If you are a member of the Democrats of Greater Irvine, as I am, the Facebook page for the club is getting a little out of control with constant submissions by both Democratic candidates for SD-37, UCI Law professor Dave Min and Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley.
Its not inconceivable that both will defeat State Senator John Moorlach for the top two spots in next Spring’s primary and I don’t think its possible for either to get the 60% required for DPOC endorsement. I’ll note in Foley’s press releases, where she promotes how much money she’s raised compared with Moorlach, she failed to mention that Min significantly outraised her during the same time period making the news in her press release a solid half-truth that doesn’t tell the entire story. And it’s not close..Min raised about $100K more than Foley did and his take had mostly small contributions from voters in the district..not large labor union contributions received by Foley.
Her campaign has gone on the attack against Min in recent weeks, accusing Min’s campaign of taking contributions from the Vaping industry, prompting this announcement the Min campaign issued below:
Campaign Slime Comes Amidst Increased Scrutiny Of Foley’s Conflicts of Interest While Costa Mesa Mayor
Irvine, Calif. — TODAY, the Dave Min for State Senate campaign responded to Costa Mesa Mayor Katrina Foley’s dishonest attack claiming that Min has “taken large contributions from the vaping industry,” while pointing out Foley’s torrid conflicts of interest while serving as Costa Mesa Mayor.
“I categorically deny Katrina Foley’s claim,” said Dave Min. “I have not taken a single dime from the ‘vaping industry’ and her attempt to claim otherwise is misleading and dishonest. I call on Mayor Foley to retract this false statement.”
“It is truly unfortunate that Katrina Foley has chosen to go negative in such a dishonest manner,” said Min campaign spokesperson Orrin Evans. “Foley is obviously trying to distract from the growing scrutiny over her own campaign contributions, which include contributions from big oil and other special interests, as well as a long record of accepting ‘pay to play’ contributions that reflect severe conflicts of interest during her 20 years in politics.”
Among the most concerning of Foley’s conflicts of interest include:
- Taking over $13,000 contributions for her Mayoral and State Senate campaigns from oil interests including members of the Fait Family, who represent the Fait Family Trust, Tricor Refining Inc. and San Joaquin Refining.
- Receiving $9,600 in campaign cash this year from the law firm Keller Anderle after awarding the law firm a City Contract at the rate of $925 per hour, with the total cost of litigation for this matter reaching $2 million. Kay Anderle, a named partner with the firm, also hosted a fundraiser for Foley’s State Senate campaign earlier this year.
- Receiving $6,900 in contributions from West Coast Arborists for her State Senate campaign earlier this year, months after the city awarded the company a lucrative contract extension.
- Accepting a large contribution to her State Senate campaign from Everett Dorey LLP, just months after the Costa Mesa City Council voted to award the law firm a $500,000 contract to represent the city. Mayor Foley not only voted for this contract, but spoke out in favor of hiring the law firm.
- Accepting a sizeable campaign contribution for her State Senate campaign earlier this year from Steve Johnson, an architect who had signed a contract with the city of Costa Mesa for over $3 million just months earlier.
- The City of Costa Mesa extended the contract of Arts Orange County earlier this year, just two months after the CEO of the organization made a contribution to Foley for her State Senate campaign.
- During her 2018 mayoral campaign, awarding a lucrative city contract to LSA Associates to perform a “traffic study” months after receiving campaign contributions from the firm.
- During Foley’s mayoral term in 2017, just months after awarding a valuable city contract to Bon Terra Psomas, Foley accepted a contribution from the company for her 2018 Mayoral campaign. Two months later, the city of Costa Mesa awarded the same company thousands of dollars in increased fees.
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David Min is a University of California Irvine Law Professor, father of three, and a former economic policy staffer in the United States Senate and for the Center for American Progress. Min began his legal career at the Securities and Exchange Commission to protect the retirement security of seniors, turning down high paying jobs to serve the public interest.
He is a leading expert on banking and housing policy.California State Senate District 37 is located in Orange County and includes the communities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Foothill Ranch, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods, Newport Beach, Orange, Tustin, and Villa Park.
If Foley, or someone from her campaign would like to respond to Min’s changes, they know how to reach me.
Thank you for doing this research.