I spoke to the leading conservative candidate for the First Supervisorial District, Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen, yesterday. She says she is going to run no matter what happens. And now the field of candidates includes one less Vietnamese candidate, as Red County/OC Blog has reported that Democrat Phu Nguyen is not running after all.
Two other Vietnamese candidates are still on the ballot: Larry Phan and Trung Nguyen. Neither one has a snowball’s chance of winning. Other candidates who have filed include Santa Ana Councilman Carlos Bustamante and former Santa Ana Councilman Brett Franklin.
Westminster Councilman Kermit Marsh has also inexplicably pulled papers, again according to Red County/OC Blog. I am not sure what he is thinking. The last time he ran for this seat he came in last in a field of four candidates. Perhaps he just wants to increase his name ID?
Two more Santa Ana residents, Councilwoman Claudia Alvarez and anti-immigration activist Lupe Moreno are expected to turn in their papers next week. And the leading Democrat candidate, Garden Grove Councilman Mark Rosen, will likely do so as well.
There is still no word from another well-known Democrat, Tom Umberg. Some sources say he is not going to run. If so, Rosen is in good position to win with so many Republicans on the ballot. If he does win, the blame will fall on GOP Assemblyman Van Tran. He recruited Trung Nguyen just so he could undermine Janet Nguyen’s campaign. I don’t think the Trannies have the intention of winning – they just want Janet to lose.
I do think that Bustamante wants to win, but that is not going to happen. There are quite a few Santa Ana residents running and all of them have bigger fan bases than Bustamante, who just became a councilman in Santa Ana two years ago. He is definitely not ready for prime time, as those of you who have seen him getting shellacked online can attest.
Janet Nguyen is confident that she can win. I agree – but I wish the field was not as crowded. Nevertheless, as long as Bustamante loses I will be at least partially satisfied. That seems to be a foregone conclusion.
With Phu out Janets chances increase quite a bit. I wonder if it will be enough to put her over the top?
Janet is a good candidate but one has to wonder if her campaign team is up to the task. Her consultant’s,Dave Gilliard, record in Orange County is steller as long as he is running the well funded front runner. His fee’s will account for at least $50,000 of Janet’s budget and her fundraising base is limited. Van Tran will make certain her financial reach will only go so far. So where does Tran’s- Trung fit in? No where. He is in it only to act as the spoiler and anyone who has told him differantly is selling him a bill of goods. It is too bad but I guess using people is the way politics is played in the O.C. So, We are left with Carlos. By all accounts he is a compromiser who is not the sharpest guy around. What he does have is a good consultant that runs rings around Gilliard. John Lewis has the ability to direct money to Carlos..an ability that Gilliard has never had.Janet Nguyen may or may not be the conservative but there is too much lining up against her to win. Republicans can only hope that Rosen has a substantial Democrat competition or he will walk to a win. This isn’t a penatrating insight but the Kermit Marsh’s etc. are just chaff to distract from the real campaign.
This idea that Rosen will “walk to victory” is a farce. There are not 5% of the voters in Westminster or Santa Ana who have ever heard his name and many who know him in G.G. also know Janet and Trung. Mark has 2 weeks to build up his name I.D. before folks start voting. Mark will not win this election.
Glad to see Art firing up the old broken spin machine once more. Calling Janet the “leading conservative candidate” doesn’t make it so. Polling shows she’s far from the lead. And I think her record shows that she is not terribly conservative either.
Nice try, though.
Why would Janet Nguyen’s name ID be any higher than Mark Rosen? He has been on the council longer and will have the funds to build name his name ID. I suspect he will pound the ” I am a Democrat” line again and again with D’s. Absent a viable Dem. Rosen will have the edge.Just because J. Nguyen has had some aborted campaigns behind her doesnt mean her name ID will be high.
Good try # 4.
Are you telling us that polling done by the firm Bustamante and Whitacre shows the union squish/pro-eminent domain candidate Carlos as the leader?
Or are you telling us now that all the other candidates signs will “blow away” during the race, leaving only Bustamante signs all over town?
It worked for Benapuppet.
Are you all SERIOUS?? Get real guys, Janet has ZERO chance of winning this, with or without Phu. Look at candidates like Alvarez, Rosen or Trung to take this, but definitely not Janet or Carlos (whom by the way, both support eminent domain).
I wish Tom Umberg would hurry up and announce whether he is in this race or not.
Ridiculous…Name one project that Janet has voted on that supported Eminent Domain!!!
Anon 10:58
Just wait, it’ll come out. Go ahead and tell Janet to get ready for it.
I’m sure she will be waiting. It’ll be great because if it does come out. Because it will be the down fall of the people who send it out. Just ask Cristi Critch about her mailer when she implied that Chris Cox endorsed her.