While watching the returns for the Republican primary in the AD-70 race, it should be obvious that the biggest winner of the primary election for this seat last night was Melissa Fox. She came in with more than 10,600 votes surpassing even Republican primary winner Don Wagner by a few hundred votes. We’re hoping Wagner shows the willingness to debate Fox for this seat and often.Â
With all due respect to Michael Glover, the reason he didn’t garner much support from party loyalists this time around is his continued lingering reporting issues from prior elections and fines that surpass his fundraising from those efforts. But now is the time for our party and DTS voters to place someone in this seat who will actually do something other than vote party-line no. Someone who will fight for fair funding of our underfunded school districts in Orange County. And someone driven by common sense, not political ideology. And that’s Melissa Fox.
While we certainly don’t agree with Don Wagner’s political positions and philosophy, this blog extended our sympathies to his family for the loss of his son. Like Beth Krom, we believe Mr. Wagner will run a spirited campaign for the assembly seat in his son’s memory as Ms. Krom continues to run for Congress. But while we wish Mr. Wagner well, we don’t wish him luck. Electing a Chuck DeVore clone to this seat will be disasterous for the school children of this district. So we look forward to the coming election and putting someone in the seat who will actually represent the majority viewpoint of the people of Central Orange County.
Two big losers in AD-70; Stephen Choi and Jerry Amante. For Choi, he’s effectively a lame duck city council member who will be termed out in 2012 with his only prayer of a new office is a run for mayor or back to the IUSD school board. I’m not sure how welcomed Choi is in Irvine political circles anymore. While researching Amante’s donor list (and I’ll get to that in a second), I noticed a number of significant Republicans from Irvine giving money to support Amante’s race for assembly. So the notion promoted by pro-Choi bloggers that voters like the job Choi does in Irvine and wanted to keep him here has little foundation in truth or proof.
But let’s look at the bright side shall we? The Choi’s no longer have to sit on those uncomfortable folding chairs in that cramped Woodbridge apartment. Perhaps Art Pedroza can get a good rate to sub-lease the apartment and send his kids to clearly superior schools in Irvine after his house is foreclosed on. But Choi will probably want a tenant with a track record of paying his bills, so maybe not. And with so little furniture to move, the Choi’s can probably do it all in a U-Haul. What damaged Choi was his use of Art Pedroza to attack Jerry Amante. Amante quickly wrapped Choi in the shady character blanket that is Art Pedroza and Choi, rather than acknowledge a major political gaffe, returned fire. This made Wagner the clear winner by staying out of the mudslinging altogether.
Now there are still a number of uncounted ballots, and Wagner’s nearly 900 vote advantage could disappear as fast as a Newport Beach sandcastle at high tide, but if Choi somehow manages to eck out a victory here, he will be forever linked to Pedroza. And easier pickings for Melissa Fox.
And while we’re on the subject of losers from last night’s election results, those candidates who most incurred the favor of the Pedrozabots – Hugh Nguyen, Steven Choi, and Michael Glover – all had their asses handed to them. Those who incurred their wrath: Melissa Fox, Don Wagner, and Tom Daly — all won (Pedroza’s explanation that Daly’s purchase of space on a Republican slate mailer was the clincher is laughable). Even Danny Tarkanian got his head handed to him in Nevada. Shawn Nelson’s victory, if attributed to any blog, is more attuned to the Register’s Orange Punch and Flash Report than the Fullerton’s Lowest Common Donominator blog or the Orange Joke. Nelson’s GOP resources can claim more credit for the Nelson win than any blog can.
A conversation with one candidate prior to primary night was revealing: “The only thing worse than getting slammed by the Orange Juice and Art Pedroza is being praised by the Orange Juice and Art Pedroza.”Â
Art is bold in declaring which candidate’s political careers are done. But it’s clear, that with his blog’s track record over the years that it’s Art’s sphere of political influence has had it’s 15 minutes and is done. Since this is Art’s last election under the voting registration forms at his current address, let’s hope his new address is still somewhere in Santa Ana for the November elections.
Dan, you never cease to amaze me with your creative writing and ability to skirt the facts. However, some of us still can do the arithmetic, learned the old fashioned way before calculators, I might add. Let’s try and set the record straight.
Your big winner Melissa Fox in the AD-70 race, was in fact the big winner, against the one other Democrat candidate. There were a total of 14,462 votes cast for both Democrat candidates.
On the Republican side, Don Wagner beat Steven Choi by a grand total of 1,260 votes, hardly what I would consider to be an “ass kicking.” Non the less, Wagner is the winner and the Republican candidate on the ticket in November. The total number of Republican votes cast in the the 72-AD was 33,104.
Fast forward to November 2010, and let’s analyze the potentials. How many of those 33,104 Republicans do you think are going to jump ship and vote for Melissa Fox? If you said, “zero,” you would be in the ball park. So that means, to have any chance whatsoever, you must find a lot of Democratic votes. I suppose a divine intervention is always possible, but not likely. So much for your big winner in the 72-AD, but you expected that didn’t you?
Since you are also the “Spinmaster” for Beth Krom, let’s take a quick look at how that one went for you all.
Beth received 21,135 votes from Democrats. Campbell received 49,892 votes from Republicans. Even if Beth got the 389 Libertarian and a 5,000 less than conservative Irvine Republican votes, she is not in the ball game. Chances of even a few Republican voters jumping ship and voting for Beth are slim and none. Unless you guys can dig up a smoking gun, or get some incriminating photos of Campbell, I’d say Beth stays on the Irvine City Council and Campbell goes back to Washington.
Knowing your skilled writing ability, I am looking forward to hearing the spin on this one. Best wishes.
I concur with the above sentiment, but I am still voting for Melissa over any Republican. So what if she cannot win. it’s what you believe in that counts and Republicans across the country are saying and doing too many stupid things for me to ever support one.
DTS voters rarely as for crossover ballots, so you can’t really compare primaries to general elections for one thing. And Republicans have VBM’s over Democrats by the thousand, that’s why their turn out is so much higher in primaries.
If Democrats can get out the vote in DTS and the Democratic voters, you never know. Sure 42% of the 70th is Republican but the other 58% ISN’T.
That’s the great thing about Democracy, we get to campaign and there gets to be a vote even if it might SEEM like there is an obvious winner. Stranger things have happened.
Lt Par, would you please do us the courtesy of referring to our party as the “Democratic Party” rather than the “Democrat Party?”
You are most certainly entitled to your opinions, but could you stop short of namecalling and slurring in this manner? Thanks.
Isn’t the “Democrat Party” the one that “Officially Endorsed” Dan’s pal Lorri Galloway?
It surely was not the “Democratic Party.”
People who cheat and lie don’t deserve to be elected.
OC Voters reject carpetbaggers!
Friend – Perhaps, we have an issue of semantics here, as I intended no slur to either the candidates or the Democratic Party. I believe the correct use is, ” Democrats who are members of the Democratic Party.” I reserve my slurs for those politicians who are not worthy of the public trust. By the way, they come in both Republican and Democrat flavors.
That reference to “Democrat” party is pretty much proof it wasn’t a Democratic Party slate mailer. People who cheat and lie don’t deserve to be elected? How do you explain Shawn Nelson?
Duh Dan, you don’t need a Ph.D to answer that question. It is explained the same way, you explain the election of Larry Agran, Beth Krom and Sukhee Kang.
Duh..Pat, they win because they are effective. Want smaller government? This trio gave it to you. Fewer city employees handling larger numbers of residents with no cuts in city services from when Shea was mayor. Documented apples to apples stats from the city.
As for Dems coming out on primary day, we’ve settled on our governor and our US senator; Beth faced no primary challenge and Melissa had the backing of just about everyone important in the party. So there wasn’t a lot of call to get to the polls thoguh die hards like me go every year.
And Don Wagner has his baggage; as much as Dr. Choi did ($150K of your own money to lose; I hop ehe writes a big check to IPSF/IUSD this year since he clearly has money to waste).
Dan, wouldn’t expect anything else from the great”Spinmaster” for the Agranista gang. You never know who might pop up as a viable candidate (not me, never was) to take out the gang in November. With the primaries now over, I expect a strong conservative slate with financial backing to emerge in Irvine. Guess we will just have to wait and see?
On your other Democrat candidates, I can hardly wait until November to say, “I told you so.” Best wishes, amigo and keep spinning.
A comparison of the total number of Democratic and Republican votes in the primary is completely irrelevant to the outcome of the general election. Republicans had high-profile, close races for both Governor and U.S. Senate in which the candidates spent unprecedented millions to drive their supporters to the polls. The fact that less than 30% of the Republicans turned out to vote, despite the many millions spent, does not bode well for their party in November.
In the 70th AD, three of the Republican candidates anted up more than $100,000 each in race and conducted a nasty mail and media campaign against each other. There was no equivalent on the Democratic side.
The fact is that the 70th AD is no longer a reliably conservative district — Obama won it by 4%, parental notification was defeated, and Prop 8 won by less than 1%. All of the district’s cities have recently elected Democrats to city offices. The demographics of the district, as well as its politics, are drastically different than they were even 10 years ago.
Don Wagner’s radical right-wing views — on everything from being against a woman’s right to choose to advocating the use of corporal punishment in the public schools to calling for the unregulated expansion of off-shore drilling along our coast — do not reflect the beliefs and values of our district. And between now and November, a majority of the voters will figure that out.
George S – Now I recognize that you Democrats are feeling frisky and rightfully so, since your big gains in the elections of 2008. Frankly, Republicans all over America didn’t have much to choose from and sadly many joined the “conga line” of the Pied Piper of Chicago. Knowing then, what they know now, how many do you think would dance to that same tune again? Both President Obama and his Democrat controlled Congress credibility is dropping like a rock with the American public, including some of your own party. Election set backs, for the Democratic Party seen so far, will pale in comparison to the backlash coming in November. You can rationalize, spin the facts and fantasize till the cows come home, but the voters can only be fooled for so long.
Frankly, as a life long Republican, I am appalled at what our Party has become and the people running it. However, considering the alternative to where the Obama Administration is taking this country, even the Democrats wearing Republican beards, don’t look too bad. I believe that radical “Tea Party Group,” as the Democrats like to call them, will continue to mushroom and have a direct impact on the elections in November.
In our local area, simple logic tells me that voters will not send more liberals to Sacramento, to push the State over the cliff of bankruptcy. In fact, I believe there will be some sitting Democrats who will be voted out of office, because of their gross mismanagement of State government. It will not be enough to shift the balance of power, however with Meg Whitman as Governor, it will send a strong message that they had better clean up their acts.
George, I don’t expect to change your opinion, any more than you expect to change mine. That’s the great thing about this country, well meaning people from both ends of the political spectrum can agree to disagree on any issue. Best wishes.
I’d gladly vote for Obama again Pat.