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Posts Tagged ‘Troy Edgar’

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AD-72’s Distinct Split: Edgar & Allen Top Two in Four Cities, Pham & Dovinh Top Two in Two Cities

Posted by Chris Nguyen on June 18, 2012

With the Primary Election certified, we now have clear breakdowns available in every race in the county.  First up is the 72nd Assembly District, which had the most distinct divisions in the different parts of the district.

First, let’s recall the districtwide numbers:

Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar (R) 18,060 28.0%
Huntington Beach Businessman Travis Allen (R) 12,851 19.9%
Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh (D) 12,432 19.3%
County Board of Education Trustee Long Pham (R) 12,409 19.2%
Garden Grove Retiree Albert Ayala (D) 8,816 13.7%

So let’s take a look at how the voting broke down in the nine major parts of AD-72 (the seven cities of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, and Westminster along with the two major unincorporated areas of Midway City and Rossmoor).

72nd Assembly District results in each city and major unincorporated area

(Thanks to Matt Rexroad and Chandra Sharma at Meridian Pacific for the map, which I’ve cropped here and to which I have added graphics.  Note that the population numbers on the map apply to each whole city, not just the portion of the city in AD-72.  Huntington Beach is divided nearly 50/50 between AD-72 and AD-74.  A sliver of Santa Ana and the bulk of Garden Grove are in AD-72 while the bulk of Santa Ana and a sliver of Garden Grove are in AD-69.)

In each city, the candidate with the larger head came in first while the candidate with the smaller head came in second:

  • Edgar came in first with Allen second in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Seal Beach, Los Alamitos, and Rossmoor.
  • Pham came in first with Dovinh second in Westminster, Santa Ana, and Midway City.
  • Pham came in first with Edgar second in Garden Grove.

Here’s their vote totals broken down visually by city:

Seal Beach single-handedly caused Edgar vs. Allen.  Without them, it would have been Edgar vs. Pham.  Same story with Huntington Beach.

Fountain Valley single-handedly caused the all-Republican matchup.  Without them, it would have been Edgar vs. Dovinh.

Here’s how each candidate performed in the various parts of the district:

  • Edgar came in first or third in every part of the district, except for a second-place finish in Garden Grove and a fourth-place finish in Santa Ana.
  • Pham came in first or fifth in every part of the district, except for a third-place finish in his home of Fountain Valley.
  • Dovinh came in second or third in every part of the district, except for a fourth-place finish in Fountain Valley.
  • Allen came in second or fourth in every part of the district, except for a fifth-place finish in Santa Ana.
  • Ayala came in fourth or fifth in every part of the district, except for a third-place finish in Santa Ana.

Here’s a chart showing how the candidates did in each city and major unincorporated area:

Huntington Beach
Los Alamitos
Seal Beach
Rossmoor		 Fountain Valley Westminster
Midway City		 Santa Ana Garden Grove
  1. Edgar
  2. Allen
  3. Dovinh
  4. Ayala
  5. Pham
  1. Edgar
  2. Allen
  3. Pham
  4. Dovinh
  5. Ayala
  1. Pham
  2. Dovinh
  3. Edgar
  4. Allen
  5. Ayala
  1. Pham
  2. Dovinh
  3. Ayala
  4. Edgar
  5. Allen
  1. Pham
  2. Edgar
  3. Dovinh
  4. Allen
  5. Ayala

Here are the areas sorted by voter turnout:

  • Seal Beach: 36.2%
  • Rossmoor: 34.1%
  • Fountain Valley: 26.9%
  • Los Alamitos: 25.5%
  • Huntington Beach: 24.8%
  • Westminster: 23.5%
  • Garden Grove: 21.7%
  • Midway City: 19.9%
  • Santa Ana: 18.1%

Now let’s see that voter turnout list again, but with the top two candidates in each city noted:

  • Seal Beach: Edgar, Allen
  • Rossmoor: Edgar, Allen
  • Fountain Valley: Edgar, Allen
  • Los Alamitos: Edgar, Allen
  • Huntington Beach: Edgar, Allen
  • Westminster: Pham, Dovinh
  • Garden Grove: Pham, Edgar
  • Midway City: Pham, Dovinh
  • Santa Ana: Pham, Dovinh

Had voter turnout been just a tad higher in Little Saigon or a tad lower in the non-Little Saigon parts of AD-72, Edgar would be facing off against fellow Republican Pham or Democrat Dovinh.

Looking at Pham’s first-or-fifth performance everywhere (outside of his home of Fountain Valley), it’s clear that Team Pham focused too much energy on Little Saigon.  Just a little bit more mail, walkers, or other effort in the non-Little Saigon areas of AD-72 would have been just enough to get him that 0.7% he needed to make the run-off against Edgar.

67% of the voters cast their ballots for the three Republicans while 33% cast their ballots for the two Democrats.  The majority of primary election voters (52.2%) cast their ballots for Dovinh, Pham, or Ayala.  Edgar and Allen combined to win 47.9% of the vote.

The path to victory for the two November contenders goes through Little Saigon, the Democrats, and the independents.  Between Edgar and Allen, whoever can get these large blocs of voters to swing behind them will be the next Assemblyman from the 72nd District.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

How Fast is the Registrar of Voters Counting Ballots? When Will They Finish? Who Will This Affect?

Posted by Chris Nguyen on June 14, 2012

On Friday evening, there were 17,125 uncounted ballots.

By Monday evening, there were 14,724 uncounted ballots, meaning 2,401 ballots were resolved on Monday.

By Tuesday evening, there were 9,528 uncounted ballots, meaning 5,196 ballots were resolved on Tuesday.

By last night, there were 4,625 uncounted ballots, meaning 4,903 ballots were resolved on Wednesday.

At the rate they’re going, it’s highly likely the Registrar of Voters completes the vote count today.

For visual learners:

There are only a few races that could still be affected by the outstanding ballots.

  • Will Ray Grangoff close his 51-vote deficit to overtake Jeff Lalloway for the last slot on the Republican Central Committee from the 68th District?  Will Ken Williams close both his 115-vote deficit to overtake Jeff Lalloway and his 64-vote deficit to overtake Ray Grangroff for the last slot on the Republican Central Committee from the 68th District?
  • Will Bill Dunlap close his 62-vote deficit to overtake John Draper for the last slot on the Republican Central Committee from the 74th District?

Those two races are the only ones in all of Orange County where the gap between the elected and the unelected (or 2nd and 3rd place in those fighting to advance to November from primaries) is 0.3% or less.  It is highly unlikely the 4,625 outstanding ballots would move the needle any more than 0.3%.

There are a couple races where the current leads would be unaffected by the remaining 4,625 ballots, but where the gap could close enough to lead the 3rd or 4th place candidate to pay for a recount to advance to November from the primaries.  (I’m assuming no one’s going to pay for a recount for any party’s Central Committee.)

69th Assembly District
Tom Daly (D) 10,862 39.3%
Jose “Joe” Moreno (R) 5,933 21.5%
Julio Perez (D) 5,649 20.4%
Michele Martinez (D) 4,614 16.7%
Francisco “Paco” Barragan (D) 594 2.1%

Team Perez is likely contemplating whether they’ll pay for a recount if they get within 1% of Jose Moreno (not to be confused with Anaheim City School District Trustee Jose F. Moreno).  Perez’s allies spent six figures trying to elect him, so the cost of a recount wouldn’t be out of the question for them.

72nd Assembly District
Troy Edgar (R) 17,968 28.0%
Travis Allen (R) 12,726 19.8%
Joe Dovinh (D) 12,353 19.3%
Long Pham (R) 12,325 19.2%
Albert Ayala (D) 8,756 13.7%

Long Pham is likely contemplating if he will pay for a recount if he gets within 0.5% of Travis Allen.  It’s unlikely Joe Dovinh or his team have the financial resources to pay for a recount.  Pham would need to dig into his own pockets for a recount.  He’s already spent $100,000 of his personal funds on his campaign and making 2nd place to get to the November general election against Troy Edgar may be the only way he recoups that $100,000.

The 1% for Perez vs. the 0.5% for Pham is on the basis that Perez would be more aggressive than Pham in pursuing a recount, as Perez’s allies spent more and have deeper pockets to pay for a recount while Pham spent less and has more shallow (less deep?) pockets.

Posted in 69th Assembly District, 72nd Assembly District, Orange County, Republican Central Committee | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

AD-69: Traditional D vs. R Match-Up in Daly vs. Moreno; Martinez Plays Spoiler for Perez

Posted by Chris Nguyen on June 13, 2012

On Monday, I took a look at AD-72, and in this post, I’ll be looking at another of OC’s multi-candidate Assembly races that has now narrowed down to two: AD-69.

Conventional wisdom held that if any OC district was going to feature an intraparty battle in November (courtesy of Prop 14), it was going to be the Republicans in AD-74 between Assemblyman Allan Mansoor and Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle or the Democrats in AD-69 between OC Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly and either labor leader Julio Perez or Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez.  (Unexpectedly, it was AD-72 that created OC’s sole intraparty battle with an all-Republican November matchup between Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar and Huntington Beach Businessman Travis Allen.)

AD-69 will come down to Daly and Republican OC Eligibility Technician Jose “Joe” Moreno (not to be confused with Anaheim City School District Trustee Jose F. Moreno).

We here at OC Political predicted Daly vs. Moreno here, here, and here. (While we made several predictions that went wrong [like nearly everybody else, we failed to predict Edgar vs. Allen in AD-72], we’ve been consistent in predicting Daly 1st and Moreno 2nd in AD-69.)

This race was incredibly evenly divided.  Daly was far and away the top vote-getter, getting nearly double the number of votes of the second-place candidate.

Tom Daly 10,724 39.6%
Jose “Joe” Moreno 5,843 21.6%
Julio Perez 5,440 20.1%
Michele Martinez 4,506 16.6%
Francisco “Paco” Barragan 577 2.1%

Some readers may be wondering if Perez could still catch Moreno with the remaining uncounted ballots.   There just aren’t enough out there. 27,090 out of the 417,965 ballots counted in Orange County so far cast votes in AD-69, which equals 6.5% of the votes.  There are 9,528 uncounted ballots remaining in Orange County, which leaves approximately 619 votes remaining in AD-69.  To make up his current 403-vote deficit, Perez would need to be ahead of Moreno by 65.1%.  If Moreno captures 10% of the vote, that would require Perez get 75.1%, leaving just 14.9% to be split between Daly, Martinez, and Barragan.  Let’s say AD-69 has a disproportionate share of the outstanding ballots, and double that to 1,238 ballots remaining in AD-69, Perez would need to be ahead of Moreno by 32.6%.  That is a tough margin for Perez.  If Moreno captures 10% of the vote, that would require Perez get 42.6%, leaving just 47.4% to be split between Daly, Martinez, and Barragan.

It’s clear from the results that Martinez was Perez’s spoiler.  If just 10% of Martinez’s votes had gone to Perez, he would have surpassed Moreno and advanced to a run-off against Daly.  Martinez and Perez were clearly the liberal Democrats in the race, with Daly and Barragan the more moderate Democrats, and Moreno was the Republican.  The lion’s share of Martinez’s votes would have gone to Perez.

It’s now clear that without Michele Martinez in the race, union-backed Democrat Julio Perez would have advanced to the November run-off against business-backed Democrat Tom Daly.

Posted in 69th Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments »

AD-72: What Will Edgar & Allen Do in Their All-Republican November Matchup?

Posted by Chris Nguyen on June 11, 2012

This week, I’ll be doing a series analyzing OC’s multi-candidate Assembly races that have now narrowed down to two. Our opener is the surprise in AD-72.

Conventional wisdom held that if any OC district was going to feature an intraparty battle in November (courtesy of Prop 14), it was going to be the Republicans in AD-74 between Allan Mansoor and Leslie Daigle or the Democrats in AD-69 between Tom Daly and either Julio Perez or Michele Martinez.

Lo and behold, AD-72 came out of nowhere with an all-Republican November matchup between Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar and Huntington Beach Businessman Travis Allen.

Troy Edgar & Travis Allen

AD-72 Matchup: Mayor Troy Edgar (R-Los Alamitos) vs. Businessman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach)

Conventional wisdom held that the Republican vote would split three ways between Edgar, Allen, and OC Board of Education Member Long Pham, while Joe Dovinh would hold most of the Democrats, with a small number of votes going to Democrat Albert Ayala.

Most people (myself included) predicted an Edgar vs. Dovinh matchup in November, a few predicted Allen vs. Dovinh, even fewer predicted Pham vs. Dovinh, but did anyone predict Edgar vs. Allen?

How did this happen?  Edgar was weaker than expected allowing Allen and Pham to eat up more Republican votes while Ayala was stronger than expected eating up much of Dovinh’s votes from Democrats.

This race was incredibly evenly divided.  First place was quite low at 28.2% and last place rose up to 13.6%.  Second, third, and fourth place were 0.5% apart.

Troy Edgar 17,594 28.2%
Travis Allen 12,300 19.7%
Joe Dovinh 12,055 19.3%
Long Pham 11,959 19.2%
Albert Ayala 8,492 13.6%

(Some readers may be wondering if Dovinh or Pham could still catch Allen with the remaining uncounted ballots.   There just aren’t enough out there. 62,400 out of the 409,824 ballots counted in Orange County so far cast votes in AD-72, which equals 15.2% of the votes.  There are 17,125 uncounted ballots remaining in Orange County, which leaves approximately 2,603 votes remaining in AD-72.  To make up the current 245-vote deficit, Dovinh would need to be ahead of Allen by 9.4%.  Dovinh never led Allen by more than 5.2%.  To make up his current 341-vote deficit, Pham would need to be ahead of Allen by 13.1% and also be 3.7% ahead of Dovinh.  Pham never led Allen by more than 5.5%.  Now, of that 17,125 uncounted ballots, there are 15,642 provisionals, which do tend to favor Democrats; presumably, 2,378 of those provisionals cast votes in the AD-72 race, but provisionals have a higher invalidity rate than other ballots.  Note also that Albert Ayala is still there sucking up a good chunk of votes that would otherwise go to Dovinh.)

The Edgar and Allen camps now face an interesting quandary: tack left, tack right, or try to do both.  During the primary, Edgar and Allen both tried to run right, each proclaiming he was the real conservative and the other was closet liberal.

Both Edgar and Allen have interesting partisan histories.  Edgar was a registered Democrat until switching his registration to Republican the same week that he filed to run for office for the first time when he did so in his successful bid for Los Alamitos City Council.  Allen has donated large sums of money to Democrats, as reported by Jon Fleischman over at FlashReport.

If they run right, Edgar and Allen can each undercut each other’s bases and grab Pham’s supporters.   If they run left, they can pick up Dovinh and Ayala’s supporters.  Will Edgar and Allen both run right?  Will they both run left?  Will one run right while the other runs left?  Will they attempt to be all things to all people, running right in mail to Republicans, running left in mail to Democrats, and proclaiming their independent/bipartisan/maverick qualities in mail to No Party Preference voters?

In the primary, both men were willing to dip into their personal funds to finance their campaigns.  Edgar dropped $100,000 while Allen dropped $95,500.  (By the way, Pham dropped $100,000 while Dovinh only dropped $1,000.)  Many people will note that candidates often loan their campaigns money to make their warchests look bigger than they actually are.  Well, not in AD-72!  The largest remaining warchest is less than $25,000.  Edgar, Allen, and Pham all spent the bulk of the money they dumped in their campaigns.  To recoup that money, they’re going to have to raise it.

Edgar and Allen will need to spend the summer raising more money or else be willing to dip into their personal fortunes again.  Either way, this should be an interesting November in AD-72, as Democrats laugh at Republican money being spent against Republicans.

(For our more literature-oriented readers, I will note in the race between Troy Edgar and Travis Allen, Marilynn Poe has endorsed her Council colleague, Edgar.)

Posted in 72nd Assembly District | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

AD 72 Mailbox: Travis Allen Sends Out Brutal Hit Piece On Troy Edgar

Posted by Former Blogger Chris Emami on June 2, 2012

Instead of the normal newsletters that we run on weekends at OC Political we thought that we would get you all caught up on the mail that has gone out over the past week.

This hit piece came across the wire yesterday from a reader. Travis Allen has put down a piece of mail that makes Troy Edgar look really bad. Take a look at the piece posted below:

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Mail | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Taxin Troy Edgar

Posted by OC Insider on June 2, 2012

Today, I received another great mail piece from Travis Allen for Assembly.   This is the first hit piece that I received from Travis and I have to say it is probably the best hit piece have seen this cycle.

The image of Taxin Troy Edgar is definitely going to stick in my mind.  I am attaching a scan of the piece to this post for people to check out.

Image

Image

Will this mail piece be enough to make the race competitive?  I am not sure, but I a bet a lot of voters will have a picture of Taxin Troy Edgar in their heads when they vote on Tuesday.

Also, it looks like Travis has found one of Troy’s real weaknesses.  Edgar’s horrible voting record on taxes and his refusal to sign the No New Tax Pledge might hunt him on Tuesday.

Here is a LINK to a Press Release that OC-Breeze posted about Edgar’s refusal to sign the No New Tax Pledge.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fountain Valley, Fountain Valley School District, Garden Grove, Garden Grove Unified School District, Huntington Beach, Huntington Beach City School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District, Los Alamitos, Los Alamitos Unified School District, Ocean View School District, Orange County, Rossmoor, Rossmoor Community Services District, Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified School District, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach Sanitary District, Surfside Colony Community Services District, Westminster, Westminster School District | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

Tuesday’s Most Important Election

Posted by Chris Nguyen on May 30, 2012

Wisconsin State CapitolSix days from now is Tuesday, June 5, Election Day.

What is the most important election that day?  Is it the CD-47 contest between Alan Lowenthal, Gary DeLong, and Steve Kuykendall?  Is it the Troy Edgar–Long Pham–Travis Allen fight in AD-72?  Is it AD-69’s Tom Daly vs. Michele Martinez vs. Jose Moreno vs. Julio Perez vs. Paco Barragan battle?  Is it the Third Supervisorial District brawl between Todd Spitzer and Deborah Pauly?

No, the most important election on Tuesday lies 2,000 miles northeast of Orange County.

In Wisconsin, June 5 is Election Day in the recall of Republican Governor Scott Walker.

Labor unions launched the recall after Walker gained the passage of legislation that restricted (but did not eliminate) collective bargaining (requiring annual re-certification of unions via annual member elections, limitations of collective bargaining to salaries rather than benefits) and increased public employee contributions to benefits and pensions, among other things.

This recall election marks a watershed moment in which the power of public employee unions faces off against those who seek to curb the legal prerogatives of those unions.

Wisconsin has an interesting recall procedure.  In California, the question of whether we should remove someone from office is one item on the ballot, with voters casting a “Yes” or “No” vote, and then a separate item on the ballot are all the recall replacement candidates, with the incumbent ineligible to run in the replacement vote.  In Wisconsin, there is no separate question of whether someone is removed: there is a single item in which candidates (including the incumbent) run against each other.  Effectively, when you initiate a recall in Wisconsin, you’re simply calling for an early election for the office, much like a parliamentary by-election or snap election; whereas in California, we vote whether or not to keep the incumbent and separately vote on a replacement.

There was a recall primary on May 8, with Walker winning 97% of the votes in the Republican primary and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett winning 58% of the votes in the Democratic primary (this is a rematch of the 2010 election, as Walker defeated Barrett in that election); the recall general election is this coming Tuesday, June 5.

Both the Real Clear Politics average of polls and the Huffington Post average of polls show Walker leading Barrett by a few percentage points.

A Walker victory will embolden politicians across the country seeking to curb the power of labor unions while a Barrett victory will be a warning from the labor unions that politicians should be wary of trying to reduce the legal prerogatives of public employee unions and trying to reduce the benefits enjoyed by public employees.

Posted in National | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Press Release: Travis Allen and Long Pham Agree to Debate: Troy Edgar Refuses to Debate

Posted by OC Insider on May 29, 2012

I received this press release on Friday, but didn’t have a chance to post it until today.  I found it interesting that the press release quoted two candidates.  I think this is the first time I have seen this. Also, the press release include a email chain showing the multiple attempts that were made to try to get Troy Edgar to debate.

Travis Allen and Long Pham Agree to Debate: Troy Edgar Refuses to Debate

 May 25, 2012

Huntington Beach, CA – Candidates for the 72nd Assembly District Travis Allen and Long Pham have both agreed to have a debate.  Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Rossmoor Community Services District, Santa Ana, State Assembly, Sunset Beach Sanitary District, Westminster | Tagged: , , , | 11 Comments »

AD-72 Spending: Edgar $232,000, Pham $106,000, Allen $62,000, Dovinh $16,000

Posted by Chris Nguyen on May 25, 2012

Troy Edgar, Long Pham, Travis Allen, Joe Dovinh

Mayor Troy Edgar (R-Los Alamitos), OC Board of Education Member Long Pham (R-Fountain Valley), Businessman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach), and Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh (D-Garden Grove)

In the 72nd Assembly District race, Republican Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar spent $212,250 during the March 18-May 19 reporting period.  This brings his total spending in the AD-72 race to $231,974.  Surprisingly, this leaves only $10,791 in his warchest.  However, the independently wealthy Edgar can easily write a check to his own campaign (indeed, he put $400,000 into his Congressional warchest before deciding to run for the Assembly instead).

Republican Orange County Board of Education Member Long Pham spent $62,675 during the March 18-May 19 reporting period, bringing his total spending in the AD-72 race to $106,072.  He has only $1,412 left in his warchest.

Republican Huntington Beach Businessman Travis Allen spent $54,233 during the March 18-May 19 reporting period, bringing his total spending in the AD-72 race to $62,406.  He has $23,389 left in his warchest.

Democratic Garden Grove Planning Commissioner Joe Dovinh spent $6,699 during the March 18-May 19 reporting period, brining his total spending in the AD-72 race to $16,352.  He has $5,493 left in his warchest.

Democratic Candidate Albert Ayala did not meet the $1,000 threshold to file a campaign finance report.

There are no reported independent expenditures in this race.

Edgar spent the bulk of his money on reaching actual voters. He spent $119,433 on campaign mail and literature.  He spent another $30,595 on slate mailers.  That’s $150,028 of his $231,974 (65%) of his spending going to voter communication.

Pham just had a lot of overhead expenses.  He spent $25,115 on slate mailers, $3,500 on TV ads, and $1,548 on palm cards.  The rest of his spending went into campaign consulting fees, miscellaneous personnel costs, a $1,748 photography expenditure, and other overhead.  That’s $30,163 of his $106,072 (28%) of his spending going to voter communication.

Allen suffered much of the same spending problems that Pham did.  He spent $15,860 on campaign mail and literature and $5,000 in print ads.  The rest of his spending went into campaign consulting fees, miscellaneous personnel costs, a $12,650 poll, a $900 photography expenditure, and other overhead.  That’s $20,860 of his $62,406 (33%) of his spending going to voter communication.

Dovinh spent $4,063 on the COPS Voter Guide slate mailer, $1,315 on print ads, and $765 on campaign literature.  The rest of his spending went into various personnel expenses and the occasional other overhead.  That’s $6,143 of his $16,352 (38%) of his spending going to voter communication.

For visual learners:

Voter
Communication		 Other
Expenditures		 Total
Expenditures		 Cash on
Hand
Edgar $150,028 $81,946 $231,974 $10,791
Pham $30,163 $75,909 $106,072 $1,412
Allen $20,860 $41,546 $62,406 $23,389
Dovinh $6,143 $10,209 $16,352 $5,493

It’s interesting how close Edgar and Pham’s personnel/overhead costs are, but Edgar has spent five times as much on actually reaching voters.

It is clear that Edgar is dominating the voter communication in AD-72, with nearly three times as much as his opponents combined.  Edgar will come in first by a comfortable margin.  It’s probably already too late for any of the other candidates to catch him.  While Dovinh spent the least of the four, he still remains the higher spending Democrat.  With the Republican vote split three ways and the Democratic vote split only two ways, the top two candidates in June will be Edgar and Dovinh, who will advance to the November general election.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Fundraising | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Story of High Speed Rail Lobbyist Troy Edgar

Posted by OC Insider on April 25, 2012

As we’re still getting to know the candidates for Assembly in the 72nd District, one question I keep hearing people ask over and over again is: Does Troy Edgar still support wasting taxpayer dollars on fanciful high speed rail?

Just as importantly he should come clean about how much taxpayer money he spent traveling around the country lobbying for high speed rail.

Everyone knows that Troy Edgar was a lifelong Democrat and only switched parties when he decided to run for office.   Unfortunately for Orange County, despite the ‘R’ next to his name he has governed like a Chicago Democrat.  Edgar’s push for an illegal trash contract and constant desire to raise taxes and fees are well known.

What is a little less known is that, for a brief period of time, Los Alamitos paid a large sum in order to join the Orangeline Development Authority (OLDA).  At the time, the mission of OLDA was promoting a high speed maglev rail line that would run from Irvine to Palmdale.

Troy Edgar was named Vice Chairman of OLDA and quickly became one of the most active proponents of this high speed rail boondoggle.

He quickly started lobbying Orange County cities and agencies.  He frivolously worked on getting the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) on to support the project.  Before presenting to OCTA, he bragged about “his previous lobbying efforts toward the OCTA to prepare for this event.”

Fortunately for Orange County and California, OCTA turned Troy Edgar and his levitating high speed train down.  No doubt, by saying no to Troy Edgar, OCTA saved taxpayers billions.

Here are just a few of the problems that OCTA found with Troy’s Train.

From OCTA July 26, 2007 Staff Report:

“OCTA has not committed right of way”

“Financial plan appears extremely optimistic”

“$18 average fare is assumed for 20-mile trip”

From OCTA CEO Arthur Leahy, August 9, 2007 Memo:

“The Orangeline financial plan appears extremely optimistic.”

“Investors expressed concern about the Orangeline’s ability to secure right-of-way for the project and to receive the necessary environmental approvals.”

“Only one of the Orangeline’s 14 member cities, Los Alamitos, is located in Orange County, and none of the seven the seven Orange County cities directly bordering the PE Railroad right-of-way has joined the Orangeline.” (OLDA Minutes May 9, 2007)

“In March 2007, the La Palma City Council adopted a resolution explicitly opposing the use of the PE Railroad right-of-way for any future transit project, including the Orangeline.”

Furthermore, in true Chicago Democrat style, Troy Edgar could not take no for an answer and wanted OCTA to bully Orange County cities that did not want this project going through their town.

La Palma city councilman, Ralph Rodriguez spoke in opposition to the project.

“The City of La Palma opposes this particular project since it would be disruptive to the residential properties that are adjacent to the subject right-of-way” (OCTA Transit Planning and Operations Committee Meeting May 10, 2007)

How did Troy Edgar react?  He urged OCTA to ignore the city of La Palma.

“Troy Edgar, Councilman, City of Los Alamitos, stated this is an opportunity to provide clean technology and asked staff to keep the Orangeline project as an option and append the Long-Range Transportation Plan to include this project. (OCTA Transit Planning and Operations Committee Meeting May 10, 2007)

Not being able to take a hint and realize that he is lobbying for a tax dollar black hole that is not wanted by either the impacted cities or the taxpayers who would have to foot the bill, Troy Edgar decided it was a good idea travel to New York and lobby private investors for this project.  He even brags about it in the OC Register.

“He will talk later this month to potential investors in New York”

I wonder just how much this trip cost.  In fact, I would like to know how much all of Edgar’s lobbying efforts cost.  He traveled all over the state on behalf of this project. In addition to his OLDA per meeting stipend of $100 (yes, he took a stipend for his OLDA meetings), how much did taxpayers have to pay for all of his travel?

Can we trust Troy Edgar to oppose High Speed Rail if we send him to Sacramento? I would have to say, absolutely not! If this entire saga makes one thing clear, it is that Troy Edgar cannot be trusted with taxpayer funds.

Posted in 72nd Assembly District, Los Alamitos, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | 5 Comments »

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