State Senate district 34: Rhonda or Avelino?

Should central OC progressive Democrats & independents who are sick of the corporate-friendly politics of “moderate” Democrats like Assemblyman Avelino Valencia cast a protest vote for his opponent, Republican former mayor of Placentia Rhonda Shader? I don’t know? Should *I* do that? Let’s see.

It’s a big difference making these choices for Congress – where we Democrats can’t afford to lose a single seat – versus the assembly and state senate where we’ve had a ridiculous SUPERMAJORITY for many years. And STILL can’t achieve any progressive goals.

I call a vote for Rhonda a “protest vote” because she’s pretty unlikely to win – that would take a whole lot of Democrats and independents voting for her.

But if she did, it wouldn’t be a terrible thing. Out of OC Republicans she is one of the best – not hateful or racist, not crazy or corrupt or stupid or a conspiracist. Just conservative.

And, as amiable and accessible a guy as Avelino is, his defeat (hard to imagine as it is) would be a body blow to the conserva-Dem Daly-Umberg-Correa Dynasty that’s kept iron-fisted control over Central OC politics for decades, and threatens to get even worse with David Penaloza.

And if we did lose one Democrat in Sacramento – or 2 or 3 or 4 – we would want it to be a “business Dem” like Avelino, NOT a progressive. (Better to have progressive goals cockblocked by Republicans than by fellow Dems, and to have Dems STAND for something.)

In 2020, last time Rhonda ran for state senate, our friend Ryan Cantor said we should endorse her over Tom Umberg because of how much money she saved her town of Placentia by standing up to some unions or something. Don’t remember if we did. I probably didn’t know enough about what this union was and what they were trying to get.

But I met Rhonda at Anaheim’s Black History Parade in February – not the place you expect to meet Republican politicians. Tardif introduced us, and she seemed really friendly and reasonable.

And last month, in the midst of endorsing almost all Democrats, the OC Register went with Rhonda in this race:

“…Valencia promised to bring the same “analytical and rational approach” as Umberg. He touted various centrist, market-oriented positions on everything from insurance regulation to the construction of market-rate housing – and was well versed in the details of these issues. He vowed to protect tax-limiting Proposition 13, which is a relief for a Democrat. The district can do far worse than Valencia as its senator.

“Yet we throw our support to Shader.

“She reminds us of an old-school Republican – of the sort we miss, actually – as she talked about Sacramento’s “death by 1,000 cuts” approach to business regulation and emphasized a market-oriented affordability approach. She understands the need to reduce construction-stifling building regulations. And she understands that Sacramento’s endless catering to special interests leaves California government overextended and reliant on new taxes to sustain itself. 

“With Democratic supermajorities in Sacramento, Shader would offer needed balance. But our biggest reason for endorsing Shader is the courage she showed in standing up to the public-employee unions in her own city. As we noted in our 2022 endorsement of her, ‘she endured union wrath for creating a new fire department (and exiting an overpriced county contract) that saves the city $28 million over a decade.‘” 

That’s another thing, in there. We shouldn’t want to live in a one-Party state. And there should be a decent, honest Republican Party, even in California. And a decent, honest Republican Party would consist of politicians like Rhonda Shader.

Then there’s retired Rancho Santiago professor and Chicano rights OG Sammy Rodriguez, who feels strongly that Rhonda helps the community a lot more than politicians like Avelino. The guy’s real, I talked to him for half an hour, and he really goes off on the “vendido” political insiders who seem to get elected for their skin color, and they forget where they come from, and we don’t see them again till election time. Or so says Professor Sammy.

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So some of my fellow Anaheim Democrats Club members wanted to invite Rhonda to a meeting, just to see what she’s like. Now that is pushing the envelope – inviting a Republican running against an endorsed Democrat! I thought it’d be better to have both her and Avelino there, a debate or forum or whatever. And tried to reach the big guy for a few weeks. I thought he was blowing us off. But actually he got back to me at the last minute and said he had a couple of prior commitments, which I believe him cuz he told me what they were.

But Rhonda came. And the Club’s reaction was mixed. It was like some of them were observing a foreign species for the first time. Some of them kept asking her about Trump, much to her irritation. “I’m not Trump!” she protested, “Can we talk about state issues?” She does have some criticisms of Trump. But for many it was a deal-breaker when she refused to agree that “Trump is not fit for office.”

I don’t think our Republican friends get the same news as us. She also seemed to think that ICE raids were something bad and excessive and regrettable from LAST YEAR, and had no idea they are still going on, at actually ELEVEN TIMES THE RATE.

Anyway, here’s the 15-minute video of her appearance. Make up your own mind. It wasn’t an easy decision for me because I get along good with both Rhonda and Avelino. But I need to say no to the Corporate-Dem Mafia in Orange County, and I’d like to make the California Republican Party a little more honest and humane. So I cast a protest vote for RHONDA SHADER.