GOP mail landing in Santa Ana mail boxes

State Assembly candidate Otto Bade sent out his first mailer this week, in his bid for the 69th district. The piece touts his work as a former police officer and his service as a Vietnam veteran. He appears to be endorsed by just about every Republican elected official in the state, including new State Senate GOP leader Dick Ackerman. If Bade can get the word out, he should win the primary and give the eventual Democrat nominee a fairly good battle.

In related news, Tim Whitacre, a member of the Republican Party of Orange County Central Committee who also chairs their Oversight Committee in the 69th Assembly District, has apparently opted to support Bade’s primary opponent, Ruben Ross, after having a falling out with Bade. I cannot imagine what Whitacre might be thinking. Bade is clearly the frontrunner, and he is the favorite of the Republican establishment.

In the 47th Congressional District, Republican candidate Virgil Nickell beat his primary opponent Alexandria Coronado to the punch with a full color mailer that touts his longtime residency in the district. Nickell’s mailer depicts him as a conservative, which is hard to correlate with his past support of area Democrats including Loretta Sanchez and Lou Correa. However, Nickell’s opponent, Coronado, is not exactly a name brand in Santa Ana, and that may be what Nickell is banking on.