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NOTE CORRECTION: NO EXTENSIONS IN THE JUDICIAL RACES OR THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE RACES, BUT YES IN ONE JUDICIAL RACE! SEE OTHER POST.
UPDATED THROUGH 12/5!
It’s that time of the quadrennium again: not only are people about to lock themselves into running for federal and state offices, but also into running to run for the elected seats on the parties’ Central Committees (OC’s main ones being the DPOC and the recently rechristened RPOC.) We’ll focus only on the former today. [Note that the San Bernardino Registrar of Voters page seems to have taken a turn for the worse, so I don’t know if there are any additional candidates from Chino Hills in CA-39, SD-29, or AD-55 — but generally there aren’t, and if there are they aren’t likely to be competitive.]
Katie Porter, Cottie Petrie-Norris, and Thu-Ha Nguyen lookin’ good for March 3!
Before getting down to business: if you’re a good progressive Dem who can stand up to the political establishment, you already have a lot of good people to vote for [IN THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE RACES – Vern.] Without naming them, here’s my count to help you decide whether to run yourself, with the deadline to turn in signatures at the Registrar’s office in Santa Ana being this Friday at 5:00:
AD-55: four good ones; 2 or 3 more seem promising; MAYBE
AD-65: six good ones at a minimum, probably 8; DON’T RUN
AD-68: eight good ones at a minimum, likely more; DON’T RUN
AD-69: room for at least two more dependable lefties; MAYBE
AD-72: more good candidates than we need already; DON’T RUN
AD-73: need to consult with sources there; CONSIDER IT…
AD-74: more than eight good ones already; DON’T RUN
OK, now back to our scheduled feature!
For those unfamiliar with our procedures here, we color-code day-to-day changes to help people keep track of new developments. Monday’s new developments are posted in red, Tuesday’s are in amber, Wednesday’s are in green, Thursday’s are in blue, and Friday’s are in purple. (I forget what we do with late filings when eligible incumbents don’t run, but there aren’t many of those so it’s won’t be too confusing.)
CONGRESS!
CA-38
Nobody from La Palma (or anywhere else) is running against Democratic incumbent (and dark hose Vice-Presidential nominee) Linda Sanchez for this seat. She hasn’t even filed in OC for the ballot herself, which she does not need to do. We may not cover this one much.
Linda has filed in Los Angeles, so she’s on the ballot. A Republican and a Democrat have taken out papers in LA, but neither has fired. So unless anyone wants to close it off, she’ll probably face one or more write-in candidates in March and whoever finishes second to her faces her in November.
CA-39
Young Kim is running for Congress again — and the name that you’d expect to see running against her is (for now) conspicuously absent. Gil Cisneros, the incumbent, has finally taken out papers. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Gil is perturbed at not having gotten a lot of individual contributions or promises of financial support from the DCCC — and today is the end of the month, so perhaps he’s been waiting to take stock. Is leaving the seat without a Democratic challenger so far his way of subtly threatening that he might take his money and go home? I hope not! But: “be prepared.” If you appreciate his running you can give him a little money to thank him for trying to hold a difficult seat.
Young Kim is already on the ballot. Gil has his papers, but still hasn’t filed them. (In DC, I’d guess.) He needs to submit his ballot designation worksheet — this should not be hard for an incumbent! — and he hasn’t filed the nomination papers that were issued (which is not the path most candidates for Congress take.) He also hasn’t filed a candidate statement — which was giving me flashbacks to Joe Dunn’s failure to do so in his race against Lou Correa based on some crackpot theory his adviser had — but then I realized that Gil doesn’t actually need a candidate statement in March, as he’ll make the runoff regardless. Let Young Kim spent all of her money on one in each of the three counties! And if the March results aren’t good for him, he can blame that on the omitted statement, a defect that he’ll fix by June. However, if he doesn’t file by Friday after all, I’ve figured out at least one person who could file next week, run here, and beat Young Kim — and it’s not one of the names I have crossed out below. Stay tuned.
Gil seems to have done everything necessary to get onto the ballot, though he’s not listed as such. Steve Cox, an NPP, filed in LA and has filed a candidate statement here in OC.
If he doesn’t run, it will open the seat for another five days, and the likely suspects like Jay Chen, Andy Thorburn, and Sam Jammal will have to make a quick huddle to determine which one of them — yes, only one, please — will run. Or we could get someone from outside of the area parachuting in. I hope and expect that Gil will run and win, but I could do without the drama.
CA-45
Katie Porter — who by my calculations is the best Vice-Presidential candidate for either Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren — is running for re-election here. Of the two other Democrats in the race, Aditya Pai has filed nothing beyond paying his fee and Mark Schuk shows no signs of activity at all.
Any of three Republicans could give her a good fight, though: “Retired Marine Colonel” (and Mayor of Mission Viejo) Greg Raths, “Deputy Attorney General” Peggy Huang, Laguna Hills Mayor Don Sedgwick. A fourth, OCBOE member Lisa Sparks could as well — but she hasn’t yet qualified. I doubted here that Raths’s originl ballot designation of “Decorated Combat Marine” was permissible, unless he is currently making money from being decorated in combat — and whether he was clued in here or elsewhere, Raths apparently agreed. I was shocked to see Huang listed as a Deputy Attorney General (at least within California, under AG Xavier Becerra.) All I can say is that I searched the AG’s website just now and could not find any reference to a Peggy, or to any Huang as a Deputy AG. I’ll try again, but if she but that on there under oath and it’s wrong, well….
Two other Republicans, Christopher Gonzales and Rhonda Furin, probably could not give Katie a good fight, but while they are on the ballot they won’t likely make it to November.
WED. UPDATE: Huang, Raths, Pai, and Gonzalez are on the ballot. Sedgwick and Furin are almost on the ballot. Sparks paid her fee and nothing Schuck hasn’t even done that. You know who isn’t on the ballot? Katie Porter, who has paid her fee and done nothing else. I know that she’s been busy in DC, and I presume that she’ll be back here on Friday, but there’s just no excuse for leaving this until this late. If Katie locks herself out of the race, we need two and only two serious Democrats running, who,against four or five Republicans can probably lock the GOP out of the race. (Someone would need to find out whether Pai can run a viable campaign.)
THURS. UPDATE: Katie still hasn’t completed her filing, so unless she does so by Friday at 5 she is barred from the race. In that event filing extends until next Wednesday at 5 (and will surely attract some Democrats.) But that would be immensely weird. For Democrats not to have two strong candidates on the ballot against four strong Republicans — so that the party wins the election in March — is nuts. If Katie’s NOT on the ballot and they don’t do it, it’s doubly nuts.
CA-46
The race here is between two Democrats: incumbent Lou Correa and newcomer Pablo Mendiolea, who has been picking up a lot of support among the reform sectors of the party. Pablo’s first task is to get by one Republican, James Waters, and three candidates listed as NPP: Will Johnson, Ed Rushman, and Hilaire Fuji Shioura. If a second Republican enters the race in this highly Democratic district, Pablo has a decent shot at the runoff against Correa, who — lest we forget — was censured by the Democratic Party last year for endorsing the Republican candidates for Sheriff and District Attorney.
WED. UPDATE: God give me strength. Lou Correa isn’t yet on the ballot, which is fine with me, but Democrat Pablo Mendiolea hasn’t made any moves towards getting his name on. Anyone who knows whether he’s going through with his challenge, let me know. In fact, NO ONE is on this race’s ballot yet, although Waters, Johnson, and Rushman are close. (UPDATE TO UPDATE: Pablo says that he will be filing today or tomorrow. He seems to want people to donate to his campaign, so there you go!)
THURS. UPDATE: Lou is now on the ballot. Pablo filed a bunch of papers today, but will have to tie the ribbon on the box tomorrow. From the looks of his filing status, he’s trying to figure out how much of a candidate statement he can afford. An e-statement is not too pricey, and will get picked up by the newspapers, but it’s nice to be in the booklet sent out to voters. Nice, but in this situation not absolutely essential. If you want to make Pablo’s decision easier, he has a campaign website and you can figure out how to reach him with a big check! Republican Waters and NPP Rushman have now both qualified for the ballot as well.)
CA-47
Worthy incumbent Alan Lowenthal is from the Los Angeles half of this district, but he’s put himself on the OC ballot as well. (Not currently listed as a Democrat, but that’s surely just an oversight.) A second Dem, Peter Mathews, is also running, as are three Republicans: John Briscoe, Sou Moua, and Amy Phan West. On the Los Angeles side: nothing..
WED. UPDATE: Moua is on the vallot, Briscoe is on the verge, and I’m going to presume that Lowenthal is ok on the LA side, though I hope he buys a candidate statement here in OC. West and Mathews look moribund for now.
THURS. UPDATE: Lowenthal, Mathews, and Democrat Jalen Dupree McLeod, are all on the ballor from Los Angeles; Republicans Moua and Phan West are both on the ballot through OC;
CA-48
Incumbent Harley Rouda has filed for reelection in a race against fellow Democrat Gary Sanchez, the AIP’s Richard Mata and seven Republicans, the headliner among whom is Michelle Steel. Also from the GOP: Brian Burley, Christopher Engels, James Brian Griffin, Tami Le Murillo, Shastina Sandman, and John Thomas Schuesler. Hey, if they can split the vote far enough to put Steel behind Sanchez or Mata for the second ticket to the general election, more power to them!
WED. UPDATE: Harley is on the ballot, along with Steel. Griffin, and Schuesler. If the latter two were Steel’s equal it would be worth running a second Democrat to lock Republicans out of the race — but they aren’t. Mata has almost made it, Burley is closing in, Engels has done almost nothing, and Murillo, Sanchez, and Sandman have done literally nothing at the ROV since they filed.
THURS. UPDATE: Still Democrat Rouda against Republicans Steel, Griffin, Schuesler, and now American Independent Mata. Harley’s definite for November and Steel very likely.
CA-49
Not-as-bad-as-expected Democratic incumbent Mike Levin is facing a challenge from, so far, only Republican Brian Maryott. Someone named Nadia Smalley seems to be in the process of filing in San Diego.
WED. UPDATE: Levin and Maryott are both on the ballot. I don’t feel like looking up San Diego.
THURS. UPDATE: See Wednesday update.
LEGISLATURE!
Senate District 29
Serial liar Ling-Ling Chang, who took over Josh Newman’s seat in Carl DeMaio’s recall, has not yet filed for re-election, but probably will not yet paid her fees. If she doesn’t complete filing, filing the seat opens for three more workdays. Newman has already filed and paid his fees — and will do far better in an election with a full (and active) electorate than in a paltry populated recall election. Joseph Cho was one of two Democrats (there may have been more) who ran to replace Newman in the recall, thus helping to confuse things enough for it to pass, and he is on everyone’s shit list and just doesn’t know it yet. If he scores in more than double-figures it will be a shame. (The other such Democrat, Stanton’s Kevin Carr, is now a Republican.) A fourth candidate — George Shen, of the City of Industry — has also taken out papers in LA.
WED. UPDATE: Newman is not yet on the ballot. Cho has paid his fees but hasn’t done anything else. Chang has … done absolutely nothing. (Maybe she remembered that she’s a serial liar.) Newman had better hope that someone else does file against him so he doesn’t have to face some weird write-in.
THURS. UPDATE: Newman may be making up his mind about a candidate statement. Not having one means that Chang and Cho, who both filed in LA on Wednesday, have to pay more for their statements. I presume that Josh will be finishing his filing tomorrow.
Senate District 37
John Moorlach, Vern’s humorous libertarian buddy, is running for reelection. Democrats have a nasty race evolving between former Katie Porter nemesis Dave Min and former (probably continuing, but I haven’t been following Costa Mesa’s City Council) Sandy Genis nemesis Katrina Foley. I’ll give Min the chance to answer the accusations made against him that led me to call for no endorsement at the CDP convention last year, when now-disgraced then-Chair Eric Bauman pretended not to hear me, and I’ll give Foley the chance to rebut my complaints that she drove Genis away from the Democrat-dominated majority coalition. I’ll probably ask Moorlach whether we really need two Republican State Senators with beachfront districts. (On the other hand, we only have one Democratic State Senator on the State’s Eastern Border.)
WED. UPDATE: Moorlach’s just about on the ballot. Min has paid his fees and not done anything else. Foley has … not even paid her fees. WTF? Why are so many people who we know are running waiting until the last day to file their papers? Why are these people trying to kill me?
THURS. UPDATE: Moorlach is now on the ballot. Foley and Min are both not quite, though I can’t actually figure out what Foley is missing. No one is filing a candidate statement so far, which is sort of interesting.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 55
The uppermost of OC’s seven Assembly Districts, it’s only tri-county one, is represented by Republican Phillip Chen, who will be challenged by Walnut Mayor Andrew Rodriguez, a Democrat. CHECK SB! In a Democratic year, this could be competitive, even despite Yorba Linda.
WED. UPDATE: Chen is on the ballot. I believe that Rodriguez is on the ballot in LA County — or at least will be.
THURS. UPDATE: Incumbent Phillip Chen is on the ballot from OC. Andrew Rodriguez is on the ballot in LA, They’re joined by Margaret Hamilton (who I believe is a Democrat) in OC, who paid her fees Thursday but has not filed all of her papers.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 65
Incumbent Democrat Sharon Quirk-Silva’s only opponent on the board right now is a fellow Democrat, Param Brar. Presumably, she’ll have a Republican opponent next fall, and — given the large Democratic turnout expected for President in this suburban district — she will presumably win. [Update 12/2: As things stand, that Republican will be Republican will be Cynthia Thacker, and Sharon will still win.]
WED. UPDATE: Sharon is on the ballot. Brar as done nothing. Thacker has paid her fee, filed one form — and done nothing more.
THURS. UPDATE: Sharon is on the ballot. Thacker is not as yet, though she looks to be on course. Brar does not appear likely to file.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 68
This one sets up two Democrats against two Republicans, with one officeholder and one non-officeholder in each party. The officeholders are Republican incumbent (and former Irvine Mayor) Steven Choi and current Democratic Irvine Councilwoman Melissa Fox. The newcomers are Republican Benjamin Yu and Democrat Eugene Fields.
WED. UPDATE: Melissa Fox is on the ballot. Choi is almost on. Yu is maybe a step behind. Fields has paid his fees and filed nothing.
THURS. UPDATE: Only Fox is on the ballot, but incumbent Choi seems certain to finish. Yu filed a bunch on Tuesday and Fields did so on Wednesday, but neither are as yet qualified.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 69
This is the most liberal Assembly District in Orange County, currently held by the most conservative Democratic Assembly member in the state, Tom Daly. Like Lou Correa in the overlapping Congressional seat, he was also censured by the DPOC last year. One Republican, Jon Paul White, is also in the race. I expect these numbers to grow, at least on the blue side.
WED. UPDATE: Daly has paid his fee and filed nothing. Same for White. Chavez has done nothing.
THURS. UPDATE: Incumbent Daly has done almost everything he needs to qualify. The second Democrat, Chavez, has still done nothing. White, the Republican, has paid his fee but not filed anything else. Daly could be the only one to have filed tomorrow afternoon.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 72
This is where famously corrupt Republican Tyler Diep beat Josh Lowenthal last cycle. Democrat “Diedre” Thu-Ha Nguyen, currently on the Garden Grove City Council, is running this year, as is Democrat Bijan Mohseni. No idea here whether Josh will run again this year, for this or something else.
WED. UPDATE: Diep and Nguyen are on the ballot. Mohseni has paid the fee, but filed nothing and might as well keep it that way.
THURS. UPDATE: This looks like it will be Tyler Diep against Diedre Nguyen. Can’t wait! Take notes on the atrocities so that we can get them to the DA and FPPC!
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 73
Republican and accused serial sexual assault perpetrator Bill Brough is seeking reelection to the southernmost Assembly District, despite his party trying to cut him loose. Other Republicans on the ballot are Laguna Niguel Mayor Laurie Davies, Melanie Eustace and Mission Viejo Councilman Ed Sachs. Democrats Chris Duncan, Jeffrey Kitchen, and 2018 runoff nominee Scott Rhinehart, along with NPP Richard Jackson, round out the field for now.
WED. UPDATE: Brough, Rhinehart, and Davies are on the ballot. Sachs is so close to being on the ballot — and has been for a week now — that I can’t figure out what the hold-up is. Kitchen, Eustace, and Jackson have disappeared. Duncan paid his fee and then disappeared. Maybe some of them will reappear.
THURS. UPDATE: Looks like Republicans Brough, Davies, and (as of Thursday) Sachs are on the ballot along with Rhinehart.
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 74
Democratic incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris has already qualified for the ballot, while Republicans Diane Dixon and Kelly Ernby are in process. Finally, a race that looks somewhat normal!
WED. UPDATE: Petrie-Norris is on the ballot. Dixon and Ernby have both paid their fee and filed no other paperwork since.
THURS. UPDATE: It looks like this will be just Cottie vs. Ernby.
JUDGES
It seems like every year some Superior Judge gets challenged for one of two reasons: either simple bad luck or they’ve done something to deserve it. It looked like Judge Sherry Honer was going to face bad luck this year, but her opponent withdrew. Judge Sandy Leal is being challenged by Robert Keenan, and offhand I have no idea why. None of the names I saw on this year’s list set me off.
10/3: There’s an ADA named Tony Ferrentino running for the spot now held by Judge Carlton Biggs, who has not taken out papers. Anyone who has information about ADA Ferrentino, please let us know! Is he a Racky type? So far as I know, Judge Biggs is alive and eligible to run for re-election, so if he’s retiring this seat will reopen for three workdays after Friday.
WED. UPDATE: Nothing has happened with Judges except that Judge Honer has filled out a candidate statement and paid a fee, etc.. which looks like it will probably be unnecessary.
THURS. UPDATE: Carlton Biggs is not running for Office 4, despite being eligible, so this one will remain open until Wednesday at 5 — and if no one challenged Ferrentino than he walks into judicial robes without a scratch.
OCBOE
District 1
Incumbent Beckie Gomez has two potential opponents this year (pending completion of filing), Jim Palmer and Steve Rocco. Given that she’s the incumbent and it’s a “plurality wins” race, Rocco’s being in this race actually helps her, because he’s not taking away votes from the incumbent.
WED. UPDATE: Palmer is on the ballot. Rocco has done most of what he’d needed to do to get on the ballot. Gomez only picked up her papers over the past couple of days. What’s wrong with this picture?
THURS. UPDATE: Rocco and Palmer are both on the ballot. Incumbent Gomez looks like she has done everything she needs to do to get on. If she doesn’t make it, then it reopens and one hopes that someone good will run instead, though not as much as one hopes that she does make it!
District 3
Disgusting incumbent Ken L. Williams is challenged by Democrat Andy Thorburn and Brian Harrington. I suspect that even Republicans would like to get rid of Williams.
WED. UPDATE: Williams is on the ballot. Thorburn is almost on the ballot. Harrington has not filed anything.
THURS. UPDATE: Williams and Thorburn are both on the ballot. Harrington looks unlikely to join them.
District 4
Reasonable Fullerton Republican Dr. Jack Bedell is retiring from this seat. One Republican is running, former La Habra Mayor Tim Shaw, and three Democrats will fight it out: perennial candidate Vicki Calhoun, Paulette Chaffee (whose husband beat out Shaw for the Supervisor position), and Jordan Brandman, who failed to get the DPOC endorsement last week. As I mentioned, this is a plurality wins position, so with this field Shaw probably has it in the bag. That’s one switch on the Board to supporting charter schools, but the expected switch in District 3 will counter that.
WED. UPDATE: Shaw and Chaffee are both on the ballot. Calhoun looks like she’s filed everything that the others have, so should soon join them. Brandman has had papers issued, but has filed only one optional paper — but all of his activity occurred yesterday, so he’s probably in.
THURS. UPDATE: Republican Shaw will share the ballot with Paulettte Chaffee, at a minimum. Vicky Calhoun has also qualified, but Vern reports that she’s dropping out due to very sad family circumstances. The fourth person to take out papers in Jordan Brandman, who was issued papers on Wednesday. If Vicki is out, then I think he might try it; if not, I suspect that he’ll run for something else. (I’ll tell Vern my guess.)
SUPERVISOR
District 1
As it stands, Republican incumbent Andrew Do will face Democrats Sergio Contreras, Miguel Pulido, Kim Bernice Nguyen, and Steve Rocco. As bad of a Supervisor and Do is, and as Rocco would be, Pulido would be even worse. We’ll see whether Contreras or Nguyen is better able to put up a fight. One problem I have — and maybe Vern can verify or falsify this — is that Kim Nguyen is the same Kim Nguyen as we covered at the time of Garden Grove Districting, in which event she’s Lou Correa’s catspaw. If so, nerts to that!
WED. UPDATE: Do and Pulido — does that strike anyone else as sounding like “Gog and Magog”? — are both on the ballot. Contreras still needs to file his ballot designation and candidate statement. Nguyen is lacking only the candidate statement. Rocco shows no sign of entering this race.
THURS. UPDATE: Do, Pulido, and Nguyen are all on the ballot. Contreras looks like he will make it, and thank heaven for that.
District 3
This is the District that Don Wagner ran to because he apparently wasn’t enjoying life in the minority in Sacramento. He’s the incumbent and, if you didn’t know, a Republican. The question is which Democratic woman is going to run against him: Ashleigh Aitken or (once again) Loretta Sanchez.
VERN NOTE: IT’S ASHLEIGH, LORETTA DROPPED OUT!
GREG NOTE: SO TELL ASHLEIGH TO FREAKIN’ FILE ALREADY!
Both have taken out papers but haven’t yet filed a thing. As I recall, if Wagner (or the sole women running against him) gets a majority in the primary, it’s over.
Ashleigh and Wagner are both in; Loretta, as suggested above, is out. Barring a write-in campaign or a tie, this will be decided in March.
CENTRAL COMMITTEE DELEGATES
You can skip down to the blue part:
After that we have only Party County Committee delegate positions left. That’s a whole different kettle of fish, which we’ll get to tomorrow or so. I may first post something, though, explaining where we need more lefty reformers to run!
The only other person new on the boards today besides Gil and Ms. Thacker is Karina Onofre, who is running for a RPOC seat from the 69th AD. I think that Democrats were unnecessarily mean to her, so I wish her luck in trying to get her old/new party to be more tolerant — or dare I dream, even supportive? — of Latinos. That would be a noble cause.
The real question for Friday — I can’t recall whether these go into extensions, but let’s presume that they don’t [UPDATE: CONFIRMED THAT THEY DON’T!] — is whether there are already six viable people worth voting for. So that’s all I’m going to focus on. I’m looking only at Democratic races for now.
AD-55: I don’t know some of the candidates (though I will!), but I think that there’s room for 1 or maybe 2 more, but we could make do with this present lineup. Only 5 of the 9 have qualified; some of the others had better get on it! Lourdes Cruz, I’m looking at you!
AD-65: Don’t join this race Friday unless you’re spectacular. 10 of 13 have qualified. I count at least 9 here that are worthwhile — though Marisol Ramirez hasn’t yet qualified, so get on with that! — and 2-3 that are much to be avoided. We’ll look at cross-endorsements and slates as a means of whittling it down.
AD-68: No need to add your name; there are at least 9 good ones here and several others to avoid. 11 of the 21 have qualified. I see 4-6 of those 11 are good. If Nathaniel Fernandez Epstein qualifies, that will pretty much settle things. Lots of bad names on this list too, though.
AD-69: 21 people have taken out papers. Only 2 — 2! — have qualified! (I don’t know anything about the those two: Thai Viet Phan and Ariana Arestegui,)
AD-72: Only 6 of 13 here have qualified. At least have of them are decent, but … Victor, Oscar, Karen — what’s up?
AD-73: 9 of 12 have qualified, and only 4-1/2 of them are good. The others are very bad. Let me be blunt: if you live in AS-73 and you are an activist favoring Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, at least 3 of you need to get into this race!
AD-74: 9 of 20 have qualified. At least 6 of them are good, and Iyad and Samila haven’t yet qualified. So some good people are going to have to be alternates — if at least four of the good ones are elected!
(By the way: the word “good” in this section does not speak to candidates’ moral character or other similar qualities. It just means “good” for this position, if you want to reform the Democratic Party locally, statewide, and even beyond.)
Why is Dr. Vicki Calhoun (PhD in Education, a “perennial candidate,” but not her opponent Paulette Chaffee, who ran in the exact same race Vicki did in 2018?
Good question. I want to know more about Dr Calhoun before dismissing her. I could never support Mrs Chaffee, I know too much about her. And I’ve been thinking about Brandman running … it’s hard not to think he’s in the race not to win but to split the Democrat vote so that CHARTER SCHOOL ENTHUSIAST EXTRAORDINAIRE Tim Shaw can walk away with it … and Jordan would be doing this at the urging of his dear mentor CHARTER SCHOOL ENTHUSIAST EXTRAORDINAIRE Curt Pringle.
If Thorburn beats Williams, but Shaw takes the 4th district race, the OCBOE will still be stuck with an anti-public-education majority. I’d like to know if Calhoun is maybe good enough for us progressives, independents and Democrats to TRY to unite behind.
She is pro-charter school.
Dr. Vicki Calhoun is NOT pro charter school. She is in this race to win so she can protect public schools. Brandman and Chaffee should get out of the race and let a qualified candidate beat Shaw.
I’ve had that same impression about her being pro-charter, but I can’t recall hearing it out of her own mouth. She can come here and speak for herself.
Calling on those two to drop out in favor of Vicki seems silly, doesn’t it? As if either would.
My biggest problem with Vicki is that I don’t see any way in the entire world that she will be able to raise enough money to beat a well-financed Tim Shaw. Brandman might have the money; Paulette definitely would be able to compete.
For me, Brandman’s rise to non-local office is very much to be avoided, and I can only see this as yet another springboard, so unless Vicki shows major fundraising chops, that leaves me with Paulette. Yes, she is a (slight) carpetbagger who flipped when facing Bushala & Zenger’s tender mercies on the campaign trail, but presumably she will have paid her debt to society (and this time she won’t be carpetbagging.)
So is Vicki bringing in the dough, Ragster? (Protecting your identity,) I’ll bet that Shaw is. And if you’re going to argue that people power is going to power her through in March, I’d have to laugh. Unless at least one other well-heeled Republican gets into the race, Shaw’s a shoo-in.
Brandman’s in it for the stipend. he’ll tell us how (somehow) at 23 he was an educational advisor to the governor.
And yes, Pringle is definitely probing charter opportunities, so you have that confluence of pecuniary interest. Somebody is paying Jerbal to promote this,
Fair analysis, with one amendment. This is Pringle we’re talking about. If he’s behind, or even advising, a charter scheme they have a great chance of eventually breaking the law — probably by skimming students and possibly by skimming funds. All sorts of opportunities to set bait for him exist. Finally, a project we can all enjoy together!
As for Jerbal, I presume that he sometimes gives good clients a freebie; that’s what this seems like to me.
Two races doesn’t make one a perennial.
I could have sworn that Vicki has run another time or two, but I can’ see a record of it so I’ve struck out that description. I do know from hearing her speak that she was (and presumably is) very much a cultural conservative, which is not what one wants on the OCBOE. But maybe she’s not, or maybe it was just LGBT issues.
“Cultural conservative?”
Wow that’s a loaded term, especially when you follow it with, “That’s not what one wants on the OCBOE.”
Maybe it would be a bit more fair to scrutinize Brandman for his voting record on Anaheim City Council or Paulette Chaffee who snuggles with NOC Republican Women President Gretchen Cox at Fullerton City Council Meetings and has a recent conviction for stealing campaign signs.
And I found Paulette’s sloppy carpetbagging much more offensive than Greg does, as it was done immediately after a hard-fought districting battle. It was very disrespectful to the spirit of districting especially as this wealthy white lady was suddenly purporting to represent the minorities in this new area where she never lived.
Followed by the arrogant, self-assured stealing of signs that let people know about this.
Dr Vicki just called me to let me know it’s an absolute lie that she’s pro-charter; I’ll call her back soon with more questions (and any of yours.)
Let’s not forget that not only Jordan but the CHAFFEES are in Pringle’s debt – Curt hosted a fundraiser to retire Doug’s campaign debt soon after the election. Both Paulette and Jordan are in the race effectively to hand it to Tim.
I’m glad to hear about Vicki’s position on charters. (It may be wrong, but that doesn’t make it a “lie.”)
I agree about her not being an appropriate choice for Fullerton’s 4th District — I represented her Latino Democratic opponent in court, if you forgot — but keeping a Latino off of the City Council from a Latino district not what the signs accused her of. It was “carpetbagging,” period, representing the Bushala/Zenger obsession with it. I don’t think that she was grabbing those signs out of arrogance — I think that Bushala’s onslaught against her just made her snap.
As I’ve said, carpetbagging bothers me less when lines are first drawn — if the district is truly motivated to seek someone who will represent its dominant ethnicity, the electorate will take care of any carpetbaggers. What I didn’t like about Paulette is that she looked likely to buy the election over at least one good Democratic candidate. I didn’t like it there — but I don’t have a problem with her buying it against Tim Shaw, who has no basis to criticize money politics.
Your argument depends on the premise that Vicki has the funds to compete against Shaw. My guess is that she doesn’t — and if she knew that she was going to be running for this office she should have been fundraising a year ago and had a lot of money by now. I understand why people who want Shaw to win — like some of our friends here do — would like to see everyone but Vicki pull out (although they’d rather see everyone stay in and split the vote, of course.) That’s because either despicable Jordan or flawed Paulette would likely have better resources to fight him off. Call her back and ask her how much cash-on hand she has now, two months before voting starts.
I seriously doubt that Pringle attending Chaffee’s debt retirement party meant more than a puddle of puppy piddle to Doug Chaffee, whom you may have heard is rich. He had a debt retirement party not because he had to, but because he could — and why not do it?
I hope this doesn’t go back and forth in a tiresome way, but…
Greg writes: “I’m glad to hear about Vicki’s position on charters. (It may be wrong, but that doesn’t make it a “lie.”)”
I used the word “lie” because it was false and came in an authoritative way from an anonymous commenter, “OC Insider.” It wasn’t you.
Greg writes: “I agree about her {Paulette I presume} not being an appropriate choice for Fullerton’s 4th District — I represented her Latino Democratic opponent in court, if you forgot — but keeping a Latino off of the City Council from a Latino district not what the signs accused her of. It was “carpetbagging,” period, representing the Bushala/Zenger obsession with it. I don’t think that she was grabbing those signs out of arrogance — I think that Bushala’s onslaught against her just made her snap.”
I wasn’t trying to justify Tony’s signs OR go on about her stealing them which WAS reprehensible. I was describing why Paulette’s 2018 carpetbagging was particularly offensive, much more than for example Vanderbilt announcing his move at council, two years before the election, back to a district he’d already lived in – and actually really moving and living there, not just renting it out and pretending. Paulette’s move was an insult to Fullerton’s districting process, and she deserved the sign campaign from Bushala which was true.
Now that we know she was DTS for that election, I don’t particularly know why we Democrats should trust her. What reason is there to think she’s any more trustworthy than her husband who’s been undependable and two-faced on any number of issues?
And later Greg writes: “I seriously doubt that Pringle attending Chaffee’s debt retirement party meant more than a puddle of puppy piddle to Doug Chaffee, whom you may have heard is rich. He had a debt retirement party not because he had to, but because he could — and why not do it?”
Pringle didn’t “attend” Chaffee’s debt retirement party, he ORGANIZED AND HOSTED IT.
Brava.
Are you supporting Tim Shaw? I presume that you are, in which case your defense of Vicki as the candidate you’d like to see run against Tim is somewhat damning.
I’ve actually worked with Vicki before, so no, I don’t consider that damning. I consider that an informed choice. She’s a much better alternative to Brandman, who knows next to nothing about anything.
Vicki grew up on local public schools and understands her neighborhoods and actual problems. Jordan knows how to cut and paste from Wikipedia.
On that note, Tim Shaw is a much better choice for spending tax dollars wisely on public education and has my support.
Vern and I have scrutinized Brandman more than almost anyone else in OC. Either Vicki or Paulette would be preferable to him. As for Shaw … well, it’s a secret ballot.
I’m now wondering if there was another Black woman of similar physical stature who spoke to the Fullerton City Council about preventing Occupy from setting up in Fullerton and another time slammed gays for their spreading sinfulness or something like that. If there was, then I’m conflating them — but that person was unequivocally a “cultural conservative” and shouldn’t be on OCBOE. It’s been a decade, but I thought that it was Vicki. Any idea who else it might have been?
I was easily able to find info about Peggy Huang being a Deputy AG. It also appears that she ran with this same title two years ago for City Council. She appears to be the likely Rep to lose to Porter in November.
I found the information too — but not on the AGCA’s site. If you found it there, please post a link. I searched both her first name, last name, and the department where she supposedly works. Now, if she doesn’t work there anymore, everything makes sense except for her using it as a ballot designation.
I think she has a Chinese name that it would appear under but goes by Peggy. I’ve heard this from one of my neighbors in Yorba Linda but dont know how to prove this.
As a progressive, I like Peggy and think she is reasonable and fair on the YL City Council. She would be a way better choice than any of the other Republicans running. However, she would be a huge downgrade from Katie Porter. I personally like Katie Porter better than my own Rep in Congress (Cisneros).
I checked her last name; it still would have shown up in the department. Anyone have time to call the AG’s office and check it out?
She may be the most reasonable Republican running, but I’m still going to check out her ballot designation. She should know the rules.
Both Vicki Calhoun and Paulette Chaffee will be speakers at our Anaheim Democrats meeting on Saturday Dec. 7. All Democrats are welcome. Bring your questions. Haskett Library, 2650 W. Broadway, Anaheim, 12:15 to 2:00 PM.
Uh, is Paulette a Democrat?
Cause she wasn’t.
Tell us. This is important. When and how recently was she not, and how do you know?
She was DTS during her abortive Council run, so at least that recently.
Hopefully someone will ask Pilferin’ Paulette about her carpetbagging and her sign theft. She can get the conviction expunged but she can’t change history – or the video.
Like I said, to me there’s degrees of carpetbagging, and this particular one was especially offensive, like a big “Up yours!” to Fullerton’s hard-fought districting. The rich, married-to-a-mayor, white lady pretends to move into the most minority neighborhood so she can “represent” them. That’s like really BAD carpetbagging.
Perennial candidate! Is Peter Matthews for whom has been running for office since 1990 when he ran against the late Assemblywoman Doris Allen for State Assembly,and for Congress in the Long Beach area ever since..Lou Correa & Tom Daly.. don’t get me started!!..oh and Jordan Brandman.. I better stop Now………
While we have problems with Lou, Tom, and Jordan, I don’t think “perennial candidate” applies to the ones who get elected and re-elected.
Is Peter Matthews the Peace and Freedom (?) college professor? Yes, that would make him a perennial. Usually the term is not used for people who win, as Jordan generally (and unfortunately) has. You don’t need to stop, though.
Anyone who knows Mike Levin (CA-49) would not have doubted he’d be “better than expected;” on the contrary, the question is why expectations wouldn’t be high. He’s extremely well-qualified and perfectly suited to his district (with San Onofre, let’s not forget!) given his experience as an environmental attorney and activist.
Do you really want me to spend time here making the contrary case right now?
You shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean you don’t, which is why I’m asking. I can.
Prediction: as soon as Paulette loses the Board of Education race in March she will jump into the Fullerton City Council election for November.
She’ll do that even if she wins. I may be wrong about this, but I think that those are not incompatible seats.
Yes, they’re incompatible seats.
Wait, is that a Fullerton rule and not an Anaheim one?
Why is Jordan running? He seems sure he can stay on Council even if he accidentally gets on the OCBOE.
And what district will she be “living in?”
District 2, where she actually lives in the Chaffee family home. Hubby Doug tried hard to schedule District 2 for 2018 while he was still on the Fullerton City Council, but couldn’t pull it off, so Paulette had to carpetbag into 5 last year—yes, carpetbag, as in deliberately moving into a new district to run for office there. (Each time the district election schedule came before the Fullerton council I asked at the mic if any council members were aware of anyone in their household who might be planning a council run. Not a peep out of Doug Chaffee either time. He even tried to evade the question the second time by standing up and leaving the room as I approached the mic on the second occasion.)
Yeah, but was she a real carpetbagger or a fake carpetbagger, a lowly act that requires perjury on the voter registration form?
I remember you doing that!
Not a damn peep from the City Attorney on conflict of interest.
Hey, anyone know if there are any ethical concerns with putting your wife on as a county employee without a job application or interview?
Almost like Civil Service Reform never existed.
“Hey, anyone know if there are any ethical concerns with putting your wife on as a county employee without a job application or interview?”
So what’s that about?
Paulette is an Ambassador and a member of Doug Chaffee’s staff, complete with access to county facilities, property, and equipment.
Maybe that was part of the, what was it, “love and understanding and healing” that Doug said she needed after being busted for sign-theft.
Is she compensated? Does she have any decision-making power? If no and no, then probably no.
I wasn’t aware that Supervisors had the authority to grant employee status to anyone.
Sure seems like undue influence against the County Exec to me.
BREAKING NEWS ON OCBOE District 4 race: Dr. Vicki Calhoun has dropped out! Her parents are both really sick. She was starting to seem like the candidate I would back.
Now the only choices are charter school enthusiast and Republican Tim Shaw, and Democrats Jordan Brandman and Paulette Chaffee. Paulette will be speaking at Saturday’s Anaheim Democrat meeting.
Shaw it is.
Please be sure the other non-Democrats get equal opportunity at your meeting, since you’ve invited Paulette.
With Brian Harrington filing to screw things up in Area 3, it looks like a 4-1 radical right wing majority.
Harrington didn’t qualify. I like Thorburn’s chances over Williams.
It looks like we have another Shaw vs. Chaffee race coming up (with or without Calhoun on the ballot but not campaigning.) I didn’t vote for either in the Supervisor race; I will vote in this one.