47th Congressional District candidate makes headway – but where’s Rosie?
I took a call the other day from an activist in central Orange County, and he just couldn’t stop talking about Tan Nguyen. “Who’s that?” I asked. And I got quite an earful. Nguyen, a former Democrat, woke up one day and decided to become a Republican. And then he decided to take on the always wacky U.S. Representative Loretta Sanchez, in the 47th Congressional District.
OC Blog did a great job of introducing Nguyen back in May of last year, at http://www.ocblog.net/ocblog/2005/05/go_for_it_tan.html. Martin Wisckol, over at the O.C. Register, wrote about him as well, at http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/22/sections/local/local_columns/article_644139.php.
Another insider told me today that Nguyen has major backing from O.C. GOP leaders including Tom Fuentes, the former Chairman of the Republican Party of Orange County. Apparently Nguyen started campaigning long before Santa Ana School Board member Rosie Avila tossed her hat in the ring. Nguyen has promised to spend a quarter million of his own money on his campaign – talk that has quickly made him a darling of the OC Republican machine.
Avila tussled a bit with Orange County Board of Education member Alexandria Coronado, when for a few moments it seemed that they were both going to run against Sanchez, but in the end the older and more experienced Avila had her way. Coronado, as some of you may recall, ran against Sanchez in the last election, and actually held her own, but like all the challengers before her, dating back to Bob Dornan’s repeated attempts to regain his congressional seat, she lost.
Sources tell me that Avila is quietly putting together her campaign team, and that Tim Whitacre, the self-styled master of central Orange County GOP affairs, is going to be her chief campaign advisor, if not her campaign manager. Whitacre is also assisting Lt. Bill Hunt, who is considered the main opponent to O.C. Sheriff Mike Carona, and Ryan Gene, the college student who is running in the GOP primary for the 69th Assembly District.
Whitacre is also now advising Lupe Moreno, the anti-immigration activist who made news this week when it appeared that she might run for the 34th State Senate district. According to an insider, that plan is now in doubt and she might not run for anything after all, depending on whether or not Lynn Daucher drops out of the race for the 34th.
In the meantime, Nguyen has a campaign site up and running, although it has an unwieldy URL, which is http://65.45.193.26:8026/cms/acct/tan4congress/main/. Avila, on the other hand, does not have an identifiable presence on the web, at this time. However, I know Avila quite well. She has a great mailing list and donor list and she will raise a lot of money in the next few weeks. You hate to see two GOP candidates blow through their campaign funds in the primary, for a seat that Sanchez has easily hung on to for some time. But that is where we are headed, apparently.
Avila is quiet for the moment, but I expect that she will soon be campaigning heavily throughout the district. Nguyen may have the lead for now, but he will come to find, no doubt, that Avila is a tough customer. Whether she will be tough enough to take out an independently wealthy candidate remains to be seen.
The 47th Congressional GOP primary is going to be interesting. Tan and Rosie both have support and it’ll be interesting to see who scores the nod.
Having met both of them and talked to them personally, they’re the best possible candidates the GOP could put up against the Democratic machine in November.
Regardless who manages the nomination, I’m sure that they will both work together after June to take back that congressional seat.
Because Loretta is so entrenched there, I believe that she doesn’t think she can lose… which could ultimately be her downfall.
As for the 34th, since Tran announced his candidacy his campaign will begin to steamroll over Daucher. Just because Daucher has Ackerman behind her doesn’t mean that the voters will vote for her. Tran has more recognition in the district and with such strong support from the Asian communities and conservatives in general… I think he’s going to pull ahead.
mmmm yes, cause we all know Armando is the greatest thing since sliced bread, despite having accomplished basically nothing except changing his name.
The very same which can be said about you sir…
Armando has served as a field rep for Lorretta Sanchez, graduated from Berkeley and Harvard, currently working for a very large financial institution assisting in the development of communities. He is also a member of the HEEF foundation, former member of the Bond Oversite Committee for SAUSD amongst other organizations which I can not recall at this time.
The mere fact of changing his name exemplifies his values and beliefs on an issue as to which he believes in, equal opportunity and respect towards women. Forgive him, if he does not feel he needs to force his wife to take his last name simply for the sake of tradition.
Now I ask, with all due respect, what have you accomplished, which makes you much more deserving of such a public office position? I have read your website and truly find it, quite empty.
“The very same which can be said about you sir…”
Not quite.
I haven’t worked for a liberal, mundane Congressional representative. I haven’t attended schools which think they’re good just because they look pretty. I haven’t bought people off and don’t intend to by working at a financial institution.
What I have done includes helping to produce a short video for Congressman John Culberson of Houston in the summer of 2003. I’m an actual college student who is in the educational system and knows that needs to be done to fix California’s education situation. I was a Technical Aide for my old school district in the summer of 2004 and began to understand the needs of a growing school district.
Furthermore, instead of being a slick, rich Harvard grad who wants to represent the poor because he “understands the needs of the poor,” how about my condition? I
Mr. Gene,
The response you have given me illustrates you have very little knowledge of Armando De La Libertad. For one, he is far from rich. He lives in a small house on the eastside of town. Secondly, his parents are not very well off since his father was a janitor. I can assure you, college was not given to him with a silver platter.
You have stated many issues which are party line issues, which you I am guessing are assuming Armando represents from his political affiliation (democrat), which again brings me to say, you dont know Armando, obviously. You should know, one of the moderators on this blog, supported Armando for his assembly candidacy and to your suprise it was not the liberal one. Surely, there must have been a reason for that, wouldnt you agree?
Also, it is an insult to one intelligence to hyperbolize every issue and make it seem much greater than it truly is, not very fair of you, but if it is an attempt to prove your point than so be it.
You speak of Armando, Claudia, and Jose’s “idiotic decision” but you yourself have stated Armando has done nothing, so where would those assumptions of “idiotic decisions” come from? You are starting to contradict your statements…which in my view makes you a true republican (sorry Art)
I would love to hear exactly in your opinion what exactly you feel you would do differently and what evidence you have in support of that.
Just in case you are wondering, I am a registered voter in the 69th.
Heh, for a guy to put “$75,000 of his own money into his campaign” makes it seem as though he’s fairly wealthy.
Far wealthier than I am. I don’t have $75,000 to my name that I can spend on a political campaign. So, he must’ve gotten the money somewhere.
Yes, granted Armando may not have come from a wealthy family. Jose didn’t come from a wealthy family either, neither did Rosie Avila.
However, when they were growing up, things were different. Armando is (most likely) in his late 30’s/early 40’s, and Jose is probably 10-15 years older. They grew up during an interesting point and time in California and American History.
Growing up today’s society and our community represents new challenges, new obstacles to overcome. Armando and Jose may know what is is to be poor, but they aren’t hurtin’ financially today. They both have jobs that are fiscally good to them, where as I am an office aide with a small income.
Financial challenges for them are figuring out if they can afford to pay insurance on a new Mercedes. I have to decide if I have enough money to pay for a quarter pounder and some gas.
College for me doesn’t come on a silver platter either. My grandfather was a TV repairman back in New Orleans and my grandmother worked at WalMart for 20 years. That’s the kind of salary I had to grow up on because my mother/father couldn’t stand each other. That’s a long story in and of itself.
As for Armando’s political affiliation, when push comes to shove, he will support giving labor unions in our state more rights. If he doesn’t, he gains respect from me, but he doesn’t want to lose union voters as a Democratic candidate. It’d be like me upsetting the “religious right” of the republican party.
As for making issues greater than they seem to be, education is a huge issue. $61.1 billion is more money than most states operate on, and I don’t understand how we have the third-lowest test scores in the nation. For some reason, I can’t grasp that concept. Hell for $61.1 billion the state could pay for 1.5 million students to attend USC for free. That is a serious issue and the Democrats want more money for education even though they can’t use that amount effectively as it is. It’s insane!
As for being contradictive, I was making the point that if Armando, Claudia, or Jose is to be elected to the Assembly, they will present legislation that will put the state even more into debt. That will leave my generation dealing with paying back the debt, skyrocketing taxes to pay for all sorts of present and future social programs, and dealing with no social security because the babyboomer generation took it all.
You know who is going to get blamed for it? We are! I’m not going to be blamed for the decisions of others and I’m certainly not going to be saddled with ridiculous debt for my generation to have to deal with.
Those in Sacramento need to understand that they’re screwing it up for us. The reason they don’t is because it’s not important to them.
Some Democrats and Republicans just use their position of power to show off to their friends and then run for higher offices without accomplishing much of anything in the position they’ve been elected to. I use Antonio Villaraigosa and John Campbell as examples.
John may have done a few things in the Assembly, but he was only a State Senator for one year of his first 4-year term. That doesn’t show me any kind of consistency. Does that show anything to you?
Based off that general fact, I feel as though Armando is not going to fight for my generation and for the future of California. Jose isn’t, and Claudia I’m assuming won’t either.
I’m the only one I trust in this race and others have told me that too. Besides, God-forbid I lose this election, I want to make sure that some of my concerns are addressed to the public and that they know that if we keep it up, it’s not gonna be pretty for our kids.
I hope you can see where I’m coming from.
Again, you seem not to know Armando at all. Armando is in his early 30’s (I think 33), and is an avid skateboarder. In fact, he has a skateboard ramp in his backyard, or at least he did a few months ago. Not the typical politician you are choosing to make him seem is it?
75K? Hmmm, not sure where you would be getting that information from? The reports dont come out until the end of this month, and all I can see from the older reports is a contribution of around 40K. Are you sure you are giving us accurate numbers?
Keeping with the philosophy of Republicans, I thought a candidate would find it admirable that one uses their own money for a campaign.
Mercedez??
Armando drives a Ford Ranger and I think it is a 90’s model to boot, hardly a mercedez. Dont assume, all people are fortunate except for you, simply because they got a good education and now live promising lives, I am sure your day will come.
I am a 27 year old graduate of Chapman University with some money in the bank, does that too make me wealthy? The mere fact they are older than you, allows for them to have that luxury, but it may not necessarily change their principles.
Since you are a “poor” college student, I would expect you being in the same class with many “poor” families in CA, that you would support social programs providing assistance to needed families, I would also assume, you would be in favor of lowering the fees at the community college and perhaps 4 years so that more students have the opportunity to attend school. Is this correct?
Education:
Interesting that you touch on this topic. Allow me to ask you for a request…please give me percentages not dollar amounts as to have me assume 61 Million dollars is a lot of money compared to the entire State Budget. I may seem naive but I will not be wowed by large numbers. I would like to inform you I was a high school math teacher for 5 years at Santa Ana High School, just in case you wanted to mention any other false numbers in regards to education.
Trusting oneself is an important trait, I respect your opinion of that. I also trust in myself and feel you may not quite understand the parameters of which you seek. First, associated yourself with the likes of Tim Whitocre and Rosie Avila is one mistake, but to assume others positions while not properly investigated them may lead you to find yourself surprised.
I wish you luck… and much success in the halls of academia, unfortunately can not wish you the very same in your political aspirations.
Luis, You cannot argue with a person who does not care about the truth. Republicans rarely care about the truth, just their own version of it. And it seems Ryan has created his own truth.
It is amazing how he can attack Armando without personally knowing him. Ryan makes assumptions that Armando is rich. Amazing how a member of the party of the rich attacks Armando for being successful and having a fair amount of money. Who is claiming the class warfare now?
Ryan, go back and enjoy the college life and go hit up those cute girls you have on your My Space account. You have a better chance at getting lucky with them than getting lucky at winning in the 69th.
Ok, let’s play hardball.
The $61 billion dollar amount comes from the Dept. of Education website for California. It represents roughly 40% of the entire state budget of California.
Take the state of New York for example. On their Dept. of Education website, they are spending $16 billion for education. They may have half the number of students that California has (6.3 million students), but as I learned in math class: 16 x 2 = 32, not 61. Being a math teacher, I think you’d be impressed with my skills! 🙂
“Keeping with the philosophy of Republicans, I thought a candidate would find it admirable that one uses their own money for a campaign.”
Yes, one using their own money is nice. However, when you don’t have $40,000 to your name… then it takes on a whole new perspective.
“Since you are a “poor” college student, I would expect you being in the same class with many “poor” families in CA, that you would support social programs providing assistance to needed families…”
Programs that provide assistance to needy familes are nice, yes. However, there are countless numbers of “families” that abuse that specific system just to get a couple of bucks so they can spend it on useless stuff like drugs.
I have familiy in New Orleans, and to hear them tell me about all the people who abuse the welfare system down there is appalling. But I guess free money is free money, right? Not to me. That money has to come from somewhere and it’s coming from the high taxes that businesses have to pay, it’s coming from the high taxes that home owners have to pay, it’s coming from other sources of “revenue enhancement” as well.
Families who desparately need some assistance should have assistance available to them. No doubt about that. But these groups of people who, in my opinion, steal from the government need to be caught and punished. California fails to act upon that idea because Sacramento is too “bleeding-hearted.”
“I would also assume, you would be in favor of lowering the fees at the community college and perhaps 4 years so that more students have the opportunity to attend school. Is this correct?”
Yes. Actually a program that I would like to propose in Sacramento would help just that. It’s something that the state of Texas does to ensure their students go to community colleges and succeed in getting a higher education after high school.
However, I have not seen the Democrats, or even Republicans for that matter, in Sacramento ever work on lowering these fees. Why? It’s not important to them.
The Democrats are always screaming that there’s no money for education. With a $61 billion budget, there’s more than enough money. If they would stop allocating those funds to administration costs and labor unions, then they could start putting it into classrooms and in the hands of students.
But you can’t get something like that worked on because the labor union establishment in California is way too damn powerful for it’s own good. They’d never go for something like that. They want money, too!
What the labor unions fail to realize is that education is a service to us, the students. It is not a service for them. If students had the right to unionize and stage a strike out against the teacher unions, I think that would be interesting to see. However, because of my lack of trust and excitement for labor unions I advise against this. I’d rather propose right-to-work laws instead and give people the opportunity to decide whether or not they want to join a union.
Anyways, I appreciate your wishing me well ahead in the future as a student. You’re obviously a Dem, so not wishing me luck on politcial aspirations is expected.
As a candidate I respect your decision, but sitting here and attempting to court you as a voter is as useless as Ray Nagin as a mayor.
I would hope you would agree though that most people my age wouldn’t be willing to jump at the chance to run for a seat like this like I have.
Also, seeing as how I “don’t know” Armando that well… maybe I should call him up, ask him to lunch, and get to know him. It’s still the Primary so I don’t have to worry about him as a potential opponent until after June. I dunno, your thoughts?
Mr. Gene,
I must say I truly have appreciated the discussion we have had. Many of your views and issues, I can understand and some agree on. I agree many citizens abuse the welfare system and many other social programs, but unfortunately there is no true way of tracking those violators. It is much too expensive to use investigators.
As far as your education numbers, they are incorrect, the percentage you are referring to comes from the General Fund, so the money does not come from the “entire: state budget. Therefore, the percentage is much less.(per state budget http://www.dof.ca.gov)
I would also assume students your age would not be interested and perhaps not willing to enter this race. Mr. Gene, this does not necessarily make you courageous, some might want to call it foolish.
I personally believe you at least are trying to make a difference in something you oppose, and that absolutely is commendable. Realistically, I sure hope you really do not have a chance to win, with no money and no endorsements to boot. Most Republicans will shun you because they will not spend any money on this race, when they feel that candidate can not win. I have been involved in politics a long time (at least is seems that way) and know what you are up agaisnt. Dont feel bad that the democrats Jose, Claudia and Armando will ignore you, they simply understand politics and no you are not a factor.
As for Armando, I would hope you would have a chance to meet him after the primary or something. I am sure you will hear of him as the months go by and closer to election time. Give him a call maybe he will take you up on lunch!
I might just do that, as a way to understand my opponents.
I’ve met Jose, actually. He seemed kinda… unenthusiastic, but one could tell he’s done some dirty dealing.
As far as money and endorsements go, I believe that will be something to look at especially after the Primary. My campaign might not seem like much now, but trust me when I say that the behind-the-scenes work is working in mysterious ways.
It’s like a big-budget Hollywood film. You take the idea and you put it on paper. Then you get the script, the money, the talent, and when everything seems to be ready you start rolling.
As for now, we’re still in pre-production stage. Armando has been campaigning for this ever since Umberg was elected, so he’s rockin and rollin. He’s shootin his film.
For now, we’ve reserved a sound stage, and we’re just getting the cameras ready.
I hope that serves as a decent “metaphoric analogy.”