Hopeful, ambitious politicians and wanna-be politicians have till March 11 to file for the June 7 election; and I’m sure (if past is indeed prologue) Diamond will create an encyclopedic summary soon after that deadline. But, like children waiting to open their Xmas presents, we couldn’t wait and wrote this report in early February, and now, once again, I can’t resist letting you know who else has jumped in since then. (I’m skipping races that haven’t changed since we wrote this, and here’s where you go to find your districts.) Without further ado:
OC Congressional Races
Northeast-County District 40, very Republican
No doubt finding incumbent (but not in this district) Young Kim too moderate, a “RINO,” (which we don’t as she is completely obedient to Trumpy Speaker McCarthy), two more obviously extremist right-wingers are taking her on –
- Greg Raths, who Diamond and I had fantasized was a principled, independent conservative but who has spent the last few days (apparently at the CPAC convention?) sharing fan pics of himself with the grotesque Roger Stone and the Rotting Yam Itself – WHAT WERE WE THINKING?
- And, newly filed, crazed Deborah Pauly, the infamous anti-immigrant Islamophobe from Villa Park!
- Meanwhile, probably despairing of finding room to Pauly’s right, the violent Irvine chud Nick Taurus has decided instead to run against Michelle Steel in District 45! But .. but … WHATEVER.
There’s a Democrat running too, but who knows anything about him? I listened in on the DPOC endorsement meeting recently, and I was looking forward to hearing Dr. Asif Mahmood but he didn’t bother showing up (although he DID make off with the endorsement, having no competition.) I pretty much despair of Democrats being able to save our nation in this district this year, and would put my money on the smooth, well-funded Young Kim.
“Asian” District 45, Fullerton / West Anaheim / Cerritos / Little Saigon
The stars here are our favorite Jay Chen versus our least favorite (incumbent but not in this district) Michelle Steel, and Cerritos’ Joe Cho has also filed. Which meant no Viet candidates! Well, now there is one, the perennial candidate Long Pham. No, seriously Long has run for EVERYTHING, and only won for School Board. Well, now he’s going for Congress, I don’t remember if he ever tried that before. (I also don’t remember if he lied, exaggerated or told the truth when he said he was a nuclear physicist, but there was some controversy about that.)
I want to know why Jay hasn’t filed yet – Greg? Does he have to do that in LA County or is he keeping up our suspense? But he made it onto Laura Ingraham’s FOX News show recently, where the harridan ridiculously tried to help Steel by claiming the Taiwanese-American Jay had subjected Hacienda Heights schoolchildren to Chinese Communist Propaganda. Turns out, this was 12 years ago, it was a very popular Mandarin-immersion program (yes with some funding from the Chinese), AND the Daily Show did a hilarious spot about it way back when John Stewart was in charge, Aasif Mandvi as correspondent, Jay himself acting as “straight man.” Watch that it’s great!
(Also, Nick Taurus and other goofballs listed on Ballotpedia haven’t actually filed yet.)
State Senate
Central County District 34
Incumbent DINO Tom Umberg STILL has no challenger! Serio? NO progressive can take on an aged quasi-Dem who boasts of having worked for Ronald Reagan? Correa and Daly have good challengers, let’s make it a trifecta!
Assembly
Far North District 59
ANOTHER dreary incumbent with no challenger as of yet – the unremarkable Republican Philip Chen.
Little Saigon District 70
There are now FOUR mediocre Republicans going up against OJ-favorite Democrat Diedre Nguyen, in this district with a 6.6% Democratic advantage – Kimberly Ho, Tri Ta, Ted Bui, and apparently non-Viet Emily Hibard. Go Diedre!
Irvine / Costa Mesa / Tustin District District 73, Dem advantage
The race between the two incumbents Steve Choi (R) and Cottie Petrie-Norris (D) has been joined by OJ pal and progressive Democrat Luis M. Huang, who is righteously pissed off at Cottie’s vote against single-payer healthcare. The Liberal OC’s Chmielewski keeps harping on Luis, “You’re gonna help Choi get elected, and then what will you have achieved?” And Luis responds as I suggested to him: “This is not Congress, this is Assembly where Democrats ALREADY enjoy MORE than a Supermajority, and we can afford to play a little hardball to try to get better Democrats (or get them to vote better.)”
Superior Court Judges
We have a lot of Superior Court Judges to vote on, most of ’em unchallenged incumbents, and that’s really Greg’s specialty to write about. There are only four judicial races that catch my interest:
Office 5
A real familiar name running here – Claudia Alvarez! She’s been a Santa Ana political fixture since the birth of this blog, which is as far back as our memory goes. Art seemed to really dislike her, which doesn’t mean anything. Always an assistant DA, she served eight years on the Santa Ana Council before being termed out. Donna and I watched her do her Assistant DA thing when we were doing “Court Watch” for the ACLU and she seemed fair enough. Most recently she ran for SA Mayor and lost to Vincente Sarmiento. Too conservative and union-connected to my taste, for political office, but it seems like she could be a fair judge. Running against her are Kimberly LaSalle, Michael Jones, and Dan Espinosa – I wonder what Greg will have to say about them?
Office 11
Shawn Nelson, former Supervisor and current right-hand man to troubled DA Todd Spitzer, is doing what he’s been threatening for at least a decade – running to be a Judge. He used to be a friend of mine. I played piano at a party for him once. He seemed like a principled libertarian-type. Pero his record says NO. In the latest news, Shawn rejected and ridiculed top prosecutor Tracy Miller’s legitimate claims that her female subordinates had regularly been harassed by Todd’s lecherous bestie Gary LoGalbo. Which brings up, Shawn is the highest-ranking Spitzer underling not to rebel against his addled boss. Count me OUT, on my former friend Shawn. (Now, watch him win and me have to go before him someday for something.)
Running against Baby-Face Nelson is Marc Gibbons – who dat?
Office 22
It’s hard to know how to feel now about Brahim Baytieh (above.) Once Spitzer’s “North Star,” it is now total war between the two, as Baytieh whistleblew about Todd’s racist death-penalty musings and Todd retaliated by firing the prosecutor for an DECADE-OLD transgression, right before Brahim could include “prosecutor” on his ballot designation. So it’s tempting to root for him, but we MUST REMEMBER – Baytieh WAS a big part of the Snitch Scandal, he DID withhold evidence illegally from defenses, and he DID sign off on every slanted lying incident report on police killings. So… NO ON JUDGE BAYTIEH. Running against him are Fred Fascenelli, Wayne Philips, & Craig Kleffman – anyone know them?
And Office 30!
This is a guy I know from about 10 years ago – Incumbent Judge Frank Ospino running without opposition! When I knew him he was a public defender, a real nice guy, and me and Wylie Drake (of all people) worked with him trying to help a woman get her kids back from CPS. Soon after that he became the Head Public Defender; then evidently a judge. The only thing is, as I remember, his ears are REALLY big. I mean like Mickey Mouse big. Like Barack Obama’s ears were grafted onto George W. Bush’s ears. I’m gonna have to poke my head in those chambers and see if my memory is exaggerating.
UPDATE – DAMN. I’ve just been told by a few friends that Judge Ospino died last week. That’s too bad – he was a really nice guy, and not enough OC judges have the background of being Public Defender, let alone Chief Public Defender. Still… he DID have big ears. I guess his seat is open now.
Let’s Transform the OC Board of Education!
We finally have the candidates we need to transform Orange County’s most destructive, wasteful, and embarrassing Clown Car – the Ken Williams-dominated OCBOE!
If you live in District 2, which is around Seal Beach, HB, Newport, CM, etc… you simply MUST get rid of nutjob Mari Barke, by voting en masse for distinguished Newport-Mesa trustee Martha Fluor. And if you’re in the South County District 5, you simply MUST get rid of far-right Lisa Sparks, by voting en masse for distinguished educator and principal Sherine Smith.
Oh. And if you live where I do, northwest OC’s District 4, and your main goal is to take away Ken Williams’ extremist majority, I suppose you should vote for Paulette Chaffee. I just can’t bring myself to do that. I shall abstain.
OC Board of Supervisors!
Central-County District 2
A race that was originally just Santa Ana’s progressive Mayor Vicente Sarmiento vs. Garden Grove inquisitor Kim Bernice Nguyen has FOUR new entries, all somewhat interesting: anti-immigrant troglodyte Orange Councilman Jon DUMBitru, dismal developer-loving Republican Santa Ana Councilman Juan Villegas, Santa Ana Christian Conservative zealot Ceci Iglesias, and our extremely interesting, caring, and generous Anaheim friend Bryan Kaye.
Me, I’m still a Sarmientista!
Northwest District 4
This had been simply Democrat Buena Park Mayor Sunny Kim challenging incumbent Supervisor Doug Chaffee, but NOT ONE BUT TWO BREA REPUBLICANS have now jumped in – Marty Simonoff and Steve Vargas. Hey I remember Zenger and Diamond talking about those two in comments, in a not very complimentary way. Let me look that up…
Zenger, Feb. 9: I’ve been told the eternal Marty Simonoff from Brea is running for 4th District Supervisor although I’ve seen nothing personally. If Sunny runs a spirited campaign she might force the unspeakably despicable Chaffee into a runoff.
Diamond, Feb. 10: A reliable source says that the infamous and fatuous Steve Vargas is running. So if Simonoff is running as well, it may be to hamstring Vargas.
Hmmm… Sounds like some petty Brea Republican shit. I’m still tilting toward Sunny, with whom I had a long off-the-record chat last night.
South-County District 5
We reported on Feb. 5 that a bunch of establishment Republicans had recruited 82-year old, relatively respectable, termed-out State Senator Pat Bates to ONCE AGAIN run for Supervisor, presumably out of embarrassment and distaste over the officially endorsed Republican, heartless financial crook and elder abuser Diane Harkey, who the GOP had first planned to put up against quasi-incumbent Katrina Foley. Well, Patricia has finally filed… and Diane as far as I can tell has not withdrawn. Split away, South-County Republican womenfolk!
Assessor
On Feb 5 I’d listed this as a race nobody cares about, where the incumbent is doing a fine job and is never challenged, but I’ve been disabused of that notion by Democratic challenger Rick Foster, who came and spoke to my Anaheim Democratic Club, and was the only candidate for ANYTHING who came out with a clear, 80% endorsement! We loved his knowledge, enthusiasm and energy. Now it’s hard to remember what he said, but … here you go, Rick has videos!
District Attorney
Ambitious lawyers smelling blood have been jumping into the grand battle between justly embattled incumbent Todd Spitzer and Democratic reformer Pete Hardin. Not all of them are any better than Spitzer! Michael Jacobs for example cheated regularly and scandalously to obtain death penalty convictions – R. Scott Moxley wrote all about it in 2015. Now some lawyer in San Diego named Bryan Chehock has thrown his hat in, in the wake of Todd’s racism scandals. How much more to this clown car?
After June 7 I wager it’ll be Spitzer vs. Hardin, a simple race I look forward to!
And finally…
Sheriff
Don Barnes STILL doesn’t have a challenger. Looks like Tom Daly and Lou Correa stuck us with this guy for EIGHT years.
Well, that’s it, till the 11th!
I don’t feel sorry for Brahm Batieyeh. He deserves all the bad rap he is getting and more. The fact that he is the latest to endure Todd Spitzer’s vindictive pattern of “Off with his Head” doesn’t make him a victim. He’s still as unprincipled as Todd.
Pretty much what I was saying. At the very LEAST he is not JUDGE material.
This creep deliberately shielded his buddy Danny Hughes in the Let Joe Go drunk driving case. Then he set out to destroy the DA investigator who was trying to tie the strings together. This is a nogoodnik.
You’re referring to Brahim Baytieh?
Yes.
I don’t know how unprincipled he is compared to Todd Spitzer. Can you at least tell us whether you’re someone who has some sort of insider perspective on Baytieh (and Spitzer), as opposed to someone who just formed an opinion by reading the news? I really dislike anonymous attacks, even those in agreement with one of us.
If you want another judge who violated the Constitution by withholding evidence of innocence so that he could throw someone in prison forever notwithstanding the fact that the guy might ACTUALLY BE INNOCENT, then by all means vote for Baytieh.
If you want a judge who took it up one notch and, after burning a potentially innocent person, became the lying angelic face of OCDA justice pretending that he didn’t have a clue that the OCDA’s office was lying a convict innocent people WHILE HE HAD DONE THE EXACT SAME THING, then maybe Baytieh shouldn’t just be your vote you maybe should help in his campaign.
Personally, the idea that someone who didn’t understand ethical behavior would be a judge is nauseating.
I will not be voting for Baytieh.
For Christ sakes as to spritzer he converted to Christianity to get in rauckakus’s good graces. Let’s start there with him. Was Baytieh canned on a pretext too? Methinks not. Political yes. Appropriate, most definitely.
https://www.ocweekly.com/will-the-real-todd-spitzer-please-stand-up-6413775-2/
I really want no part of attacking people based on their religious, including their conversions from one to another. Yes, Spitzer was born Jewish and yes, he converted to Christianity. I know many good people who have done the same — for what I personally considered good reasons and what I’ve personally considered to be ones not involving religious conviction (mostly because they fell in love with someone of a different faith.) But it’s none of my, your, or anyone else’s business. If there was so much anti-Jewish prejudice in the OC electorate, or just in Racky’s DA’s office specifically, that meant that he faced an objectively lousy choice between his fait at birth and his ambitions for what he wanted to do in the world — and he should be an object of empathic pity on that front, not of scorn.
Umm, he changed his religion for political purposes. Nuff said.
You don’t know that, Counselor. Maybe he just changed his religion because he was tired of bigotry. Maybe Jesus’ spirit visited him on his road to Tarsus, or Tustin, if you know what I mean. Tread more gingerly.
Yeah whatever you say Greg. Relying on Vernisms, timing is everything. Look at the timeline and the series of events before and after conversion. Stop playing the victim card about bigotry and jewish hate and be real. He didn’t suffer any documented bigotry before 2008. He did get a death threat related to Meghan’s Law when he was in Suckramento. Keep it up o-myopic one. You need a stronger prescription for your lenses or something. Sheesh.
In other news, Agran has asked for a city audit of OCPA.
“Playing the victim card”? Other than with your ideological stable-mate Stanley F!ala here, I have rarely experienced overt anti-Semitism since elementary school (when I was accused of being a “Christ Killer” and literally had no idea what they were talking about.) I’ve received a hell of a lot of abuse for being largely pro-Palestinian, though, and that really doesn’t fit your narrative.
What I’m playing is the “honest-about-not-being-able-to-read-minds commentator who prefers decorum and some degree of deference when it comes to what are potentially other people’s most private and cherished beliefs” hand of cards.
You don’t seem to have the humility care, the decorum card, the fairness card, or the respect card. But that’s no surprise; it’s been clear for quite a while now that you aren’t playing with a full deck.
I want to right a story about how that CHUD Dan from liberal oc exposed himself as a nimcompoop when he came to Farrah’s defense to debunk her ties to Baku and completely overlooked her connection to Ankara, the most notorious genocide in the county and to organizations steeped in genocide denial.
OK. Expect some disagreement and don’t be gratuitously vicious — fair?
Re: The endorsement for CD-40.
You wouldn’t have heard Dr. Asif give a statement because congressional candidates are endorsed at the state level, not the county level.
I highly suggest doing some research on Dr. Asif. He is a supporter of a single-payer system and doesn’t charge patients if they can’t pay.
I don’t know why people keep saying this, I heard the vote on Correa vs Ortega, and several other Congressional votes, and they were WAITING for Dr Mahmood.
Maybe I shoulda said Region 17 or 19 or whatever. I guess that is bigger than OC.
I believe you that Dr. Mahmood is a good guy. I hope he can beat Young Kim but it seems like an uphill struggle.
It matters because it’s different folks casting votes for CD/State Senate/Assembly endorsements than are voting for County endorsements.
It helps to understand the process, who the players are and how things are done- especially if you’re going to use your platform to complain about the process.
Dr. Asif didn’t have a challenger, so he didn’t need to attend the pre-endorsement. Honestly, the meeting is an anachronism because ballots are due 5 minutes after the last speech, meaning most folks already cast their ballots before the meeting.
I can’t speak for other voters, but I’ve spent the past month speaking to candidates- at least those who would talk to me – about their campaigns, so I did my due diligence.
Juice Brother Vern. A classy assessment of the field. Time will tell how good you are in your pics
Hey Larry if you’re calling me Juice Brother again, that means you have to write for us again!
Greg, you are a playing a deck with the same 52 cards. That full deck comment approaches defamatory but I got real thick skin.
That’s an interesting legal theory, counselor — guilty of making a really good joke.
If you do have all of the same cards, I’m afraid that some of them have been bent.
Oh you are joker are ya!
Naah. Just extremely witty.
Greg, as Todd didn’t sue the individual for the innuendo re his conversion to the Truth Light and Way party or rebut it, it’s true. Don’t fight the facts man!
You cannot possibly believe that because someone chooses not to sue a person that has defamed them — a decision that involves, among other things, the relative capacity to endure costs of attorney fees and the time spent in discovery — it can therefore be concluded that the allegedly defamatory statement was true.
Wait, let me correct that: A reasonable attorney cannot possibly believe, &c.
Sure I can. He changed his religion to curry favor with power players or the voting public because he was afraid his faith prevented his future success as a politician in the county. Sounds like a political decision. Carry on oh hairsplitting myopic one. Sorry Vern for hijacking your thread.
We can’t know what is in Todd’s heart about God and shit, but the grossest comment is from S-Kang Schroeder (which I quoted a few times in past years until recent Spitzerisms eclipsed this)
“Todd has changed,” she said then. “He’s become a Christian” —he was Jewish— “and he finally understands why so many people didn’t like him before. I’m willing to give him a second chance.”
Vern, that’s straight from the OC weekly article i posted above.
And, Todd didn’t go all lawfare over it. Did he? So maybe it was understood he had to let it go to get ahead. From what I understand, it wasn’t a big deal to him as he was a lazy boy tribe member. There is reform. And then there is relaxed.
I KNOW that, Eric, it’s one of my favorite old pre-DA Spitzer pieces
Do you not know that you sound like an anti-Jewish bigot here, or do you know and not care?
If I as an outsider talked that way about internal Armenian cultural divisions, you’d evert your intestines.
You need an open Spitzer investigation thread. He even showboated his involvement in expending OIR jurisdiction over DA’s office in becoming the subject of their investigation over the
Bugs case fiasco re white women. Where all the white women at?
One of the threads we put up before can be adapted for that purpose.
Back to the topic of this post: Vern, is Mike Ortega running against Correa or not? He’s barely made a move towards completing his registration.
Same with Boomer Vicente vs. Daly. By the way, Mike Tardif took out papers to run against Daly — probably just to see us note it. If he would run against Rep. Kevin McCarthy up in B’field, I might endorse him.
OC Superintendent of Schools Al Mijares is facing a challenger from Stefan Bean, Board Secretary of the OC Classical Academy affiliated with Hillsdale College. The board chair is Dr. Jeffrey Barke, husband of Mari Barke. I don’t know how much money Mijares has raised, but I expect the Barke/charter crowd to spend heavily in this race to install a friendly superintendent.
Thanks for the heads up! I’d never worried about Mijares before, he’s usually unopposed.
Jodi — thanks for the info about Stefan Bean, who I figured was someone up to no good and I’m not surprised to find that the Mad Doctor is behind it.
This is our current (mostly) updated page for filings; we’d look forward to your joining us there for comments on additional races.
Good ol’ Hillsdale. I spent half of 2020 and 2021 making fun of that noble bastion of Western Civ. If the Pistol Packin’ Physician is on the board it’s a cover for something sinister.