The Orange County Labor Federation sent out this email to supporters last Friday, seeking out willing volunteers for their voter registration efforts. The Labor Fed, as it is commonly referred to as, is currently trying to reassess their political capital and influence, in the wake of their cockamamie support for Anaheim City Councilwoman Lorri Galloway’s bid for Supes seat #4, whose poor showing in the June Primary left her battling Buena Park’s Art Brown for third place for days after the polls closed.
Here’s the final tally for that 4th Supes race:
In the future, the avid participants and spectators of the process here in Orange County can probably expect the Labor Fed to take less of a public role in the campaign efforts of their selected candidates, as it is unclear whether Lorri Galloway’s murky private endeavors and shameless carpetbaggery were the nail in the coffin of her electoral defeat, or if it was the very support of the Labor Fed, and it’s efforts on her behalf, including multiple mail pieces, slate slot purchases, and relentless phone-banking, in what some consider an unfavorable climate for unions, Democrats, and left-leaning organizations in general, that did her in.
Regardless, in the wake of the Labor Fed’s unsuccessful independent campaign for Galloway, and OCEA’s perhaps even more embarrassing failure to sway voters against Shawn Nelson, our traditional (I use that term very loosely, because they are not always on our side, just ask Harry Sidhu) allies in labor will probably look to re-evaluate their role and capacity in our local elections going forward. This blogger can offer one suggestion for them… please never support carpetbaggers again. After all, Umberg, Ackerwoman, Lorri, and Harry can attest to that being a losing proposition.
There will be more on this topic soon, and my follow-up to my “What needs to be done is blackmail loretta” post will be up shortly.
Steve – we have been over this ground before. Galloway was residing in the Fourth District when she ran for the Fourth District supes spot. I’ve been to her home. She had moved in; personal effects and family photos everywhere. The family was proud to show off their new digs.
I think your analysis is flawed; more should have been done by the DPOC to encourage Rose Espinosa and Art Brown to stay out of the race. Democrats actually had a decent showing in this race overall. Had Brown and Espinosa not splintered the vote, Lorri would very well be sitting in this seat.
I have repeatedely asked you for detail on Galloway’s “murkey private endeavors” as you put it and you never provide a single detail. As for Labor Fed’s “cockamanie” support, that’s clearly your opinion. You fail to address the fact that Republicans had a heated primary for Governor and US Senate that drew a considerable number of primary voters out; Dems didn’t really have as much at stake and that hurt us in the fourth district race as well.
I’m not sure who your target is here: Galloway or Labor Fed/OCEA or the notion of carpetbagging. And please refer to Linda Ackerman by her name Ackerman. That carpetbagging sure worked pretty well for Dan Lundgren and Tom McClintock, didn’t it?
Wait, what?
Galloway was the putative Dem favorite in this race, is a Councilmember from the largest city in the district, and had megabucks worth of cash and in-kind support from unions and connected friends (Taormina, et al). My neighborhood was plastered with billboard-sized Galloway for Supervisor signs.
In comparison, Brown spent next to *nothing* on his campaign (under $6,000!) and likely had no name recognition outside of Buena Park or fans of the OCTA, yet he came within a scintilla of besting Galloway for third place.
Let that soak in: going by their 460s, Galloway spent almost TWENTY TIMES the amount that Brown did, yet she still couldn’t seal the deal. I agree that *someone* should have stepped aside to let the most able Dem politician come to the front of the supervisor’s race — but that it should have been Galloway moving to the back, not Brown.
Reality hurts sometimes, and you may have been hoping to hitch your wagon to the next proto-Loretta-Sanchez or something, but those of us who were skeptical of Lorri Galloway and her skills from the beginning were, sadly, proven conclusively right.
Dan,
Does Lorrie Galloway still live in he 4th sup district or did she move back to the hills?
I don’t know; we traded emails shortly after the election but that isn’t a question I have asked.
Steve,
The OCVIP program did not take a break. It has been in operation constantly since it’s inception. This program has registered thousands of voters.
The Labor Federation was not responsible for the failure of Lorri Galloway’s campaign. It was never their responsibility to run her campaign and they produced mail in support of her without any communication with her campaign.
As far as your complaint about OCEA, I beg to differ. The bulk of the campaign was significantly successful in painting a true image of who and what Shawn Nelson is. In a special election race with 6 candidates running, almost 70% voted against Nelson.
Your carpetbagging comparison to Linda Ackerman is not valid. Ackerman clearly did not even attempt to move into the district. Lorri Galloway did in fact move in. She has represented the entire city of Anaheim for 6 years. She may have just moved into the 4th district to run for Supervisor, but sh was hardly a carpetbagger with no connection or understanding of the district.
Steve,
The OC Labor Federation, OCEA, OC Firefighters, and AOCDS will continue to advocate for the candidates that support the needs of the middle class in Orange County. They will not take a step back. It is not labor support that dooms a candidate or campaign. That is a Republican talking point.
While I was not initially supportive of Galloway’s campaign, once the Labor Federation took a position of supporting her, I supported the position taken by the majority of Labor Fed delegates.
The polls taken before the filing period opened told us that Galloway would have a tough time winning in this matchup. Those polls seem to have been proven right. Polls taken after the filing period told the same story.
There were a number of things that needed to happen if Galloway was to prevail. None of them happened. None of those items were in the control of the Labor Fed, AOCDS, or OCEA.
Chris,
Has Lorrie mnoved back to the hills or is she still in the 4th district as a resident?
Steve – shorter, punchier headlines next time! As for Galloway, when OC’s working class heroes live in the Hills and not the Flats, well…
Lorri is a great person but did prove to be a weak candidate for supervisor. Lorri just didn’t posses the political skills needed for this type of race. In the pre-election jousting with Rosie and Tom, Lorri couldn’t establish herself as “the” candidate. She did well to organize Union support, but that proved to only eliminate the candidate with the best County wide name recognition. The endorsement pretty much sealed the fate for Nelson and handed him the election. Art only threw his hat in the ring because when the music stopped Tom took back his guaranteed seat. His entry in the race probably hurt Lorri and Rosie equally, but wouldn’t have changed the ultimate outcome.
I’m sure it was a tough decision, but sometimes you need to support the best candidate and not always the nicest person.