TheLiberalOC has learned that Santa Ana Council member Michele Martinez will formally announce a big for the Orange County Board of Supervisor’s First District; a formal announcement of her candidacy is expected early this afternoon.
Martinez emerged as a Democratic Party favorite after fellow Santa Ana Council Member Vince Sarmiento changed his mind about a run for the board.
Here’s the announcement:
Santa Ana City Councilmember Michele Martinez announced her campaign for Orange County’s 1st Supervisorial District today. The seat includes the cities of Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Westminster, and portions of Fountain Valley.
In declaring her candidacy, Martinez released the following statement:
I am running for Supervisor to protect and empower middle class families, and to ensure that county government is working to advance the interests of all our residents. On the Board, I will work to find commonsense solutions to the problems we face, and I will fight to institute real reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability at the highest levels of county government.
I am proud of my record as a Councilmember, where I work to responsibly manage Santa Ana’s budget, expand park space, improve the delivery of city services, and protect our quality of life. I strongly believe that Orange County deserves leaders that match the honesty and creativity of its people, and I am excited to announce my campaign for County Supervisor.
The 1st District is the most Democratic Supervisorial District in Orange County. As of December, Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans by a margin of nearly 13%. President Barack Obama and Senator Dianne Feinstein each won the seat by over 20% during the last Presidential Election Cycle. Approximately 44% of the district’s registered voters reside within the City of Santa Ana.
Upon her election in 2006, Michele Martinez became one of the youngest City Councilmembers in Santa Ana’s history. She was subsequently re-elected in 2010 and 2014. On the Council, Michele has been a strong advocate for maintaining fast emergency response times, promoting economic development, and expanding programs that keep kids safe. She chairs the Council’s Finance, Economic Development & Technology Committee, and represents the city on the Metropolitan Water District Board, the Orange County Council of Governments (OCCOG), and the Waste Management Commission.
Michele currently serves as President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), which works to facilitate full Latino participation in the American political process. She also serves as Vice President for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the nation’s largest metropolitan planning organization.
Michele holds a B.A in Criminal Justice from California State University Fullerton, and she is a product of Santa Ana High School and Santa Ana College.
Martinez’s last bid for higher office was a failed attempt at State Assembly in 2012. Since that run, she’s demonstrated considerable maturity and effectiveness on the Santa Ana City Council which she leveraged into a leadership position with the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) where she was elected President last July. NALEO is the non-partisan leadership organization of the nation’s more than 6,000 Latino elected and appointed officials.
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Her campaign doesn’t have enough $$ for a movie ticket.
give her time