Officially, there’s a four way race in Anaheim for Mayor but the reality is it’s a three-way between Mayor Tom Tait, councilmember Lucille Kring and former Mayor Pro Tem Lorri Galloway that is creating a fascinating dynamic.
Republicans have had a stranglehold on Anaheim City Hall for years in spite of Democrats having a voter registration edge. Democratic councilmember Jordan Brandman was the top vote getting in the city’s elections a year ago and districting is bound to bring new Democrats to the Dias. Before Brandman, Galloway was the top vote getting in 2004 and 2008. The hard part is getting that second or third Democrat elected.
Kring’s announcement this week, at Angels Stadium, that’s she’s running for Mayor — showed surprising firepower for her candidacy and much of it from the crowd that backed Tait three years ago. Kring’s announcement drew supporters from fellow council member Kris Murray, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce president Todd Ament, several member of Anaheim’s police and firefighter associations, who endorsed Tom Tait for mayor in 2010.
Now as far as candidates go, Kring comes with considerable baggage. Politically speaking, she’s weak. Kring’s has flipped on every major issue she ran on in 2012 regarding a proposed $158 million hotel deal, a civilian police oversight effort, and district-specific council elections designed to provide greater representation of the city’s Latino residents on the council should such candidates emerge (paging Julio Perez). The Voice of OC reported Kring said she changed her mind after “learning more” about the issues and critics suggest she changed her mind after former Mayor Curt Pringle helped her pay off campaign debt.
A problem for Tait is two-fold; Kring was backed by Tait two years ago and is now running against him so all those nice things he said about her about a year ago are going to have to suddenly change and place the Mayor’s “Year of Kindness” in a new light. Additionally, Kring ran a failed campaign against Lou Correa for State Senate and there are some who believe the OC GOP owes her “a solid” for her next race even if it’s against an incumbent conservative.
Another problem for Tait is he’s running as a conservative Republican while adding his name to a statewide ballot measure that public employee labor unions hate. And it’s equally hard to foster the image of being a good conservative Republican when one of your biggest cheerleaders is an official with the DPOC telling everyone that the current Mayor represents “core Democratic values.”
Greg Diamond writes on OJ is comments: “As I’ve said repeatedly, I want both Tait and Galloway on the dais next term — along with one or two like-minded colleagues, enough to form a majority.” “Tait holds positions contrary to the Democratic Party on some issues such as pension reform, but only an idiot or a liar, or both, would say that his views are “completely contrary to the position of the Democratic Party on just abut (sic)everything.” “That doesn’t stop me from saying that I think that Tait is right on these critical issues of giveaways and the like…”Here’s what I want: I want Galloway to be on the dais. I want Tait to be on the dais too because, like it or not, he is currently supporting traditional Democratic issues.”
Now, admittedly, I’ve cherry picked Diamond’s comments because he does the same thing to me, but let’s be honest here: Greg Diamond has given Lucille Kring all the ammo she needs to go after Tait. How can Tait possibly run as a conservative with the sort of endorsement from a DPOC official?
And to that end, I tip my hat to Greg Diamond for being the most effective weapon in splitting the Republican vote between Tait and Kring to pave the way for Galloway to become the city’s first woman and first minority mayor. Good job Greg.
Kring’s a flip flopper and if she’s the “Pringle” candidate, there’s all the reason you need to vote against her. Tait’s “tainted” with many of the tradition OC GOP base and with those who support labor, and his loudest supporters (Cynthia Ward excluded) are likewise tainted and Tait’s inability to control their “support” demonstrates a flaw in Tait’s leadership.
Galloway has the ire of a small minority of Anaheim Republicans and a track record of being the top vote getter in her past two citywide races. The recent “Real Orange” segment which is supposed to put two righties against two lefties when its really four righties shouldn’t hurt Galloway in the least.
Ms. Ward, I’m sure is digging through her files to drag down Galloway. I’ll be researching the Mayor’s record and votes on a number of matters I’m sure she won’t like.
Oh wow – your headline …. at first I thought you were going somewhere … oh never mind ….. I need to get my mind out of the gutter …..
Interesting breakdown. I believe that the avg voter doing his/her civic duty by making it to the polls does not do his/her due diligence in researching the candidates. They may skim over their voter info guide, but probably not in great detail. They look for the (R) or the (D) and that is that. If my argument holds water, then the battle becomes more about getting those registered democrat voters to the poll booths. Problem solved. Now, how does one get them there?