Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Santa Ana's top news & views blog

Category Archives: Elections

O.C. GOP Party Chair endorses Santa Ana resident Hugh Nguyen for Clerk-Recorder

Posted on by Posted in Elections, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 1 Comment

For Immediate Release                                                       Contact: Scott Hart

March 18th, 2010                                                                949-230-6998

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF ORANGE COUNTY CHAIRMAN SCOTT BAUGH ENDORSES HUGH NGUYEN FOR COUTY CLERK-RECORDER

Santa Ana (CA)—Former Chief Deputy Recorder Hugh Nguyen, and candidate for the office of County Clerk-Recorder, announced today that he has been formally endorsed by The Orange County Republican Party Chairman Scott Baugh.

“Hugh is the most qualified candidate for the office of Clerk Recorder and the only Republican in the race,” said Baugh.  “I urge all Republicans in Orange County to endorse him and on June 8th vote Hugh Nguyen for County Clerk-Recorder!” Continue reading→

Tan Nguyen is running against Van Tran in the 47th C.D. GOP primary

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Elections, Loretta Sanchez, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 6 Comments

Tan Nguyen and Van Tran used to be homies!

Well, businessman and former U.S. Marine Quang Pham decided not to run this year for the 47th Congressional District, but guess who did turn in his papers today and qualified for the ballot?  None other than Tan Nguyen, the Republican who got him a world of hurt back in 2006, when he sent a letter to Latino voters asking them not to vote.  Nguyen lost to Loretta Sanchez, the incumbent, by a landslide.

When Nguyen first announced his interest in running again this year, few local pundits figured he was serious.  Many of us assumed that Van Tran put him up to this, in order to scare Pham out of the race. 

My pajaritos report that Tran and his acolytes, the Trannies, were completely shocked this afternoon when Nguyen showed up to the Voter Registrar’s office, in Santa Ana, and turned in his papers. Continue reading→

Only one candidate filed for the Democratic Central Committee, in the 69th A.D.

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 2 Comments

Santa Ana Parks and Recreation Commissioner Tish Leon didn’t run for the DPOC Central Commitee this year

It is hard to believe, but no Latinos filed to run for the Democratic Party of Orange County’s (DPOC) Central Committee, in the 69th Assembly District, which includes Santa Ana and Anaheim, according to the Orange County Voter Registrar’s website.

None of the incumbents filed to run this year.  Several Latino incumbents walked away from the Central Committee, including Zeke Hernandez, Tish Leon, and Lynette Verino.  Other incumbents that did not pull papers included Stephen Bolinger, Eliah Gear, and Elaine Hoffman.

The only candidate who qualified to run this year was Art Hoffman.  He came in last place in 2008, when he ran previously for the DPOC Central Committee. Continue reading→

O.C. GOP recruits Robert Hammond to run against Assemblyman Solorio

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Elections, Latinos, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 8 Comments

This is the guy the OC GOP recruited to run against Assemblyman Jose Solorio this year

The Republican Party of Orange County finally found a candidate to run against popular incumbent Assemblyman Jose Solorio, in the 69th Assembly District, which includes the Cities of Santa Ana and Anaheim.  The GOP candidate is a fellow named Robert M. Hammond.

The 69th Assembly District has a population that is 74% Latino.  Over 50% of the registered voters are Democrats.  Only 28% are Republicans.  And 18% are registered as Decline to State voters.

So of course the OC GOP recruited an Anglo candidate to run against Solorio.  That didn’t work out too well in 2006, when Ryan Gene Williams, who now calls himself Ryan Trabuco, got only 34% of the vote.  Nor did it work out in 2008, when Cam Mangels got even less votes than his predecessor.  Mangels ended up with just under 29% of the votes. Continue reading→

Councilman Sarmiento calls allegations ridiculous

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

 

Santa Ana City Councilman Vincent Sarmiento called allegations that he is somehow involved in an attempt by a community group to discredit mayoral candidate Alfredo Amezcua “ridiculous”.  The allegations were made by a disgruntled ex- city commissioner in a blog

post

 on the factually deficient Liberal OC.

A former blogger reported that a principle in an independent expenditure committee called the “Good Government of Orange County Committee”, Alex Vega, told him that, “Councilman Sarmiento is very involved in their project and is trying hard to get a powerful law firm involved”. Continue reading→

Is this the end for O.C. Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street?

Posted on by Posted in Elections, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

 

O.C. Supervisor John Moorlach gave us O.C. Treasurer-Tax Collector Chriss Street and appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens

I thought it was a bit odd when I got a message yesterday that Chriss Street wanted to talk to me.  So I called him and we had a nice chat about the scumbag that is Brett Barbre.

Today Street’s world came crumbling down as a judge ruled that “Orange County Treasurer- Tax Collector Chriss Street breached his fiduciary duty five years ago when he served as a trustee for a bankrupt truck-trailer company,” according to the O.C. Register.

And the news gets worse for Street.  “U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard M. Neiter ordered Street to pay more than $7 million in damages in the case. Attorneys for Fruehauf’s End of the Road Trust had asked for Street to pay $11.9 million in damages. ”

Click here to read the rest of this post.

Should State Senator Lou Correa be at all worried about Lucille Kring?

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Elections, Latinos, Lou Correa, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 5 Comments

In 2006, Lucille Kring couldn’t beat Jon Aiken – how will she beat State Senator Lou Correa?

Republican Lucille Kring, who is a member of the Anaheim City Council, has decided to run against State Senator Lou Correa, over in the 34th State Senate District, which includes Santa Ana and Anaheim.

Kring won a seat on the Anaheim City Council in 2006, defeating incumbent Councilman Richard Chavez.  Bob Hernandez also won a seat on that council in 2006, getting a few more votes than Kring did, according to Smart Voter.  Chavez was damaged by numerous scandals but he still came in just .02% of the vote behind Kring.

Kring ran for Mayor of Anaheim in 2002, losing to Curt Pringle by over 4,000 votes, according to Smart Voter.  And she also won a seat on the Anaheim City Council way back in 1998, when she was the top vote-getter, with 24.8% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.  Back then there were no Latinos in that council race, which tells you that Anaheim has changed a lot over the past decade. Continue reading→

Why is Tan Nguyen running for the 47th Congressional District again?

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Elections, Garden Grove, Loretta Sanchez, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 7 Comments

Why is Tan Nguyen running for the 47th Congressional District again?

The news broke a week ago that he was running. His entry into the race will make it even harder for Van Tran and Quang Pham to prevail over Anaheim Union High School Trustee Katherine Smith, in the now very crowded GOP primary.

Tran ally Tim Whitacre is close to Tan. Whitacre was able to convince Tan to appoint another of his friends, former SAUSD Trustee Rosie Avila, as Tan’s alternate on the OC GOP Central Committee. Whitacre may be the only one who can shed light on Tan’s renewed interest in Congress. Continue reading→

Will Alfredo Amezcua turn out to be another Miguel Pulido?

Posted on by Posted in Banking, Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana, Taxes 13 Comments

I met with Alfredo Amezcua before he announced his campaign for Mayor of Santa Ana. I was really hoping he would be the answer to defeating the incumbent Mayor, Miguel Pulido.

In the next few months, Mayor Miguel Pulido’s allies will tear into Amezcua and leave him destroyed.  That is what they did to Pulido’s last mayoral opponent, Michele Martinez, in 2008.

However, Amezcua isn’t really a bad guy.  Is he the solution to our city’s vast problems?  After further review, I don’t think so.  My fear is that he is going to turn out to be a lot like Pulido.

Pulido isn’t a bad guy either.  Like Amezcua, he grew up wanting more.  Amezcua became wealthy as a lawyer, while Pulido took a different road.  He capitalized on his dad’s muffler shop, then began to work the system, first as a Councilman and now as our Mayor. Continue reading→

Pulido’s allies launch a lame attack on Alfredo Amezcua

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Santa Ana 4 Comments

Two of Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido’s friends ran an ad today in Rumores newspaper, which is published by yet another Pulido ally, attacking Pulido’s opponent, attorney Alfredo Amezcua, as reported in the O.C. Register.

Rumores is one of several Spanish language newspapers in town that are not home delivered.  You have to go pick it up at local stores. 

Rumores is such a rinky dink product that the publisher doesn’t even have a website!  That might be a good thing as this is not a great newspaper to begin with.

The ad , which includes a banner that reads “Victim of the Week,” attacks Amezcua, indicating that two of his clients paid him thirty grand, but he ended up dropping their case.  The clients are not named.  As far as attacks go, this is pretty tame and, like Rumores, pretty lame. Continue reading→

Democratic Party’s Pre-endorsement Caucus set for March 20, in Orange

Posted on by Posted in california, Democratic Party, Elections, Orange, Orange County, Santa Ana Leave a comment

2010 Democratic California Convention Logo

The Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC), which is based in Santa Ana, is conducting a Pre-Endorsement Caucus at the IBEW Hall, in Orange, on March 20.  Below are the details:

The 2010 California Democratic Party State Convention will be held in Los Angeles on April 16-17-18. Information about the convention is available at cadem.org.  The state party will open a special convention website in mid-February.

Prior to the convention, each of the state party’s 21 regions will hold a pre-endorsement conference to allow local Democrats to recommend candidates for endorsement. These recommendations will then be forwarded to the convention where the actual endorsement takes place. Continue reading→

Can a non-Latino become the next Mayor of Santa Ana?

Posted on by Posted in Civic Affairs, Elections, Miguel Pulido, Santa Ana 6 Comments

Jim Walker

Could Jim Walker become Santa Ana’s next Mayor?

When Santa Ana community activist Jim Walker ran against Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento, in 2008, he did so with very little money. But Walker ended up with over 37% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.

In 2006, Thomas Gordon ran against Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido, with zero money, and he got over 24% of the vote, according to Smart Voter.

Now Pulido is being challenged by Al Amezcua, a local lawyer who has had some electoral success, as a past member of the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s Board of Trustees. Both of these men are well known and can raise money. But will they split the Latino vote and allow a non-Latino to become the next Mayor of Santa Ana?

In 2008, the Latino vote split scenario almost happened when Pulido was challenged by Councilwoman Michele Martinez.  Pulido won with only 55% of the vote.  Martinez got over 29% of the vote.  Community activist George Collins got almost 8,000 votes and ended up with just under 14% of the vote. Continue reading→

DPOC fundraiser for State Senator Lou Correa set for Jan. 22

Posted on by Posted in Costa Mesa, Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Lou Correa, Politics, Santa Ana Leave a comment

The Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) hasn’t always been very supportive of State Senator Lou Correa, but perhaps they have learned from their mistakes.  Below is their announcement regarding the fundriaser they are holding for Correa on Jan. 22, at the Center Club:

As the only Democrat serving in the State Senate from Orange County, State Senator Lou Correa has been on the front-line fighting for his constituents.

Senator Correa has served the citizens of Orange County as an Assemblymember, a County Supervisor and Senator. With a tireless work ethic, and a great commitment to the people, Senator Correa has consistently fought and won for Orange County.

Please join the Democratic Foundation of Orange County for a luncheon in honor of Senator Lou Correa.

Click here to read the rest of this post.

An expensive night out with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

Posted on by Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Santa Ana 9 Comments

Loretta Sanchez

An expensive date: Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

Residents of Santa Ana have a median income of $41,050 per family, according to Wikipedia.  That works out to $789 a week. 

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who represents Santa Ana in the 47th Congressional District, is having a reception on Monday, December 14, from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, at Antonello Ristorante, located at 3800 South Plaza Drive, in Santa Ana.

Check out the suggested contributions:

Independent Santa Ana Latina running against Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez

Posted on by Posted in Anaheim, Civic Affairs, Elections, Latinos, Loretta Sanchez, Santa Ana, Women 8 Comments

The GOP is so unpopular in Santa Ana that a Latina candidate who is challenging Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is running as an independent, although her views appear to be somewhat Republican in nature. Her name is Cecilia “Ceci” Iglesias.

Iglesias has already found out that running for office can expose you to creepy attacks. A Liberal OC blogger ripped Iglesias today in a post over at the Liberal OC blog – and he actually published her home address. I don’t know that Iglesias has qualified as a candidate for Congress, but thanks to the Liberal OC, her address is now out there for all to see, and her family has been put at risk.

Memo to the LOC – Iglesias has a right to run for Congress. That does not give you the right to publish her home address. That is irresponsible and threatening. If anything happens to Iglesias, her family or her property the S.A.P.D. will be calling you! Continue reading→