night, Brenda McCune, Brian Hoops, Chandra Chell, Charles Hart, Chris Emami, Christina Shea, Dave Duringer, Dean Grose, Deborah Pauly, Denis Bilodeau. Lupe Moreno, Dennis R. Catron, Emily Sanford, Greg Baker, Greg Sebourn, Henry Charoen, Janet Nguyen, Jerry Jackson, John Draper, John W. Briscoe, Jon Aiken, Ken L. Williams Jr., Kermit Marsh, Linda Barnes, Lynn Schott, Marcia Gilchrist, Mark McCurdy, Mary Young, Matthew Harper, Mike Munzing, Nick Wilson, Noel Stone Parrish, Norm Dickinson, Pat Shuff, Robert Lauten, Scott Baugh, Sou Moua, Steve Magdziak, Thomas Anthony Gordon, Tim Shaw, Todd Spitzer, Walter H. Myers III | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 16, 2012
Things are starting to heat up in the world of the Republican Party Central Committee filing with some more candidates jumping in to the fray. Take a look at who has already pulled papers in each district (incumbents have a *):
55th Assembly District (Hagman)
Brenda McCune
Tim Shaw
Robert Lauten
65th Assembly District (Norby)
Alex Burrola
Baron Night*
Greg Sebourn
Henry Charoen
Jerry Jackson*
Sam Moua
68th Assembly District (Wagner)
Ken Williams
Noel Stone Parrish
Todd Spitzer*
Marcia Gilchrist*
Deborah Pauly*
Chris Emami (Yes, this is me)
Walter H. Myers III
Lynn Schott*
69th Assembly District (Solorio)
Lupe Moreno*
72nd Assembly District (Silva)
Janet Nguyen*
John Briscoe
Mark McCurdy*
Dennis Catron
Brian Hoops
Matthew Harper*
73rd Assembly District (Harkey)
Dave Duringer
Mary Young*
Mike Munzing*
Alice Anderson*
Norm Dickinson*
Steve Magdziak
Chandra Chell*
74th Assembly District (Mansoor)
Emily Sanford
Allan Bartlett*
Christina Shea
John Draper*
Stay tuned for more updates on this race including an overall analysis handicapping each race after the filing period has closed.
Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: Alex Burrola, Alice Anderson, Allan Bartlett, Baron Night, Brenda McCune, Brian Hoops, Chandra Chell, Chris Emami, Christina Shea, Dave Duringer, Deborah Pauly, Dennis Catron, Emily Sanford, Greg Sebourn, Henry Charoen, Janet Nguyen, Jerry Jackson, John Briscoe, John Draper, Ken Williams, Lupe Moreno, Lynn Schott, Marcia Gilchrist, Mark McCurdy, Mary Young, Matthew Harper, Mike Munzing, Noel Stone Parrish, Norm Dickinson, Robert Lauten, Sam Moua, Steve Magdziak, Tim Shaw, Todd Spitzer, Walter Myers | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 15, 2012
Sadly the filing period started out yesterday extremely slowly, with the most interesting races being the Republican Party Central Committee races. Take a look at who has already pulled papers in each district (incumbents have a *):
55th Assembly District (Hagman)
Brenda McCune
65th Assembly District (Norby)
Alex Burrola
Baron Night*
Greg Sebourn
Henry Charoen
Jerry Jackson*
68th Assembly District (Wagner)
Ken Williams
Noel Stone Parrish
72nd Assembly District (Silva)
Janet Nguyen*
John Briscoe
Mark McCurdy*
Dennis Catron
73rd Assembly District (Harkey)
Dave Duringer
Mary Young*
Mike Munzing*
74th Assembly District (Mansoor)
Emily Sanford
Allan Bartlett*
Christina Shea
It is still early in the filing period but it looks like we are going to have some huge numbers of people running for the Central Committee. Those races are obviously way inside baseball, but it is always fun to watch.
Posted in Republican Central Committee | Tagged: Alex Burrola, Allan Bartlett, Baron Night, Brenda McCune, Christina Shea, Dave Duringer, Dennis Catron, Emily Sanford, Greg Sebourn, Henry Charoen, Janey Nguyen, Jerry Jackson, John Briscoe, Ken Williams, Mark McCurdy, Mary Young, Mike Munzing, Noel Stone Parrish | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 14, 2012
In what could be described as a political junkies dream come true, the filing period for candidates running in the June election has officially opened. It will be interesting to see what surprises pop up for these different offices. It honestly feels like just yesterday that the 2010 primary took place with a fe major surprises with filing. Although, County offices are easy to get some surprise candidates to pop up at the last-minute.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters is also now allowing candidates to pull papers online for the first time. This is a great feature that will allow candidates to only make 1 trip down to the OC Registrar’s office as opposed to two trips. We will have to wait and see if this new system is functional as often these types of things have quite a few bugs.
I will also go out on limb and suggest that more candidates than usual are likely to run for offices especially OC Central Committee simply because it is now easier to pull papers for office.
Filing starts this morning and will end at 5:00 PM on March 9th. A lot can happen in 3 weeks, so hold on to your hats.
Posted in Orange County | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 13, 2012
You may have read the article that Nguyen wrote this morning that had the OCEA robocall up urging people to show up to a townhall forum to discuss the recent vote that took place regarding the hotel tax subsidy.
It appears that answering machines are not their only mode of communication to the people of Anaheim as they are also trying to reach people through mail as well. I have already received three mailers prior to today, but unfortunately OC Political did not yet exist to pot the mailers up for all to see. Saturday I received the fourth mailer from OCEA, this time without a picture of John Leos on it and also targeting a totally separate issue.
Mailer looked as follows:
Clearly OCEA is targeting Anaheim in the November election with John Leos and a second candidate. This is a very opportune time to target the largest city on Orange County with Harry Sidhu and Lorri Galloway both termed out.
It appears that November campaign season has started earlier than expected which could make for a lot of mail.
Posted in Anaheim, Mail | Tagged: Gail Eastman, Harry Sidhu, John Leos, Kris Murray, Lorri Galloway, OCEA, Tom Tait | 5 Comments »
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on February 10, 2012
Rumor has it that some Cal State Fullerton students may be visiting the site for a class assignment. I wanted to take a moment to welcome them as an alumnus of Cal State Fullerton and a person that respects anybody that decides to pursue higher education. Feel free to post some comments about your class to fill the readers in on what our local OC college students are learning about.
Be aware that the Stanford/USC alum might come on here and comment about how much better his education is. Even though he may come across as an elitist with his style of writing, do not worry he is actually fairly nice and knows a thing or two about politics as well.
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
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