Art’s June 3 ballot picks

Absentee ballots are already arriving in Orange County households, so here are my picks for the June 3 primary:

47th Congressional District

No contest – Loretta Sanchez has my vote. Rosie Avila is nuts and I am not about to vote for the American Independent candidate. Sanchez is not perfect but at least she is not Rosie.

33rd State Senate District

There is no way I am voting in the primary for Mimi Walters or Harry Sidhu. They both have an anti-Mexican platform and Sidhu also appears to be anti gay. So I am voting for Gary Pritchard, the Democratic candidate.

69th Assembly District

Incumbent Jose Solorio has been disappointing more often than not. I am not happy that he is supporting the latest tax increase for Santa Ana voters, Measure G. So I am NOT voting for Solorio in the primary.

I cannot vote for the other candidate, Republican Cameron Mangels, because the GOP won’t let decline to state voters, of which I am one, vote in their primaries. So I am not voting for anyone in the primary.

Judicial Offices

Superior Court Judge, County of Orange, Office 4

Mike Bartlett is running against Nick Thompson. Bartlett has the support of several members of the OC GOP machine, including Congressman John Campbell, Supervisor Bill Campbell, Supervisor Chris Norby, and he is married to Dana Point Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Bartlett. You can read his candidate’s statement here.

Nick Thompson is a Deputy District Attorney, which means he works for the unctuous D.A., Tony Rackauckas. He has the endorsement of Judge Richard Behn, who is retiring from Office 4 of the O.C. Superior Court. He is endorsed by a gazillion judges.

Thompson is also backed by quite a few O.C. politicians, including:

• Ed Royce, U.S. Congressman, 40th District
• Dick Ackerman, California State Senator
• Chuck DeVore, California State Assemblyman, 70th District
• Todd Spitzer, California State Assemblyman, 71st District
• Mike Duvall, California State Assemblyman, 72nd District
• Mimi Walters, California State Assemblywoman, 73rd District
• Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County Sheriff
• Brett Barbre, Director – Municipal Water District of Orange County
• Chris Norby, Chairman – Orange County Board of Supervisors
• Dennis Bilodeau, Orange City Councilman
• John Lewis, California State Senator (Ret.)
• Ken Williams, M.D., Orange County Board of Education
• Larry Dick, Director – Municipal Water District of Orange County
• Pam Keller, Fullerton City Councilwoman
• Sharon Quirk, Mayor – City of Fullerton

Norby appears to have endorsed both candidates for Office 4. Thanks Chris, that really helps.

It bothers me that Thompson has the backing of John Lewis, who is not good news, but he also has the backing of Pam Keller, whom I am a big fan of. You can read Thompson’s candidate’s statement here.

I guess I will go with Bartlett. I don’t trust anyone that works for Rackauckas. But it is not too late to change my mind on this one…

Superior Court Judge, County of Orange, Office 8

Barry Collins is running against Jon Fish. Collins is an administrative law judge. His candidate’s statement says he writes for his local paper, which I think is pretty cool. But he also wrote a children’s book on biblical justice, which worries me a bit. I hope he is not some kind of holy roller. You can find out more about his endorsements here.

Jon Fish is yet another Deputy District Attorney, which means he too works for D.A. Tony Rackauckas. You can read Fish’s candidate statement here. Predictably he has the support of the OC GOP, so I am not voting for him.

Barry Collins has my vote for Office 8.

Superior Court Judge, County of Orange, Office 12

Westminster Councilman Kermit Marsh is running against a large pack of candidates, including Debra Carillo, who is backed by a bunch of Republicans and Democrats, and K.C. Jones. I already wrote about this race previously. Carillo is backed by crooked waste hauler Ware Disposal. Marsh has my vote. You can read his candidate’s statement here.

Superior Court Judge, County of Orange, Office 25

I already wrote about this race too. It features two Vietnamese candidates, John Nho Trung Nguyen, who has the backing of both the OC GOP and the DPOC, and Timothy Sy Nguyen, who is a Democrat. I am voting for Timothy Sy as he is NOT backed by the local parties. Good enough for me.

O.C. Board of Education, Area 1

Felix Rocha has been in office for years and I cannot think of anything he has accomplished in that time. He thinks so little of us voters that he did NOT buy a candidate’s statement. So I am not voting for him. Instead I am voting for Long Pham. You can read Pham’s candidate’s statement here.

O.C. Supervisor, First District

Incumbent Supervisor Janet Nguyen has my vote. You can read her candidate’s statement here. Two Trannies are running against her and will be vying to see who gets less votes.

O.C. Democratic Central Committee, 69th Assembly District

The only candidates for these six seats that I know are Lynette Verino, Tish Leon and Bill Spaulding. They all have my support. Do not vote for the Hoffmans! They are bad news.

O.C. Republican Party Central Committee, 69th Assembly District

Time to stop the cycle of madness that is Tim Whitacre! Vote for the candidtes who are NOT part of his coalition. The anti-Whitacre candidates are

• Monica Banken, Republican
• Thomas Anthony Gordon, Republican
• Molly L. Doughty, Republican

The bad candidates that are allied with Whitacre include:

• Lupe Moreno, Republican
• Cuong Sinh Cao, Republican
• Oscar Garza, Republican

The remaining candidate, Brett Elliott Franklin, used to be part of Tim’s faction, but he recently broke with Tim over the endorsement of Supervisor Janet Nguyen. Tim voted against her, but Brett voted to endorse her. So feel free to vote for Brett too. But do not vote for Tim, Lupe, Cuong or Oscar.