Vern here… in anticipation of the Great June 7 Election, I thought I’d share the ballot statements of some of the candidates I’m supporting here in Anaheim and Central OC…
Mike Ortega, Congress District 46
Biomedical Engineer AGE: 36
As the child of immigrants who worked hard to provide for our family, I know the challenges that families face, not just to get by but to try to get ahead. With skyrocketing prices for food, housing, medicine, gas and just about everything else, too many people rightly feel like they are on a treadmill.
In Congress, my focus will be to change that by raising wages, stopping the price gouging that big companies are engaging in, and creating opportunity by making higher education, including vocational training, available as we do with elementary and high school. We need Medicare for All, paid family leave, and a tax system that makes the super rich pay their fair share of taxes.
We need to revamp our broken immigration system that is cruelly separating families and creating fear among so many hard-working people. We cannot give in to the fear-mongering and hate that is all too common today.
We can do these things if we take on the corporate interests who run Washington. Congress must lower the cost of prescription drugs, stop big food processors who are hurting consumers and farmers, and get corporate money out of politics. We cannot allow megacorporations to dodge their taxes by hiding profits overseas while leaving working families and small businesses footing the bill.
It has been very humbling to work with so many fantastic people in CA-46 and I would be honored to earn your vote for real change in Washington.
Bulmaro “Boomer” Vicente for Assembly District 68
I am running for State Assembly because I believe I can bring a fresh new perspective and voice to the legislature. This district needs a representative who will fight for equity and justice in Sacramento. The residents of Santa, Anaheim, and Orange need a voice on issues like healthcare, affordable housing, and public safety.
I was born and raised in this district, and am the proud son of Mexican immigrants from Oaxaca, Mexico. I attended local public schools and became the first person in my family to graduate from high school and college. I graduated from the University of California Berkeley in 2017. Higher education provided me the opportunity to learn as much about the world in order to come back and help my community.
After graduating from UC Berkeley, I came back to Orange County and got involved in local and state efforts to protect tenants from being evicted amidst the pandemic, to pass rent control in the City of Santa Ana, and worked to get vaccines for COVID in central Orange County. I currently serve as the policy director for CHISPA, a political home for Latino youth in Orange County.
My experience with community safety, housing, and labor issues make me an excellent candidate for Assembly District 68. My deep roots in the community, and relationships with community leaders, bring the experience necessary to truly advocate for the people of Orange county.
I humbly ask for your vote.
You can learn more at vicenteforassembly.com or email campaign@vicenteforassebly.com
Vicente Sarmiento for Supervisor district 2
Santa Ana Mayor/Businessowner
Mayor Vicente Sarmiento has the values, experience, and vision to be our next Orange County Supervisor. He will work to improve the quality of life for all residents. Vicente was raised in central Orange County, attended local public schools, and returned to his hometown, Santa Ana, to start a business and raise his family after college. As a father, Mayor Sarmiento believes everyone deserves to feel safe in their neighborhoods.
Mayor Sarmiento has implemented strategies that keep our schools, parks, and sidewalks safe, while getting people experiencing homelessness the mental health services they need.
As a Councilmember, Vicente led Orange County’s second biggest city through the great recession, while protecting homeowners and local businesses. As Mayor, he balanced the city’s budget, increased the fiscal reserve, and created a one-time surplus of approximately $42 million. Most importantly, Santa Ana now has some of the lowest rates of Covid-19 positivity in the entire County, after having been the most impacted.
As Supervisor, Vicente will make affordable housing and the rising cost of living a priority. At a time when many are struggling to pay their bills, Mayor Sarmiento led the COVID economic recovery, helping small businesses and renters get the support they needed, and secured hazard/hero pay for our essential frontline workers.
Vicente will always stand with working families because people deserve a paycheck they can raise a family on, and a safe workplace.
As Mayor, Vicente also created a universal legal defense fund to help families stay together.
As Supervisor, Vicente will usher in a fresh start for Orange County by delivering on the issues most important to residents, including:
- Tackling Homelessness
- Protecting Our Neighborhoods
- Increasing Affordable Housing
- Improving Public Health Care
- Expanding Our Parks & Green Space
- Increasing Government Transparency and Accountability
Mayor Sarmiento earned a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley, and his law degree from UCLA. He proudly returned home to Santa Ana with his wife Eva to raise their three kids & dog “Magic”, start his own Santa Ana-based law practice, and enter public service to improve his hometown.
Please join the Democratic Party of Orange County, the Orange County Labor Federation, United States Senator Alex Padilla, and elected officials, organizations, and residents in supporting Mayor Sarmiento’s campaign for a brighter and more prosperous future for all in Orange County.
www.sarmientoforsupervisor.com
Vicente Sarmiento
Jay Chen, Congress, District 45
AGE: 44
Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen is a Navy Reserve Intelligence Officer, small businessowner, and a father of two. Jay is running for Congress to help working families in Orange County get ahead.
He is tired of career politicians who care more about their partisan agenda and serving special interests, instead of serving the people.
Jay will tackle rising costs and invest back in our communities.
Jay Chen is the son of Taiwanese immigrants who came to America for a chance to live the American Dream. Jay learned the value of hard work by helping his parents’ small business. As a small businessowner himself, Jay knows firsthand the challenges facing local businesses. In Congress, he will ensure American small businesses get the help they need to stay open and provide good paying jobs.
Every child deserves a quality education. Jay Chen went to public schools, worked hard, and earned a scholarship to attend Harvard.
He served on the School Board and is a Community College Trustee helping students afford college and obtain skills training to get a good job. Local teachers support Jay Chen because they trust him to strengthen local schools.
Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen joined the Navy to serve his country. Jay has defended our freedoms, leading an intelligence team in the counterterrorism fight against ISIS in the Middle East and countering communist North Korean threats in Asia. Veterans groups back Jay because they know he will always put America first.
Lieutenant Commander Jay Chen: Ready to Work, Prepared to Lead.
www.chenforcongress.com
Jay Chen
Sunny Park, Supervisor District 4
Mayor of Buena Park
The time for change in Orange County is now.
I’m Buena Park Mayor Sunny Park and I’m running to bring the change we need.
In the midst of COVID-19 — the Board of Supervisors repeatedly rejected calls for more government transparency. They rejected mask mandates at the onset of the Delta surge and then refused to allow access to public health officials when we needed them most.
Now, our county is grappling with a homelessness emergency, an affordable housing shortage and a public safety crisis. It’s clear the status quo isn’t working. Orange County deserves a forward-thinking, post pandemic community leader who can embrace the change the pandemic has brought on and move the county to the right direction. That’s why the stakes couldn’t be higher.
As a mother and an immigrant, I understand the struggles that so many people in communities throughout Orange County face on a daily basis. It’s why I got into public service — to lift up marginalized communities, protect our planet, and ensure that our neighborhoods are safe, healthy and thriving.
From serving as Mayor of Buena Park and on the Orange County Fire Authority Board, to earning the Presidential Gold Medal for Volunteerism from President Barack Obama — my life’s work has been centered around public service and giving back.
As your Supervisor, I will:
- Urgently address homelessness, helping to provide mental health services to the unhoused and get them into permanent housing;
- Increase transparency at the county, especially on public health;
- Hold all elected officials, including myself, accountable;
- Strengthen our economy by helping small businesses;
- Stand with working families, creating more good paying middle class jobs, while protecting workers’ rights;
- Combat climate change by safeguarding our environment, preserving clean air and water, and getting the county to 100% clean energy;
- Expand healthcare access and improve our county’s health department;
- Keep communities safe by investing in public safety, like firefighters and paramedic emergency response, while enacting commonsense criminal justice reforms.
That is why I am endorsed by:
- Democratic Party of Orange County
- Hotel Workers
- Senator Bob Archuleta
- Senator Dave Min
- Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva
- California Treasurer Fiona Ma
- Former California Treasurer John Chiang
- Working Families
Let’s create change by electing an energetic local Mayor to take the OC Board of Supervisors in a new direction. I would be deeply honored to have your support — and your vote — on June 7th.
With gratitude,
Sunny Park
SunnyPark4OC.com
Peter Hardin, District Attorney
AGE: 43
Attorney/Business Owner
Crime and Homelessness In Orange County Are Skyrocketing.
Putting career politicians in charge of public safety has proven disastrous.
Homicides reached a 22-year high last year:
- Homelessness (+41%)
- Aggravated Assaults with Firearms (+51%)
- Violent Crime (+10%)
- Burglary (+11%)
- Vehicle thefts (+35%)
- Arson (+33%)
- Anti-Asian Hate Incidents (+1800%)
(Source: Department of Justice and County Data)
Orange County used to be one of the safest places in America. The District Attorney’s office is plagued with scandals, from rampant sexual harassment and racism that has undermined the prosecution of dangerous offenders, to pay-for-play political corruption and criminal misconduct. Furthermore, a man that sexually harassed multiple women was promoted after allegations of his misconduct were reported.
We need a new District Attorney.
Pete Hardin is a Marine Corps combat veteran, a former Deputy District Attorney, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. He has spent his life fighting for our country on the battlefield and fighting for Orange County in the courtroom.
Hardin is not a politician, he led Marines at war. As a Marine Corps officer, he served in Afghanistan as a member of 1st
Reconnaissance Battalion. Hardin achieved the rank of Captain, led the prosecution office for the largest command in the Marine Corps, and was honorably discharged in 2013. He is endorsed by VoteVets.
As a prosecutor, Hardin led law enforcement officers and federal agents in prosecuting over 100 cases and taking down violent criminals, drug dealers, and fraudsters. He worked closely with law enforcement officers from all over Orange County and federal agents from the FBI, ATF, NCIS, Secret Service, Homeland Security, and State Department.
Orange County deserves real leadership. Criminals need to face real consequences. Victims deserve justice. Taxpayers and law-abiding citizens need reforms that will fix our revolving door criminal justice system and clean up our streets.
Hardin will focus prosecutorial resources on violent crime and invest in drug treatment programs, mental health services, job training, gang intervention, and other programs proven to reduce crime. He’ll collaborate with law enforcement to break cycles of incarceration and homelessness. He’ll hold offenders accountable, expand victims’ services to support crime survivors, and eliminate gross fiscal irresponsibility and waste in our justice system.
To reverse Orange County’s horrific crime rates and restore integrity to the District Attorney’s office we must elect a new, energetic, and experienced District Attorney. Pete Hardin would be honored to have your vote.
www.PeteHardin.com
Pete Hardin
Gotta get rid of the Chaffee menace to honesty and competence.
And Sunny seems to be the way to do it.
I don’t always agree with the DPOC, but they made good Supe choices with Sunny and Vincent. I think they hate Chaffee too, for whatever reason.
“I think they hate Chaffee too, for whatever reason.”
The reason is everyone hates Chaffee. Except the Pringle Ring.
Did someone else write Hardins statement ? Or is he addressing himself in the 3rd person ?
No, you can do it either in first-person or third-person. I’m not aware of any studies of which works out better. But, in cases where there’s a competent campaign manager and communication team, they will work on the statement in conjunction with the candidate; a candidate writing it by themselves is doing it on the cheap.
*This may be one of the most interesting elections in some time. We have a feeling that the so-called “Trumpy Bear World” is coming to a crashing end. If so, women, minorities and half way intelligent white guys might actually vote for the best people instead of the paid off Flag Twirller Pick-up guys! It just may come down to this: “Are you for Ukraine
or Putin?” “Are you for Baby Killers and Criminals…. or for a Free people?” Even Rand Paul has pulled the plug…..we will see how many more join Cheney, Kinzer and Romney…eh before November?
Whenever I think of Pete Hardin, the Democrat OCDA candidate, I can’t help but feel he is a poster-boy for the phrase “Speak softly and carry a Big Stick” ( Teddy Roosevelt )
Hardin is amiable and actually genuinely likeable as a person. He has a quick, easy smile and exudes empathy. He listens well and makes people feel that they matter.
On the downside what he leaves UNsaid about his ideology is highly troubling. I actually will be authoring a separate blog post about this, so not trying to get in too deep here. But it’s worrisome enough I will soon devote a post to it.
In watching #OCDA2022 this far, I’ve encountered the following:
Hardin is sly as a fox and – when he wants to be – can morph into attack mode at the snap of a finger. He bides his time & lies in wait. When he is on the offense, he takes no prisoners. He goes for the jugular. I do admire his style and think Spitzer is getting everything he deserves and then some.
It’s difficult to actively dislike Hardin, notwithstanding some of his views. He is affable and has a uncanny ability to switch his communication style depending on his audience.
As he was the only OCDA opponent in 2021 I followed Hardin’s moves and observed him in person and online. If I had to sum it up; I would say do not underestimate his capacity to destroy. And unlike Spitzers most vocal detractors, Hardin is so subtle that Spitzer sometimes doesn’t see the sparks flying his way until he’s engulfed in the flame.
the best example I can think of is the notorious “N-word” vid. The timing of it’s release was executed with surgical precision.
Does anyone else find it surreal that less than TEN days after the news broke about the death penalty debate & Spitzers idiotic musings on the black Defendant’s dating preferences team Hardin releases this 2+ year old footage……mind you…this vid had been floating around since at least 2019, but makes a sudden appearance, while the accusations of racism are fresh in everyone’s mind ? Hardin literally poured gasoline on a open flame and he did it with a shrug and a grin. This is tactical warfare exemplified. Spitzer still hasnt recovered from the damage, though arguably he might if enough low-information voters forget about it in a few months.
I guess the moral of the story is don’t bring a knife to a gunfight with a Marine.
What concerns me – and other voters – the most isn’t what Hardin says because he really doesn’t reveal much. It’s what’s lurking up his sleeve thats causing apprehension. I personally believe that none of us truly know Hardin’s full agenda, because he isn’t showing his cards.
I can confidently say “brace yourselves” because we are in for a lot more surprises. In a comic way, Spitzer has met his match who like Spitzer himself: is prepared to stoop as low as it takes.
And I’m stocking up on the popcorn
#toddspitzerforprison2022