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WELCOME, ORANGE JUICE BLOG READERS! WE HAVE A NEW EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BRETT MURDOCK — CLICK HERE TO READ IT!
I’ve been sitting on this information for a while, and it’s good to finally see it come to pass. Former Brea Mayor Brett Murdock will be running for Ed Royce‘s seat in Congress. As a contender, Murdock should have as much money as Jay Chen did when he scared the hell out of Royce in 2012 — but is also better known in the area and can cut into Royce’s Orange County advantage. This is who Democrats — and not just local ones — wanted for the race, and they landed him.
I’ve written about Brett Murdock before. He’s a Business Democrat — more moderate (in some ways perhaps even conservative) than I’d like — but that’s probably the best chance to succeed in this district. My problem with most Business Democrats is not so much their ideology as their tendency to sell out their constituents for either personal gain (Jose Solorio, Tom Daly, Miguel Pulido, Jordan Brandman) or for campaign contributions (Lou Correa — who, as I’ve always acknowledged, doesn’t seem to be dishonest, just someone who can be honestly rented by conservative contributors.)
Murdock’s different. While he has the sort of focus on pension reform and other economically conservative issues that fits the district, he’s also honest — and courageous. In fact, if he lacked either quality, he would still be on the City Council. I’ll explain:
Brea, a regular readers know, is in the midst of approving a $13 million, $10.7 million, $whatever million new parking structure for the benefit of its Downtown business owners, who are pretty much explicitly holding Downtown hostage over it. The most prominent local one of them, Dwight Manley, has led the charge for this astounding gift from the City to — by and large — ultimately his pockets. (More on that another time.)
Manley was also the biggest contributor to campaigns and to IEs in the Brea Council election, which (based on what I’ve been told, but haven’t verified) may have been the most expensive one ever.
In 2013, Manley threw Murdock a party at TAPS to help his 2014 reelection. Nice of him! Then, the bill came due — Manley wanted Murdock’s support for his parking structure. Murdock tried to come up with a way that the deal could be restructured to give the public its full due value — but Manley wouldn’t budge. (Still hasn’t budged, in fact.) And so Murdock — despite threats that Manley would destroy him in the next election if he didn’t go along with the program — told Manley that he wouldn’t support the project.
Manley responded by funding Murdock’s opponents — both of whom have proven themselves to be on the feeble side and one of whom a civil judge asserted committed a felony — and Dishonest Dave Gilliard’s pay-for-pay PAC with a big enough gob of money to defeat Murdock. Murdock knew that this was coming and — despite being a politician — he still wouldn’t play along with the bigfooted local multi-millionaire that wanted the tribute of receiving public funds. When’s the last time you’ve heard that?
So I just don’t care about his being a lot more conservative than I am. I care that he’s honest enough to not go along with a rotten deal, brave enough to tell the big donor who had promised to destroy him to take a hike, and committed enough to stand by his principles even to the point of a narrow electoral defeat.
[Interest stated: my daughter has been and still is Murdock’s Campaign Treasurer. That does not effect this story one bit. She gets way too little compensation for the job, in my opinion, but squeezing vendors is one sign of an adept politician! Her not making that amount of money wouldn’t change a word that I wrote above. I don’t always like her clients (though if she were to consider someone I absolutely hated, I might tell her why and keep whining until she reconsidered) and despite Reckless Chumley’s loose allegations I do not do her clients any favors as a blogger on that account. If I write positive things about them, it’s because I legitimately like them. So my opinion on Murdock has nothing to do with that familial business contact — it has to do with his showing a commitment to principle that is almost unprecedented in my experience of OC Democratic politics. Also, he speaks fluent Spanish, and if Ed Royce ever agrees to debate him he’s going to make Ed Royce cry. And if Ed Royce doesn’t agree to debate him, he’s going to make Ed Royce squirm.]
My dear friend, progressive Democrat, and Jordan Brandman’s Campaign Manager Melahat Rafiei is handling his campaign — that’s one way you know that the County’s Democratic powers-that-be assent to the choice — and she just sent around this email:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 1, 2015Brea, Calif. – Brett Murdock, a lifelong Orange County resident, attorney, professor, small business owner, and former Brea City Councilmember and Mayor, today announced his candidacy for California’s 39th Congressional District. The seat is currently held by Congressman Ed Royce.
“I am running for Congress to empower middle class families, help local businesses succeed, and fight against the reckless policies of Washington politicians,” said Murdock. “Like many folks in our community, I have supported Congressman Royce in the past. But I can no longer stand by and allow Washington extremists like Royce to put politics before people. Working families deserve a representative that will stand up for them, find common ground, and move our country forward.”
California’s 39th Congressional District, which includes portions of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino Counties, is one of the best pickup opportunities in the state for Democrats. By registration, Republicans outnumber Democrats by only six percent. President Barack Obama nearly carried the seat in 2012, as did Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Murdock is a lifelong Orange County resident and twenty-year small business owner. He teaches American Government at Cal State Fullerton. He was elected to the Brea City Council in 2010, and served as Mayor in 2014. In these roles, Murdock worked with leaders from both parties to keep local neighborhoods safe and improve the delivery of city services.
Murdock’s long history of community involvement includes serving as President of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, Chair of the Orange County Council of Governments, Chair of the Orange County Waste Management Commission, and Chair of the Operations Committee of the Orange County Sanitation District. He’s also an active member of the Brea Rotary Club, and the President of a non-profit organization that provides and maintains low-income housing for seniors.
Murdock holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law. Brett lives in the City of Brea, with his wife, Roni, and their two children.
Despite our occasional permanent disagreements, I acknowledge that Melahat’s very good at her job. At least as good, I’m guessing, as whoever Royce will have in his corner. She has the excellent Derek Humphrey in Murdock’s corner as well. This will be a pro race.
Beating Ed Royce would be a tall order — but it’s not impossible. If Royce dares to stint on his campaign spending this year, it’s not even that improbable. (Royce was only able to bury Jay Chen’s challenge by spending $3 million — and Jay didn’t have the OC contacts that Murdock will have.) Royce has so much to answer for — especially in a Presidential election year! — so this will be an interesting race to watch!
Much more on this story to come in time — and for a long time! I love seeing North OC in play!
I think a lot of Republicans are sick of Ed Royce’s ties to the Kleptocracy and his business as usual BS, and will see Brett Murdock as a good alternative, despite his Dem leanings. I like Brett, like him a lot in fact, and I am glad to see an honest guy step into the ring for honest reasons. Greg, I agree with your evaluation of him 100%. Murdock is a good man.
Ed Royce works harder and has done more for the conservative GOP cause than you or your friends will do in 10 lifetimes, Cynthia. Now, here you are promoting a Democrat against a conservative Republican congressman. Do us all a favor: resign from the Anaheim Republican Assembly and stop passing yourself off as a Republican. You’re a sham.
How hard the life is for those of us, in both parties, who put honesty and integrity above mere political advantage. And we get the same sort of response — abuse from asshats. (I can call you an “asshat” without insulting you because I don’t know who you are. If I knew who you are, you might be downgraded to a “fool” or a “jerk.”)
Yes, Royce “works hard” — so do the criminal leaders of banking corporations that he forgot to Regulate when he was heading the Financial Services Committee — but it is not “for conservatism.” It is “for” Ed Royce and “for” kleptocracy — and there’s so much evidence for it that it will be a pure joy to dribble it out as often as daily over the next year. I have my political differences with the ARA, but most of the people I know from there also seem inclined to put their version of ethics over get-rich-quietly-and-quick. Let us know if and when you feel secure about your views that you’re willing to take personal responsibility — that’s supposed to be a “Republican value,” right? — for expressing them to others.
Have a nice weekend. Let me know if you want the free upgrade.
Yeah, well, what know is that Royce worked real hard to stick Fullerton with boobs like Dick Jones and Pat McKinley and a bunch of other drones that guaranteed that no conservative government was going to take place there.
Royce’s record in Congress would be indistinguishable from any other garden variety GOPer suddenly elevated from Rotary Club obscurity.
He backed every stupid war that came past him, dependably demonized minorities, and apart from that led the way through deregulation to the financial collapse. He is a Republican Chickenhawk memorialized thusly by the Orange Juice Blog with his fellow OC chickenhawks Gary Miller, John Campbell and Dana Rohrabacher:
Take a lesson from Mr. Royce, show a little class.
I know quite a few people who like the guy and plenty who don’t. From what I can tell, he wouldn’t appreciate your anonymous stone throwing.
If you’re gonna defend the guy, defend him like he’d want you to.
What do you think about Royce now?
Shoulda slotted him to better position SQS. Specifically in the State Senate. Guy is gonna get slaughtered.
Sorry Cynthia, Fullerton Reeps aren’t voting for this guy. Just won’t happen, particularly looking at who replaced Murdock on the council in Brea . . . we’re not exactly talking about “establishment” Republicans here.
But hey, the more honest politicians running, the better. I could care less how well they do: Sometimes losing and being honest is simply more important.
Cheers Mr. Murdock.
Former Mayor Sukhee Kang of Irvine — I know, I know — has moved into Fullerton and has most of the party’s institutional support for the State Senate seat. Josh Newman, a non-profit guy and tech maven who can self-fund, will be running against Kang in the de facto Democratic primary to run against Ling-Ling Chang. Murdock could fight that out without institutional support — or he could take on Royce with huge institutional support, and I don’t just mean in OC.
If Royce doesn’t take him seriously, Murdock will raise enough money to have a decent chance to win. (Royce is not exactly well-loved. I’ve seen polling data.) If Royce spends as much against Murdock as he did against Chen, then he may be able to hold down Murdock’s fundraising — but it will come at a cost.
Murdock’s chances of getting past Royce are probably pretty similar to his chances of getting past Kang and Newman and THEN getting past Chang. But this way, he’s a hero who will get great coverage — and he’s young enough to make good use of it — rather than part of a fustercluck. He’s a smart guy; he’s making the smart decision. And Dems *really* wanted him in this race.
I hope Josh Newman does run. I met with him last week and he’s the real deal – compared to a grasping Irvine interloper with a smoking quarter billion dollar crater in his wake.
I don’t know what it is about these Irvine losers who want to run for office in north OC, but it needs to stop.
Honestly, the hubris.
Yeah, sure, my political career here is ruined due in large part to the fallout from my poor decisions.
I know, I’ll move twenty miles north and ask for a promotion! People there are simply too stupid to figure out my desperation to make myself relevant!
Come on, Ryan! You know that that’s only a half truth!
It’s north-*northwest*!
Really? How is he the real deal? I think that I’ve met him once or twice, and we corresponded when he took over the club newsletter from me, but I don’t think that we’ve ever talked policy or politics.
I have warned people that people around here would not likely be at all unprepared to campaign against Sukhee. For all that matters.
To clarify, I wasn’t endorsing Murdock, only saying I like him. And I don’t think he I’ll win,Royce is too firmly entrenched in a population paying little to no attention to substance behind the candidates they mark in the ballots they mail in waiting for tee time. But I do think ENOUGH republicans know what is going on with Royce to be attracted to Murdock as an alternative and he is likely to do better than most in what should have been an easy race for aroyce otherwise.
I recently had the opportunity to hear Royce speak, there is no question he knows international relations like nobody else in Washington. He doesn’t just know the issues he knows the issues that are underlying and driving the issues, and there is HUGE value in that. My problem with Royce is that he has his head stuck so far up an Afghani cave that he has checked out of affairs here at home, and offers his name for endorsement of genuinely evil people doing as much damage within their own sphere of influence as the big picture evil he wants to protect us from overseas.
Royce needs to spend some time digging into issues here at home with the same very, very sharp mind he uses to connect the dots In Washington, and see the character if those he is lending his name to. For many everyday garden variety Republicans, Ed Royce’s endorsement means something, he is trusted, and when his endorsement is used to sell rotten apples to his own constituents he needs to take his lumps for that.
I have no problem saying that, and I say it without animosity toward Royce who is likable. I am also not a bad Republican for saying it, holding ourselves to a high standard of integrity is what we are supposed to do, holding that standard for elected officials marching into battle under our elephant banner is crucial to the future of our party.
north OC Reep, if you cannot see the extreme damage being done to our own party, then YOU are the one bad for the GOP, not me. I just got back from an event talking about how critical it is to hold the seats we control, now how do we do that when those of us out there trying to register voters and persuade citizens to consider the conservative candidates hear over and over and over again, if THIS is what it means to be Republican (pointing to mailers for Kring, Murray, Sidhu, Wagner etc.) then I want nothing to do with you people. And SLAM goes the front door. I for one am tired of it. I want to win hearts and minds and show my mostly immigrant neighbors that conservative government offering less invasive options is the way to go, that our values match the Latino family values more closely than Dems, but.to do that I need actual examples of this type of government and in Anaheim all I can offer is the current crop of steal-from-general-fund-to-feed-klepto-buddies type leaders. Royce has enabled that more than most, and needs to get his head yanked back to the surface to see the war happening on the home front.
” . . . Ed Royce’s endorsement means something, he is trusted, and when his endorsement is used to sell rotten apples to his own constituents he needs to take his lumps for that.”
That, Mrs. Ward, is on point.
Endorsing Larry Bennett in Fullerton was akin to hiding under a rock for the last three years. Completely inexcusable considering Mr. Bennett’s role in the recall. Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention would immediately know that’s a giant inexcusable step backwards for Fullerton.
100% behind you. Well put.
Don’t overstate the international qualifications of ANYONE who cheerled Operation Iraqi Fiefdom.
After all, even DICK CHENEY can sound FULL OF KNOWLEDGE when talking about the players in the Middle East.
“…and offers his name for endorsement of genuinely evil people doing as much damage within their own sphere of influence as the big picture evil he wants to protect us from overseas.”
That’s a real good way of looking at it. Plus, Iraq and Afghanistan. Who created ISIS? We did.
I agree with Zenger that we created the thing of our worst orange jump-suited nightmares in our failure to properly finish what we started over there, but I wonder if Mr. Nelson could elaborate on his objection to Iraqi Freedom? Please tell me you are not going into the “Bush lied, people died” line…and frankly I think it DOES take a TON of brain power to figure out the Middle East, with the cluster-*&^% of tribal infighting and people who are our friends but not really, and in that I do admire Royce. Try again, Vern. There is plenty to talk about here that is real and relevant, not that.
Finish what we started? The is no end game. There never was.
Nope. A ton of brain power has been wasted trying to figure out the Middle East for 65 years. The “brains” can’t do it because they are accepting the wrong premises to start with. And Ed Royce probably has an the brain of an average American drywall hanger.
Bush did lie. And hundreds of thousands have died – many of them American. What for? The connection of Saddam Hussein’s regime to 9/11 was non-existent. Weapons of mass destruction? An illusion foisted on us by the neo-cons who ran our foreign policy and who were validated by the cowards in Congress (of both parties) who were too pusillanimous to do actually defend real American interests.
The Iraqi invasion was a 1000% percent dereliction of national interest. A species of treason, in fact. And now we reap the harvest we have sown.
Seriously, you want me to list all the reasons our invasion and occupation of Iraq was, to paraphrase Talleyrand, “Not only a crime, but worse than that, a blunder.” I thought that had become like common wisdom by now, with nearly everyone who had supported it now apologizing. I don’t have the energy right now to hit that slow ball, cuz once I get started I’ll go on forever. But if nobody else has answered by Monday I will.
And “finish what we started” sounds an awful lot like Vietnam-era sunk cost fallacy.
Oh. I see that Zenger has already said a fraction of what I would say.
I’m glad to see ANYBODY run against the Little Corporal. He’s been sitting on a mountain of campaign cash for 25 years. I’d like to see him spend some of it defending the Security State aparatus.
I don’t know if anyone ever looks into these candidates, but if you look at this guy, he’s the one that ran for Brea City Council saying that he was an Orange County District Attorney, trying cases against criminals. It was soon learned that he was an intern who shuffled paper…his website soon corrected the “mistake”. Really, this is who you want? Have fun!!!!
Well, “Jet,” I think that you have at best mangled the truth here — really, he claimed to be THE OCDA? — but presuming that you means something like an ADA I presume that you can provide some evidence for your assertion. Otherwise, it’s only going to exist in some “Hall of Shame” feature we’ll have to create for you. So get on it — send us a link so we can examine this alleged matter for ourselves. Sorry that we hold anonymous commenters to slightly higher standards. Sorry/not-sorry, I mean.
Gregory, the tradgedy in Oregon toJday is EXACTLY why people post anonamously. With CRAZY people dredging the internet for positions they disagree with, I believe posting on the internet, confrontational material is irresponsible as well as unwise. A brick through the window, a swastisca on the lawn is 1 thing but, loaded guns by unhinged internet fools is far more dangerous. THATS WHY PEOPLE LIKE JET USE HANDLES.
It’s “case IN point,” and “youwontpostthis@aol.com” is not a working address.
I’ll say it again: anonymous posting is not inherently a problem. Vicious anonymous attacks are a problem. If you’re going to post anonymously, don’t slam people on personal grounds. (Make all of the policy arguments you want — which is what you’ve done here, and that’s why your prediction was wrong.) If you’re a whistleblower — even if you’re someone who turned out to be full of crap, like the guy who used this venue to take on Vince Sarmiento — you can slam someone so long as you give people a chance to evaluate what you’re saying (which is why that guy didn’t end up well.) But if you’re just a character assassin, you should not be expected to see your anonymous material in print. It corrodes the Internet’s pipes.
I haven’t yet read the Oregon story, by the way, though I’ve seen the headline; I’m busy catching up with my mail.
Point is EVERYTHING here is worthless blather. Because none of it can be verofied. Not even the chairmans b#tch boy can deny that. Rail on against anonymous posters papi. It’s better than shooting them up or todsing a brick and incendary device through the window. WORDS DON’T HURT. Bullets do.
“Jet” made a point that, if true, would have left some verifiable trace. I’ve invited him (or you, who knows?) to provide even a link to some story. Nope, nothing.
Your justification of vicious anonymous attacks is charming, though. We agree that shooting or firebombing political opponents is bad, so at least we’ve gotten that far. Of course, you can’t be held to such a position, because for some reason you won’t even say THAT under your real name. (Too controversial, I suppose.)
The REALITY is Greg Diamond may be the only Democrat in North OC worth a shit.
But he has burned too many bridges and acts like an asshole and most importantly is condesending. The Ryan Leaf of the left. Shut up. Get a job. Work behind the scenes and emerge as a different kind of canditate. Running as a 330 pound blog slob is So 1990.
If Greg Diamond WANTED to make difference he could. Instead blogging is easier. Fucked up values and a loss for dems allover. But STUPID is STUPID and CRAZY is CRAZY. blog on brother.
I’m approving this comment reluctantly. Not “reluctantly” because I’m offended by it; I don’t like it, I don’t accept the faux compliment at the top (there are plenty of good Dems in North OC), and I don’t accept the less-faux insults at the end.
I’m reluctant to approve it because it seems to me that this genre of comment has become really boring. I have a job; I like what I’m doing, especially in Anaheim; I don’t expect any of that to change. So what’s the point of this sort of thing?
I can still “unapprove” the comment. Let me know what y’all think. If even I’M getting bored with this, I figure that for the rest of you it must be getting excruciating.
This same commenter tries to post nasty slander about friends of ours every week, and I always hit delete. Plus they can’t spell.
Same person, really? If you’re sure, we can block them. But if they’ve been working that hard, I’m glad that they finally got something in.
Yes, the same person wrote a long comment yesterday that I deleted that trashed Zia, Zia’s family, and everyone involved with Zia – this person obviously trolls everybody’s facebook pages. And comments unimpeded at the Liberal OC (same misspellings.)
^^^ sounds like a healthy way to get through life.
Oh, cool! Which member of Chumley’s Rogues’ Gallery is it?
Ryan, if they weren’t doing this, they would probably be torturing cats or something, so in a way I guess ithat is IS healthy (comparatively.)
I dont know, they generally use different names, but now they’ve used “Stop the Cycle of Violence” here a few times, and they always spell the same people’s names the same wrong way. Pinky is similar but someone else – Pinky is also a facebook stalker obsessed with the same people.
Pinky sounds an awful lot like Chimpanzeeski.
Well, I don’t want them to bypass moderation — so I’ll go make sure that they can’t.
They haven’t been… just like this one didn’t.
We’ll discuss.