Last week, Santa Ana councilmember Michele Martinez pre-announced on Facebook that she was formally announcing a campaign to run for AD-69 in the state assembly representing Santa Ana and much of Anaheim. We’re on the back of of that “week or so” promise she made to announce, and there’s still no formal announcement or one in sight. And sources tell us she’s working hard to garner support from other elected Democrats who are women to support her campaign efforts (and some of those she contacted tell us they are taking a wait-and-see approach to endorsements in this election cycle).
We heard from no fewer than five elected officials that OC Clerk Recorder Tom Daly is “thinking” about running for Assembly in this district as well. Of the two elected in the race, Daly brings much stronger experience and the ability to attract votes from the other side of the aisle due to his succesful run as Mayor of Anaheim and as Clerk/Recorder than Martinez does. Daly’s Anaheim base also votes in higher percentages. He thumped his opponent Hugh Nguyen by a lopsided margin in June 2010. One source told us last night, “Daly’s in,” but experience tells us it’s better to wait until he makes an announcement.
Perez has never held elective office, so in a three way race, do Perez and Martinez split the Latino vote? Do Daly and Perez split the Anaheim vote? We can’t wait for the first three way debate between these candidates. There’s also bound to be a Republican entering the fray. But there’s no question, this seat is going to a Democrat. Which Democrat remains to be seen.
Labor leader Julio Perez is the only announced candidate at the moment and we’re told he’s secured the camapign URL he wants. There are still a number of campaign URLs for Julio Perez, Tom Daly and Michele Martinez that are yet to be claimed and can be by a smart cybersquatter with some money to spare. The DPOC used to counsel new candidates that if they were even thinking about running, they need to lock up their URLs.
Michele Martinez’s last campaign website was www.michelemartinezblog.com and it’s been dark since June 10, 2011.
As of noon today, the following URLs were unclaimed on GoDaddy.com (for just $11.99 each)
www.michelemartinezforassembly.com
www.michelemartinezforad69.com
Since Tony Bushala likely doesn’t care about this race and Art Pedroza hasn’t been hired to do “web services” for these candidates (yet), we think if the candidates are in fact serious about running for the state assembly, they should express that seriousness by acquiring the domain name voters might use to communicate with the campaign. At $12 a pop, it’s smart for the candidates to buy every domain associated with their names and redirect the URLs to their main site.
The failure to do so after announcing plansto run just strikes us as dumb.
Snooki For Assembly 69 – I love it!
Why do you have Martinez named as the Snooki from Santa Ana?
That is her nickname goof. Funny pic Dan. She is dumb as a reality show star
Redistricting is all about opening up the flood gates.
For the residents to take back their government by eliminating the “pre lock up” on elected offices.
Your post implies that some current elected are doing back room meeting and deals to eliminate the competition
I am hoping to see at least 12 to 15 candidates running for that wide open seat.
My post implies no such thing. A number of potential candidates have been approached to consider a run. All we have today is a firm yes from Perez, a pre-announcement from Michelle and sources telling us Daly will run. The more, the merrier.
I thought you guys were suppossed to be Democrats on this blog.
The OCDEM party has enough challenges without eating our own. You continue to hash out your petty vendettas instead of working for a better party/county.
Michelle Martinez, may not be our best choice for this seat, but she said she’s going to throw her hatin the ring. the only thing you threw was a silly fireball at her.
I for one am excited to see someone OTHER than the UNION OFFICIAL and carreer politician talking. But, I don’t get paid, I just vote
Leslie – the picture was sent by a reader. Michele has earned a nickname around town. Its not like funny photos of her haven’t shown up on other blogs in the past.
So other than the photo, what is your complaint? URLs are not locked up by all three potential AD69 candidates. And pointing out potential vote splits is pretty obvious. As far as elected officials go, Daly has a superior record of accomplishment compared to Martinez.
We go after Democrats all the time. There are several we really like who sometimes take bad positions. We call them out on it In this post, all three Ad69 candidates are guilty of not locking up campaign URLs.
Leslie
Let’s see if I’ve got this right………
You don’t care how mindlessly ignorant, clueless, or embarrassing to our City the candidate is, just as long as they are a Democrat
Gee I can’t imagine why Santa Ana has devolved to the poverty/crime capitol of Orange County
dan,
i dont know much about Michelle Martinez. im just curious how she gets the badgeof is-honor of being named the snooki from santa ana.
Henry -do your own research. Go listen to her speak, read up on her record, and read about her accomplishments and decide if the nickname fits.
One incident comes to mind. Election night 2010.Her campaign manager Alex got drunk and nearly got into a fight with two club goers outside of Memphis. She protected him in a scene that looked like something out of a Jersey Shore episode. This was embarassing for any self-respecting adult to be involved in, much less a sitting Councilmember. All that was missing was me on the ones and twos.