Political newcomer Josh Newman is running as a candidate for SD-29 and in many ways, his candidacy resembles that of Bernie Sanders going up against Sukhee Kang (in the Hillary Clinton role) and State Rep. Ling Ling Chang (portraying Donald Trump) with a small exception. Sanders has years in Government; Newman is a political novice. Bernie’s raising lots of money — something essential for running for an office like State Senate. Kang leads here with Chang close behind. Newman has raised $88,324 so far — and $81,079 is a loan from — Josh Newman.
In fact, Newman’s remaining $7,245 raised shows only $1,650 from contributors in the District itself (no contributions from Greg Diamond, imagine that). And while much is being made of Sukhee Kang’s new home in a Fullerton gated community, Newman’s small contributions comes from such toney addresses as New York City, Wellesley, MA, Mill Valley, CA, Scarsdale, NY. Greenwich, CT, and White Plains, NY.
Vern Nelson writes: “But last year, with this stellar record under his belt, Sukhee found himself termed out as mayor, and, restless for higher office, look what he found up in Northwest OC – an open state senate seat in a district with a growing percentage of high-propensity-voting Asian Americans! “I could maybe win that seat, and get the Democrats a super-majority!” said Sukhee to himself, and flew up to Sacramento to impress this notion upon the Democrat bigwigs.”
Kang has been out of office since 2012 and making up a quote, along with facts is just a couple of the mistakes Nelson’s made. Another is when Newman moved to Fullerton. At one point, Nelson correctly states its been four years and later, it’s five years. Kang has lived in Orange County for well over 25 years including in Anaheim for 10 years prior to moving to Irvine. Nelson also suggests Kang was a an automatic Larry Agran yes vote on the Irvine City Council. For those who don’t know Agran, Beth Krom and Kang, they time on the city council might be marked by similar votes but each are three strong personalities– no one was anyone’s “puppet.” Maybe Nelson can ask Beth Krom if she was an Agran puppet next time he speaks with her.
Nelson writes: “Noticing, as the others in this story, that there was a state senate seat open where he lived, Josh concluded that he could do a better job in it than most others. But when he approached the local Democratic leadership, that leadership hemmed and hawed, went out of the room for a bit and came back in with a pained expression: “Josh, you’re great, but we’ve already got a guy. Why don’t you run for school board or something instead?”
In chatting about Newman’s candidacy at a DPOC meeting, I heard that when the idea of running for school board of city council in Fullerton instead of State Senate was presented to Newman, it was rejected by the candidate because he “needed an office that paid.” I reached out to Newman’s campaign and posed that question. They never returned the message.
You have to wonder, why Newman gets such fawning advocacy from the guys at OJ over a candidate who has secured every important Democratic endorsement and has raised the most money for the race and has generally outclassed the last Party candidate for SD-29 (spoiler, Greg Diamond who raised about $13,000 in 2012 for the same seat, or nearly twice as much as Newman has without his loans to himself). It could be two reasons — Diamond is upset that Kang is just running the superior campaign of a candidate committed to winning, or that Newman’s hired the firm Diamond’s step-daughter is a partner; and every client of hers gets favorable coverage in the OJ blog. Now I’m sure they’ll say that has nothing to do with it, but evidence suggests otherwise.
So is Newman the best Democratic candidate for SD-29? Money raised says no. Endorsements say no. On issues, he and Kang largely agree. Newman’s candidacy, which uses the “Hello Newman” line from Seinfeld, seems about as welcome as Jerry’s neighbor on the show.
Actually, I had never heard of Newman. I like the idea of different people, of different backgrounds and means competing to represent us.
But, I won’t lie, when I see the likes of Greg Diamond railing on about a candidate, my first reaction is to cross them off the list, as on the company you keep.
Good catch. Trying to squeeze too much info into one sentence, I ended up saying Sukhee was termed out last year, which I know is not true. I’ll fix that.
As far as writing about fundraising, that’s more your obsession than mine, but it IS in the story – Josh discusses it honestly in the video I took, which is PART of the story.
Carry on, and thanks for the catch.
But typographical errors are a far worse issue for you than factual ones.
Hey I said thanks didn’t I? Just like you said thanks when I let you know about huge glaring typos in your headlines that stay there for days. Don’t worry I’ll always let you know when your facts are wrong. Or when your opinions suck eggs.
Vern, have you actually read where Newman stands on the issues? He has a good list of things that should be important but no plan to address the actual issue he writes about. Go ahead and read the section on making college affordable. Let me know when you see an actual plan to do that in there. And I thought Bernie Sanders’ plans were wafer-thin; Newman has no plans.
hey Vern, it’s been a week (and our thanks to the forgotten commenter who pointed this out here). Think you might get around to correcting the notion of Don Wagner is a Democrat from Tustin when he’s a Republican from Irvine? Since you so gleefully point out any error here. Perhaps its time you edit your site more closely.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2016/05/stop-anti-bds-bill-in-california/
Don Wagner (D-Tustin)
david.scheidt@asm.ca.gov
(916) 319-2068
Josh Newman’s candidacy fails to inspire the confidence of his Democratic party and community leaders alike. His few public endorsements from local civic groups falter far behind those of Kang so it’s no surprise that Newman’s call for donations from individual citizens (both near and far) would also yield a paltry show of support. Newman may seek to mimic Sanders, even usurping the “Bern” slogan for his own Bear costumed campaigning, but Newman’s mix of specious promises and posturing more closely mirror that of another office seeker whose political ambitions also grossly exceed his capabilities. Not unlike Trump, Newman’s boastful claims fall flat when checked against facts. He’s misled his campaign promoters into touting him as a Silicon Valley maven, despite a resume showing tech stints limited to Seattle or the Bay Area and an executive role lacking in the necessary know-how to keep a ringtone company in business. After Newman fled that sinking ship, he struggled to reemerge as a bar owner in Los Angeles. Health violations permanently closed the operation a year later, yet this failure in leadership serves as the basis for Newman’s campaign statement spin about his “success as a small business owner”. Lastly there’s the nonprofit to aid veteran employment that Newman speaks of when speaking about himself. For the past four years how many vets have actually found work through him? Apparently too few for him to ever mention, so this latest venture may sadly suffer the same fate of Newman’s past leadership attempts. His marketing efforts (to advance his own name, not that of the nonprofit) have earned him the title of “blimp man” — a fitting moniker for a man relying on an over-inflated sense of self to keep himself afloat.
I’ve asked the question about the non-profit too, but Mr. Newman is attending to important family business so he gets a pass for now
Sadly, this website and most of the comments on this blog only serve to lower political dialogue, not unlike Fox News. Let us know, Dan, when you can behave like a professional and blog about facts on candidates rather than rumor and clearly biased opinions.
If you have an issue with any of the facts in my post, please be specific. As far as comments goes, commenters have a pretty broad sway. I generally allow most comments including many — like yours — that are critical. But by all means, can you dispute that Newman loaned his own campaign $81,000 and has a handful of contributions from those in the district?
More boring rumors to deflect from your inability to have discussions about important issues. Again, “BigD”, quality comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
Newman aligned self with a blog of losers and chroniclely unemployed losers. How smart is he? Nor very
At least as smart as Sukhee Kang who aligned himself with all the big names that couldn’t put Humpty together again.
“I reached out to Newman’s campaign and posed that question”?
Really? Are you sure that you reached out to him? Are you sure that the first time you spoke to Newman about this isn’t when HE contacted YOU to ask you to correct the ridiculous and incorrect assertion that he was running for State Senate because he needs the paycheck? Further, don’t you think it’s a little ironic that you take Vern Nelson to task (and rightfully so) for making up a quote, and then IMMEDIATELY do the same thing for Josh Newman?
You should have a little more integrity in your writing, even if this is just a blog and people don’t expect it to actually have any sort of journalism hosted.
I sent a request to Newman’s campaign specifically about this issue and got no response. The folks chatting about it at DPOC have an A-1 rating with me for truthiness. The numbers on Newman’s campaign come from legit sources. He’s in over his head in this run. Should have gone for a different office first.
I’m not disputing the fundraising numbers. I’m disputing your very clear lie about having reached out to the Newman campaign, and your far more egregious lie about him doing this for the money, going so far as to include an entirely fabricated quote. In fact, even just within the context of this article, it doesn’t make sense: in what world would someone who is hurting for money be able to loan their campaign $80,000?
Your willingness to trust people who have openly endorsed Newman’s opponent and very clearly have an agenda in this race is very telling as to what kind of “journalist” you are. Which is to say, not one at all. This is very similar to the “poll” you posted but refused to share the actual data for (perhaps because there was no poll, or perhaps because the methodology was garbage, who knows?).
As a liberal who moved to OC a couple years ago, I had hoped to like this website. It’s easy to feel outnumbered down here. But it turns out this is just a home for corporate shills who back a candidate with no ideology who wastes millions of dollars pretending to build public works but really just financing his developer buddies. So disappointing.
Well, the folks I heard speak about this have never steered me wrong once. Josh thinks it’s two others and it’s not. I did reach out to the campaign which seems to gravitate towards another blog run by folks on the fringe of the Democratic Party.
Not sure which poll you’re talking about.
If you believe Mr. Kang has no ideology, you’d be wrong.
If you believe millions were wasted, you’d also be wrong. Specifically what do you think was wasted? The PR contract, a frequent target, was several million over the course of several years. And that firm delivered the Solar Decathalon to the Great Park generating significantly more income (millions more) for the city than expenditures for PR. You do understand the concept of ROI, right?
Little contributions and few contrbutions from voters in the district translates to little actual support for Mr. Newman. Mr. Newman’s “ideas” on his campaign website are lacking in any significant detail that I think they were prepared by the Bernie Sanders campaign. Nice guy. Not ready for State Senate. Woefully unprepared for a political campaign.
I’m impressed with his non-profit but it hasn’t helped as many vets as I thought it did despite OC’s large veteran’s community.
I’m curious to see how much of your bullshit you’re gonna walk back now that your boss got beat by Mr “woefully unprepared for a political campaign” Newman.
“Little contributions and few contrbutions from voters in the district translates to little actual support for Mr. Newman”
Um, I guess you’re right given that Sukhee Kang probably got zero contributions from voters in the district.
Say, what’s the prize for 3rd place in a three-person race?
Oh, right.
Here are the questions would direct to Josh Newman if met him:
Are you a WAR veteran or a military veteran?
When did you serve in the military, what branch, for how long and at what rank?
You are said to have “extensive” business experience, what businesses did you work r and in what capacity? Were these business’ successful? are any of these companies still in business? Did any fail while you were there?
Tell me about your veterans charity, AF2W. How many employees do you have? Do you have an office, do you own or rent the facility? How many veterans have you gotten employment in 2016, 2015, 2014? How about overall?
What is the most important thing you have learned FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE as a Veteran Charity?
What is AF2WF annual budget?
How is AF2WF funded?
Do you take a salary from AF2WF?
You have a degree from Yale, yet, your resume reads like, err Greg Diamonds, no real experience, embellished, impressive and frankly misleading. What is the LONGEST you have held a job in your adult life?
Who supports your family more, YOU or your wife?
You have said your spouse is an executive for a major insurance company, are you willing to recuse yourself from industry related legislation? Why or Why Not?
Good to “Meet” you Josh.
CROSS POSTED ON OJB, Where it will never see the light of day!
Mr. Newman is dealing with a family issue now so I don’t expect any answers; you can always check out his LinkedIn profile for a start, but the questions on the non-profit are valid
The address for the non-profit appears to be Newman’s house. You can review some business filings by going to the California Secretary of State’s webpage and Newman’s non-profit # is C3562972. The business has been going on for 3 years. Website has no evidence of successful interactions or costs associated with employers using it to post a job for a vet or a vet seeking certain employment.
It appears Josh Newman’s kitchen table is to his phony vet’s charity what Greg Diamonds kitchen table is to his law practice.
A FRONT.
Mr. Vasquez, this is to inform you that Mr. Diamond has requested this post by you and all other defamatory comments on this blog be taken down. As I’ve been referred to as a aquatic mammal, subhuman, DINO, a liar, and someone who was bullied as a child (I wasn’t) and who assaults fictitious wheelchair-bound men in posts on OJ and in comments on that blog, I proclaim Mr. Diamond as King of the Thin-Skinned Hypocrites and will leave your post up as I fail to see how it’s defamatory. That said, please mind your criticisms of Mr. Diamond to reported facts. Perhaps Mr. Diamond’s law practice is doing well enough to afford as executive suite. We’ll never know.
Wow. How did I miss this?
Oh I have a JOB and a family, maybe that’s how.
What in my commentary bothers Mr. Diamond so much. I think my questions to Josh Newman are fair and now that he has the 2nd spot uncomfortable (I am a Democrat).
Of Course, we are dealing with a “man” who recently asserted, if you are interested and “seemingly knowledgeable” about local politics and he doesn’t know you he becomes “unnerved”. Simply put Greg’s CRAZY comments, serve only one thing: Greg Diamond.
Josh should be careful, ask Ron Veratesh, who seems to take the HIGH ROAD when asked about Diamond. Many others don’t. I have repeatedly said, I am NOT an insider, like Greg. But, that doesn’t mean, I don’t know, care or hear what goes on.
Last tome I checked Vern Nelson and Jose Moreno weren’t even Democrats a year ago!
Good Luck Josh. Maybe you can ask Greg,Carina, Jeff, Paul (aka Henry) and Alex Flores to help. #CLEVELANDBROWNSOF OC POLITICS! = LOSERS.
I’m told Josh is being warned by party leaders about Greg. Whether or not Josh listens is another matter