Are Democrats gravitating to Ralph Martin for O.C. Sheriff?
Claudio Gallego’s recent endorsement of Commander Ralph Martin for O.C. Sheriff did not overly surprise me, but it has presented a few questions that deserve to be pondered. Are county Democrats beginning to gravitate to Martin? Will any other prominent Democrats join Gallegos in publicly announcing their choice for the office of O.C. Sheriff? How will this affect the leading contenders in that race, incumbent Mike Carona and Lt. Bill Hunt?
Martin hired a Democrat consultant, who in all fairness has worked for both sides. His name escapes me at the moment, but I know that he helped Loretta Sanchez to get elected, and in L.A. he has helped a slew of GOP candidates, including L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley. Martin also comes from a family of Democrats, and as a L.A. Republican he is far more likely to be a moderate and to get along with Democrats.
Sources in the Democrat camp tell me that they have concerns about Hunt because of his affiliation with Tim Whitacre. They like Whitacre, but don’t like some of the other candidates he is advising, notably Rosie Avila and Lupe Moreno. They seem to be concerned about replacing a Carona administration that has been overtly controlled by GOP partisans, with a Hunt administration that might replace one set of GOP hacks with another.
Those are valid concerns, but I don’t see Hunt repeating Carona’s mistakes. Most likely he will come up with brand new ones. As Congressman Dana Rohrabacher pointed out at the last OC GOP Central Committee meeting, no one is perfect. However, Hunt is not surrounding himself with the likes of Jon Fleischman and Michael Schroeder. Credit him for that at least.
Carona is also making immigration, or rather opposition to illegal immigration, a central part of his reelection campaign, as voiced by Rohrabacher, again at the last OC GOP Central Committee. That could backfire with county Democrats. We must remember that the June election may not produce an outright winner. If Carona fails to get over 50% of the vote, he will have to face off with the number two vote-getter in a runoff election. Democrat voters may well be the deciding factor in June.
Frankly, I think that the Caronistas might have made a strategic error in focusing only on Hunt. Martin has more experience than either of them, and if indeed he is able to coalesce the support of the county Democrat leaders, he will be a force to contend with, especially if he is able to, at the same time, engender support from moderate Republican voters. Why the latter would support Carona is a mystery – I suspect that they would in fact be open to voting for Martin, if he were able to get the word out about his campaign.
Hunt has also been working the Democrat voters, but he will have to redouble his efforts now. If we assume that Carona and Hunt split the GOP vote, a Martin who is backed by a unified Democrat contingent could in fact become the runner-up in the June election. You have to figure that a Martin v. Carona runoff would be quite a battle, and at that point many Republicans may well jump off the Carona bandwagon and go with the better man.
I thought I had this race figured out – but now it’s anybody’s guess what will happen between now and the June election. One thing for sure, Martin will need his Democrat allies to step up publicly and endorse him, and to help fund his effort as well, or he has no chance whatsoever of making it to the runoff. His message that the office of the Sheriff should not be partisan is a strong one – but he needs to get it out in order for it to put him over the top.
Art, a respectful request: would you please use the word “Democratic” rather than “Democrat” as the adjective to describe members of my party? We are members of the Democratic Party. This is the actual legal name of the party, and we would rather you didn’t try to change it.
“Martin hired a Democratic consultant,” not “Martin hired a Democrat consultant.”
“Sources in the Democratic camp,” not “sources in the Democrat camp.”
Missy,
You raise a good point – but are you sure about that? I do want to get it right. Does anyone else out there know how we are supposed to properly refer to Democrats? I would appreciate further clarification.
Great points Art. I think Martin will be huge factor. Carona is scared to death he won’t get 50%. He has a real battle on his hands if it goes to a general election and it gives George Jaramillo more time to sing. I have a feeling the man Carona once called “brother” has more photos and memos he will leak out in dribs and drabs in the weeks and months to come.
Thanks also Missy for bringing up the topic of Democratic vs Democrat. I’ve never been sure how to use the terms correctly.
Encarta Online Dictionary says:
Democratic (adjective)
Relating to Democratic Party; belonging or relating to or associated with the Democratic Party of the United States.
Luis,
All four candidates are Republican, so not much of a choice there. The Democrats need to put partisanship aside and go for the person who will do the best job as Sheriff. Alcaraz is not viable, that leaves Martin and Hunt. And I get concerned when I see Hunt’s closest followers saying the main reason they need to get rid of Carona is because of masturbation.
Many SA Republicans swallowed their pride and supported one of the three Ward Five Candidates for City Council even though all three were Dems. Whitacre went with Alvarez, Moreno went with Reyna and I understand Pedroza supported Verino. So you see Dems need to pick a candidate, lets face it, Sheriff is the last office that should have an air of partisanship. We need to put that aside and support a candidate, either Hunt or Martin.
Message,
You and I are on the same page. I agree I wish the democrats would endorse a candidate, but as mentioned there only choice in Martin. I guarantee you, Hunt is not an option they are willing to take.
Democrat is a noun and Democratic is an adjective, so it’s correct to say “I’m a Democrat” and “I’m a member of the Democratic Party.”
Part of the reason for the confusion is that “Republican” is both a noun and an adjective. However, the real reason we often hear and read “Democrat Party” is that many Republicans don’t like go imply that the Democratic Party has anything to do with a the democratic principles on which our country was founded. They say “Democrat Party” in order to disassociate the party from the idea of democracy.
It’s just another mind game.
Gila,
Thanks for the additional information. I was not engaging in mind games – apparently I was just misinformed. Probably not the first time that has happened…LOL
WRONG WRONG WRONG.
It’s the ‘Democrat’, not ‘Democratic’ Party. There are Democrats not Democratics.
We live in a Republic and have a Republican form of government. We use the democratic process to elect our leaders and settle debate.
It’s the National Democrat Party; the California Democrat Party; the Democrat Party of Orange County. You register as a Democrat.
Come on people, get it right!
Missy is correct—it’s the Democratic Party(See election code section 7050).
Art–A good, thoughtful post. Thank you.
It is a non-partisan race and as is often the case in Orange County Democrats will have to make a decision between candidates who happen to be Republicans. I suspect there will be some division here—Carona actually has a good deal of Democratic support(some would say he has the support of Clinton Democrats)including many lawyers. Hunt has some and has had a fundraiser at a Democrats home. Martin appeals to Democrats who see Carona doing a Davis in reverse(go to your base when you’re in trouble)and as mentioned by others, Hunt surrounding himself with Republicans whose views are often peculiar. But Arts correct if Martin makes a runoff and the COunty establishment goes with Carona, Dems could flock to Martin.