Jay Chen to face off against Michelle Steel in new 45th district

A whole lotta shakin’ up in the OC, with this Congressional redistricting thing, has transpired. Greg and I will have better maps for you soon, but some of the highlights:

  • Democrat White Board Superstar Katie Porter‘s Irvine district has become a coastal district including Irvine – district 47 – so she’s running there as an incumbent, and will likely soon be representing Newport and Huntington – take that, Surf Nazis!
  • Former Congressman Harley Rouda, (D of Laguna), who was itching to take his coastal seat back from Michelle Steel (R from wherever) has thus been pushed out by the popular Porter, and looks like he probably won’t run after all. In what sounds like a little jab at progressive firebrand Porter, Harley wrote yesterday: “I believe this district’s voters want moderate, pragmatic leadership, and I firmly believe that I am the most electable Democrat in this district, but I am also a realist, whose goal has always been to put my constituents and our country first.” Thank you, sir! You did take out Dana Rohrabacher.
  • Young Kim, Republican from La Habra, has had her district shifted such that she’s now gonna run in a new Northeast OC district including Brea, Yorba Linda, Rancho Santa Margarita and Chino Hills – what bold Democrat there can defeat this Stepford Trumpy? (Greg is thinking that Harley could do that – hell, they’re all “carpetbagging” anyway!)
  • Somewhat less interestingly, decent Democrat Alan Lowenthal who’s been serving a bit of west OC along with Long Beach for years, has seen his district sucked into the Tar Pits or something, and is retiring in his dignified way.

But the biggest news … no, wait, another thing first:

It’s going to be every patriotic Orange County citizen’s duty in 2022 to defeat Young Kim and Michelle Steel. THIS IS CALLED FIGHTING FOR OUR AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, which is at its last gasp. If the Nihilist Party retakes the Congress, that will lead to the return of Trump, or Trump Mach 2.

(Of course we should also be giving every cent we can afford to the most hopeful Senate Races: endangered incumbent Rafael Warnock in Georgia, Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin, Val Demings in Florida, whatever Pennsylvania Democrat makes the primary, and incumbents Mark Kelly of Arizona and Catherine Masto of New Mexico.}

But my real story today is:

Central OC’s new Asian-plurality District 45!

Here I can report that old OJ favorite Jay Chen, who’d been thinking he’d be running against Young Kim and has been fundraising up a storm since January, will instead be taking on old OJ least favorite Michelle Steel. This new district pretty much stretches from Fullerton, over to Cerritos, and then takes up all of Little Saigon (Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley.)

Is Jay going to move there, from his Hacienda Heights? Well, I don’t know yet! But it should be pointed out that the mansion Steel owns with her wealthy husband Shawn is in faroff Rancho Palos Verdes, which she lied about the whole time she was illegally (and BADLY) representing west OC as a Supervisor.

Jay, as we’ve had the pleasure to report, is fucking brilliant, a Navy veteran, and an education leader. Michelle, unlike Young Kim, is not a smooth sneaky Trumpy, but a dumb and shameless Trumpy. The annals of her bad acts and baffling statements are long and we’ll be mining them through 2022. But, now let me hand things over to Jay’s people:

To: Interested Parties
From: Lindsay Barnes, Jay Chen Campaign Manager
Date: December 20th, 2021 

New Lines and New Opportunities 
CA45 is a new Asian opportunity swing seat with a 3.6%* Democratic registration advantage. The district voted for Biden by 6.2% and Clinton by 13.2%. The district is 37% Asian American with significant Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Indian populations. This district is primed to support a strong Democratic challenger like Jay Chen, a Navy Veteran, Community College Trustee, and child of Taiwanese immigrants. ….

Record Breaking Fundraising: As of his October 2021 filing, Jay Chen has the most cash on hand of any Democratic challenger in a targeted seat nationwide. Jay is the first Dem in district history (previously CA39) to surpass $1 million raised by October and is on track to end the year with close to $1 million cash on hand.

Here is Jay speaking at a Fullerton fundraiser recently:

Yeah, Fullerton, Little Saigon, Cerritos. You’re gonna want Jay, not Michelle. And you’re gonna want Jay, not a resurgence of Trump and the end of the American experiment. Vern out.

About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.