This came across the wire to me from S.O.A.R. who has arranged a fundraiser for itself.
S.O.A.R Fundraiser At Anaheim Brewery
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 12, 2012
Posted in Anaheim | Tagged: Gail Eastman, Harry Sidhu, Kris Murray | Leave a Comment »
Mexican Presidential Candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota Visits the OC
Posted by Walter Myers III on March 11, 2012
It was a real honor to attend a reception in Santa Ana on Saturday night for Mexican presidential candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota hosted by the Hispanic 100, which is led by local businessman and political strategist Mario Rodriguez. A number of local dignitaries and Hispanic leaders were in attendance, all looking to get a glimpse of this bold,beautiful, and accomplished lady and to hear her speak about the hopes and dreams of the Mexican people. When Josefina spoke, you could hear and feel her passion and love for Mexico. She spoke glowingly of her admiration for and special friendship with Rosario Marin, who is a member of the Hispanic 100 and also former Treasurer of the United States under President George Bush from August 2001 to June 2003. For those who don’t know Josefina, she is a Mexican economist, businesswoman, and politician who has served in the National Action Party (PAN). She has served in various capacities under the current President Felipe Calderon, including Secretary of Education. In September of 2011, Josefina left her position as Coordinator of the Parliamentary Group to pursue the Presidency of Mexico in 2012.
We have our own election for President this year, which will hopefully retire Barack Obama and usher in a new Republican president who will restore our republic to fiscal sanity, create pro-business policies, get our energy economy growing again, and end the racial divisiveness that is the hallmark of the Obama presidency. Yet the upcoming election in Mexico is also of utmost importance to Americans in terms of building a stronger, more productive relationship between the United States and Mexico. My hope is that if Josefina wins, we will work more closely as countries to combat the drug cartels, boost the Mexican economy, and work towards policies that finally solve the illegal immigration problem, such as the immigration policy proposal advanced by the Lincoln Club of Orange County. As a member of both the Hispanic 100 and Lincoln Club, having worked on the policy with committee chairwoman Teresa Hernandez and other members committed to pursuing a real solution, I believe we have begun a new conversation on the illegal immigration problem that does not include citizenship for illegal immigrants.
As a matter of history, I lived in Mexico for a couple of years back in the early 1990s before moving to the OC, and I have a deep love for the Mexican people. That is why it tears my heart out that some Americans have such animus towards those who come here only to make a better life for themselves and their families. We had a wonderfully functioning guest worker program (The Bracero Program) from 1942 to 1964 that gave skilled field workers the opportunity to work in America. We did not have a serious illegal immigration problem until the program was killed because big agribusiness wanted illegal workers and convinced the federal government to look the other way while they exploited illegal labor from Mexico and other countries south of our border. This is a huge injustice, and I will not rest until illegal immigrants are no longer living in the shadows of America, exploited for their labor. This is the humanitarian issue of our generation. Yet you have spineless politicians that provide public benefits to illegal immigrants in the hopes they will eventually get citizenship and vote for them, not caring that as long as these people continue to live in the shadows, they are vulnerable to crime and exploitation. Additionally, they work for wages that native-born Americans cannot compete with. It is a racket that has been going on for 48 years where everyone loses except for pandering politicians and exploitative business owners. It is time for this to come to an end, and I invite all conservatives to join us in bringing this about.
Posted in 47th Congressional District, 69th Assembly District, Santa Ana | Tagged: Felipe Calderon, Hispanic 100, Immigration Reform, Josefina Vazquez Mota, Lincoln Club, Mario Rodriguez, Rosario Marin | 8 Comments »
BREAKING NEWS: CRP Endorses Emken For U.S. Senate
Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on March 11, 2012
The CRP has endorsed Elizabeth Emken for U.S. Senate in the race against Dianne Feinstein. More information later…
UPDATED 11:48 PM– The CRP held a meeting for endorsements which included just 24 members to vote on who should be the endorsed in races throughout California. Emken is a solid candidate and has some solid conservative support so far, even though Feinstein will be extremely tough to beat it is always worth a shot.
The main reason why I am pleased to see the party choose to endorse in this race is for fear that Orly Taitz will advance into the November election. The last thing the Republican Party needs is a lunatic effectively branding the party with their image in what will be a high-profile race.
She is endorsed by local Assemblymembers Jim Silva and Don Wagner.
Posted in California | 1 Comment »
Hammond Enters OCBE Race & Withdraws from AD-69, Producing OC Democrats’ Worst-Case Scenario
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 11, 2012
There are no Republicans running for AD-69, leaving OC Democrats’ worst-case scenario in place. With no Republicans running for AD-69, Democrats will now spend their human and financial resources attacking each other in June and again in November. Under Prop 14, the top two finishers in June advance to November. The presumption had always been that it would be the top Democrat and Republican Robert Morris Hammond facing off in November. With Hammond out, the Democrats now effectively have to run their expensive primary twice.
OC Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly, Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, Union Leader Julio Perez, and Businessman Paco Barragan were supposed to sort out who would carry the Democrats’ banner against Hammond in November. There had been much speculation that the Latino vote would split, allowing Daly to win the plurality of the Democrats to face off against Hammond, who would consolidate the entirety of the Republican vote. However, Hammond’s withdrawal leaves two of those four Democrats to face off against each other. Presumably, Daly still advances with the to face off against one of the Latino candidates.
The question of who wins the AD-69 election is: as the least liberal Democrat in the race, can Daly consolidate the Republican vote behind him? If the Martinez-Perez-Barragan voters consolidate behind one candidate, they would presumably be the majority of the votes cast by Democrats. However, if Daly can capture the Republicans, then he will win by combining the Republican vote with the portion of the Democrats’ votes he had in June. In AD-69, Democrats make up 49.7% of registered voters, Republicans make up 27.5% of registered voters, and No Party Preference voters make up 19.1%. By winning all the Republicans, half the NPP, and just 30% of Democrats, Daly can form a winning coalition in November. However, if any of the others can make a play for the Republican vote, they could destabilize the Daly coalition and win themselves. In a most unusual election, the Democrats in AD-69 may well try to position themselves as the conservative candidate in the Primary, in hopes of holding the Republican vote in November. (We’ve already received e-mail messages this weekend at OC Political from some of the Dem AD-69 candidates touting their “non-partisan” or “bi-partisan” viewpoints.)
Bottom line for Republicans: the AD-69 race will eat up valuable human and financial resources for the Democrats in November, freeing up Republican resources to spent on other races. Furthermore, the least liberal Democrat will likely be elected to represent the seat.
Orange County Board of Education Member Long Pham is partly to thank for this event. Pham’s bid for the 72nd Assembly District left his seat on the County Board vacant. Republican Robert Hammond had been running for AD-69, heavily on education issues, including overturning SB 48 and enhancing career technical education programs. Indeed, Hammond has been a teacher since he completed his service in the Marine Corps and earned his college degrees. With the solidly conservative Pham vacating the OCBE’s Central Orange County seat, that left conservatives searching for a candidate to succeed Pham.
Conservatives quickly turned to one of the most passionate conservative education advocates in Central Orange County – Robert Hammond. With Hammond’s deep knowledge of and passion for education issues, he is well-suited to be the conservative standard bearer for the Central OC seat on the OCBE.
Ordinarily, we’d run press releases under the “Newsletter Reprint” account, but this particular press release is central to an important piece of political news, so here is the press release from the Hammond campaign…
Robert Hammond Enters Orange County Board of Education Race
SANTA ANA, CA – At the urging of conservative activists and leaders across the county, Robert Morris Hammond has entered the race for Orange County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1. The seat is being vacated by the incumbent, fellow conservative Republican Long Pham, who is now running for the 72nd Assembly District.
“Education has always been one of my great passions. After completing my service in the United States Marine Corps and earning my college degrees, I became a teacher,” Hammond said. “I’ve taught in special education, English Immersion classes, teacher training programs, and adult literacy courses.”
Hammond has long campaigned on education issues, emphasizing faith, family, and freedom. He has also worked on efforts to overturn SB 48. As an Orange County Board of Education member, Hammond will be able to fight the implementation of SB 48 in the schools overseen by the OCBE. SB 48 and increasing career technical education had been two major issues that drove Hammond to run for office.
“It is with great reluctance that I withdraw from the 69th Assembly District race, but after Dr. Pham filed for the 72nd Assembly District on Thursday, numerous conservatives urged me to enter the race for Dr. Pham’s seat,” Hammond added. “We were all concerned that Dr. Pham’s seat could fall into liberal hands, and with Trustee Area 1 covering much the same territory as AD-69, many concerned conservative citizens and leaders asked me to consider entering the race for the Orange County Board of Education, which I have now done. I look forward to a vigorous campaign and victory in June.”
Orange County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1 covers Santa Ana, Tustin, Garden Grove (east of Beach Boulevard), and Fountain Valley (east of the 405 freeway).
(In the interest of full disclosure, Hammond is a Custom Campaigns client.)
Posted in 69th Assembly District, Orange County Board of Education | Tagged: Julio Perez, Long Pham, Michele Martinez, Paco Barragan, Robert Hammond, Tom Daly | 12 Comments »
Board of Supervisors: Two Crazy Races on the Docket
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 10, 2012
3rd District Candidates Todd Spitzer and Deborah Pauly, 1st District Supervisor Janet Nguyen, and 1st District Challenger Steve Rocco
I’m not sure which supervisorial race will be more entertaining this June: Todd Spitzer vs. Deborah Pauly or Janet Nguyen vs. Steve Rocco. The Spitzer-Pauly race in the Third District will have some great fireworks, as Spitzer and Pauly are two of Orange County’s most aggressive campaigners while the Nguyen-Rocco race in the First District will simply be entertaining by virtue of Steve Rocco.
Third Supervisorial District
Incumbent Supervisor Bill Campbell is termed out after nearly ten years on the Board of Supervisors; he was elected in a 2003 special election (indeed, this was Orange County’s first-ever Supervisorial vacancy special election, as all previous vacancies had been filled by gubernatorial appointment) to replace Todd Spitzer who had vacated the seat to enter the State Assembly.
The candidates (as expected) are:
- Todd Spitzer (R) – Businessman/Victims Advocate
- Deborah Pauly (R) – Councilwoman, City of Villa Park
Former Assemblyman and former Third District Supervisor Todd Spitzer is running to for his old job. Originally slated to battle former Assemblyman Chuck DeVore for the seat, DeVore moved to Texas late last year. With DeVore out, Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly stepped into the race. Fireworks have sparked every time these two candidates have met in debates throughout the Third District. The mail should be fun to read. Spitzer definitely has the cash advantage in this race, as I posted here. For other coverage of the race, you can view the, um, rather, um slanted perspective that HBK provides.
First Supervisorial District
The candidates are:
- Janet Nguyen (R) – Orange County Supervisor, 1st District
- Steve Rocco (NPP) – Retired Educator
After Kinde Durkee wiped out Democrat Assemblyman Jose Solorio and Democrat Senator Lou Correa’s warchests, Supervisor Janet Nguyen was left with a warchest that dwarfed those of Solorio and Correa combined. Solorio and Correa would have had to spend an enormous sum to unseat Nguyen.
With the fact that most of his money was gone and that Assemblymembers don’t have a very good track record of unseating incumbent Supervisors (see Guy Houston or Audra Strickland), Solorio opted to avoid a losing battle with Nguyen.
Faced with the fact that most of his money was gone, Correa opted to wait. He could be hoping that Nguyen will go for his Senate seat in 2014 when he’s termed out, which will free up the First Supervisorial District seat for a 2015 special election, much like Correa did when he vacated this Supervisorial seat in 2006 causing a 2007 Supervisorial special election that Nguyen won.
So now we’re left with, um, what’s the polite way to put it, um, colorful former Orange Unified School District Trustee Steve Rocco. I could also call him convicted ketchup thief Steve Rocco. Perhaps, Rocco’s previous election opponents can form a bipartisan coalition to give Nguyen advice on beating Rocco (or at least on how to keep Rocco from stealing her condiments), though I suspect the advice will be along the lines of: don’t steal mustard:
- OUSD Trustee Rick Ledesma (R), who defeated Rocco 72%-28% in November 2010
- Former OC Public Administrator John Williams (R), who defeated Rocco 58%-11% in a four-way race in June 2010
- Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante (R), who defeated Rocco 50%-18% in a four-way race in November 2008
- Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee John Hanna (D), who defeated Rocco 74%-26% in November 2006 and 71%-29% in November 2002
- Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido (D), who defeated Rocco 71%-12% in a three-way race in November 2000
(Surprisingly, Rocco did not run for Governor in the 2003 recall.)
Don’t ask OC Park Ranger Phil Martinez, though, as he’s the one who lost 54%-46% to Rocco in the OUSD race in November 2004.
Will Rocco accuse Supervisor Nguyen of being part of “The Partnership” which Rocco previously claimed was the secret group ruling the United States? Will Rocco accuse Supervisor Nguyen of trying to have him killed, similar to the accusation he leveled at “The Partnership,” Chapman University President Jim Doti, and Chapman Professor Fred Smoller?
Please read the Wikipedia article on Steve Rocco for your own entertainment.
(For the record, I am not related to Supervisor Nguyen. The last name Nguyen is held by 36% of Vietnamese people.)
Posted in 1st Supervisorial District, 3rd Supervisorial District | Tagged: Audra Strickland, Chuck DeVore, Deborah Pauly, Fred Smoller, Guy Houston, Janet Nguyen, Jim Doti, Jose Solorio, Kinde Durkee, Lou Correa, Steve Rocco, Todd Spitzer | 2 Comments »
State Senate Races: Republican Senators Face Democrat Attorneys
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 10, 2012
Due to redistricting, Orange County will be part of five Senate districts: the 29th, 32nd, 34th, 36th, and 37th. While the 32nd, 34th, and 36th won’t be up until 2014, this year’s ballot will feature the 29th and 37th Senate District races.
SD-29
In SD-29, the candidates are:
- Robert “Bob” Huff (R) – Lawmaker/Business Owner
- Greg Diamond (D) – Workers’ Rights Attorney
Huff, a resident of LA County, is the current Senate Republican Leader. Diamond is an Orange County attorney, who is also a blogger for Orange Juice and serves as a liaison for Occupy Orange County.
SD-29 includes North Orange County, southeastern Los Angeles County, and the City of Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. The LA County portion of SD-29 consists of the whole cities of Diamond Bar, Rowland Heights, and Walnut, along with portions of the City of Industry and West Covina. The OC portion of SD-29 consists of the whole cities of Brea, Cypress, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, Stanton, and Yorba Linda, along with portions of Anaheim and Buena Park.
SD-37
In SD-37, the candidates are:
- Mimi Walters (R) – Businesswoman/Senator
- Steve Young (D) – Civil Justice Attorney
Walters is Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Young is an attorney, who ran against John Campbell for Congress three times.
SD-37 is entirely inside Orange County and consists of the whole cities of Costa Mesa, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, Tustin, and Villa Park, along with Anaheim Hills and North Tustin, as well as portions of Anaheim (east of the 57 freeway), most of Orange (east of the 57 freeway), and half of Huntington Beach (south of Talbert Avenue and Seapoint Avenue).
Posted in 29th Senate District, 37th Senate District | Tagged: Bob Huff, Greg Diamond, Mimi Walters, Steve Young | 15 Comments »
AD-72: Five Candidates (Two Democrats, Three Republicans) Running
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 10, 2012
In AD-72, the withdrawal of Huntington Beach Councilman (and OC Political blogger) Matt Harper has shaken up the field. That leaves millionaire Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar as the Republican front-runner. Orange County Board of Education Member Long Pham will gain most of the substantial Vietnamese Republican vote. Huntington Beach Activist Travis Allen is the third Republican in the race, and judging by the two press releases we at OC Political received this morning (we’ll post those tomorrow), he will be running a Huntington Beach-centric campaign. Huntington Beach is the second largest city in the district, behind only Garden Grove (while Huntington Beach as a whole is bigger than Garden Grove as a whole; most of Garden Grove is in AD-72 while only half of Huntington Beach is in AD-72).
The leading Democrat in the race is Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh. Dovinh’s wife is Garden Grove City Councilwoman Dina Nguyen. (For the record, I am not related to either Nguyen or Dovinh [or Pham, for that matter]; Nguyen is an exceedingly common last name, encompassing 36% of Vietnamese people.) The other Democrat in the race is 89-year-old Albert Ayala, who is actually a Tea Party Democrat.
To recap, the five candidates on the ballot (along with their parties, cities of residence, and ballot designations) are:
- Troy Edgar (R-Los Alamitos) – Businessman/Mayor
- Long Pham (R-Fountain Valley) – Member, Orange County Board of Education
- Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) – Small Business Owner
- Joe Dovinh (D-Garden Grove) – City Commissioner/Businessperson
- Albert Ayala (D-Garden Grove) – Retired Police Commander
Edgar is a multi-millionaire not averse to spending his own money for a campaign having loaned his previous Congressional campaign $400,000, and some close to Edgar have indicated he is prepared to spend $1 million to win the Assembly seat. Pham is also an affluent candidate, having dropped $100,000 into his Assembly warchest (while most Assembly candidates who loan their campaigns $100,000 are bluffing, Pham is not, as he’s already started spending substantial portions of the $100,000). Allen has informed OC Political that he has $90,000 in pledged support. This is shaping up to be one expensive Republican primary.
Republicans consist of 42% of AD-72’s registered voters while Democrats sit at 31%. 22% of AD-72’s registered voters are No Party Preference while the remaining 5% are registered in third parties.
AD-72 consists of the entirety of Westminster, Fountain Valley, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, and Midway City, along with northern Huntington Beach (north of Ellis Avenue, Garfield Avenue, and Seapoint Street), most of Garden Grove (west of West Street), and a small portion of Santa Ana (west of the Santa Ana River [south of 1st Street] and west of Harbor Boulevard [north of 1st Street]).
Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: Albert Ayala, Joe Dovinh, Long Pham, Matt Harper, Travis Allen, Troy Edgar | 2 Comments »
Battle for Fullerton: The Field is Set
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 10, 2012
(UPDATED SUNDAY 3/11 7:40 PM with most of the missing ballot designations.)
I realize I promised a post before midnight; I hope you’ll forgive five minutes delay.
In the Fullerton recall, voters will decide whether or not to recall City Councilmen Don Bankhead, Dick Jones, and Pat McKinley. Each man’s recall is technically a separate race. (I explained the logistics of the election in this post, as some of you may have read.) Since each recall is technically a separate race, candidates had to pick one seat to run for. (The Elections Code prevents them from running for more than one of the three seats at a time.)
So here’s a look at the candidates…
Running for Bankhead’s seat:
- Rick Alvarez (R) –
Ballot Designation Not Yet Released by County Registrar or City ClerkBusinessowner/Planning Commissioner
A Fullerton Transportation & Circulation Commissioner, Alvarez originally pulled papers for all three seats. - Jane Rands (G) – Systems Engineer
The Chair of the Fullerton Bicycle Users Subcommittee and Treasurer of the Green Party of Orange County, Rands originally pulled papers for all three seats. She ran for the State Assembly in 2010. - Greg Sebourn (R) – Businessman/Educator
The Chair of the Fullerton Citizen’s Infrastructure Review Commission and Assemblyman Chris Norby’s Alternate on the Republican Central Committee, Sebourn originally pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010. - Paula Williams (D) – Public Employee
Williams only pulled papers for this seat.
Running for Jones’s seat:
- Dorothy A. Birsic (R) – Ballot Designation Not Yet Released by County Registrar or City Clerk
Birsic only pulled papers for this seat. - Glenn P. Georgieff (D) – IT Specialist
A former Fullerton Library Trustee, Georgieff only pulled papers this seat. - Matthew Hakim (D) –
Ballot Designation Not Yet Released by County Registrar or City ClerkMusician, Artist
Hakim only pulled papers for this seat. - Travis Kiger (R) – Fullerton Planning Commissioner
A Fullerton Planning Commissioner and blogger at Friends for Fullerton’s Future, Kiger only pulled papers for this seat. - Roberta J. Reid (NPP) – Student
Reid originally pulled papers for all three seats.
Running for McKinley’s seat:
- Doug Chaffee (D) – Business Attorney
A former Fullerton Planning Commissioner, Chaffee pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010. - Barry Levinson (R) –
Ballot Designation Not Yet Released by County Registrar or City ClerkParks and Recreation Commissioner/Auditor
A Fullerton Parks & Recreation Commissioner, Levinson pulled papers for all three seats. He ran for the City Council in 2010. - Sean Paden (R) –
Ballot Designation Not Yet Released by County Registrar or City ClerkConstruction Attorney
Paden only pulled papers for this seat. - Matthew Rowe (NPP) – Aerospace Project Manager
Rowe orignally pulled papers for all three seats.
Tune in to OC Political after 6:00 AM for the wackiness of Central Committee and the partisan offices.
(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, Dick Jones, Don Bankhead, Dorothy A. Birsic, Doug Chaffee, Fullerton Recall, Glenn P. Georgieff, Greg Sebourn, Jane Rands, Matthew Hakim, Matthew Rowe, Pat McKinley, Paula Williams, Rick Alvarez, Roberta J. Reid, Sean Paden, Travis Kiger | 1 Comment »
Wild Candidate Filing Night
Posted by Chris Nguyen on March 9, 2012
So you might be wondering what happened in candidate filing…well, the last candidates left the Registrar’s office shortly before 8:30 PM in what most observers and even some Registrar employees called the strangest night in candidate filing they’ve ever seen.
We’ll be posting a little bit tonight and early tomorrow. I’ll have a Fullerton update before midnight…
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
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