2018 O.C. June Primary Election Voter Guide

The 2018 June Primary Election is coming up on June 5. We have examined all of the candidates in Orange County. If you support the CA Gas Tax you will not like this Voter Guide. We are generally not supporting candidates who want to raise our taxes or who support the High Speed Rail boondoggle. Here are our thoughts about the candidates for local offices here in Orange County:

• Orange County Assessor – the incumbent is Claude Parrish. From what we hear he is a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Nevertheless the OC GOP has endorsed him. The Democrats have endorsed Nathaniel Fernandez Epstein, a lawyer who did not bother to buy a candidate’s statement. We like Richard B. Ramirez, a Deputy Assessor. He has our endorsement.

• OC Board of Education, Area 2 – the incumbent is David L. Boyd. He is the very successful Chancellor of the Taft University, a law school. While he supports school choice he does not support questionable charter schools such as that infamous Turkish school that made headlines when their founder was alleged to have been involved in a failed coup back in Turkey. The OC GOP has endorsed Mari Barke. She is also favored by charter school advocates. Boyd was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County. We are sticking with him as well. Quick story about Boyd. A few years ago I posed about a Santa Ana high school student who got a scholarship to Georgetown University. But the scholarship did not cover the student’s textbooks so we put out a plea for help. The student came from a very poor single parent home. Boyd stepped up and paid for the textbooks! He is a good guy and I will vote for him every time.
• OC Board of Education, Area 5 – the incumbent is Linda Lindholm. She is now on the Laguna Niguel City Council. Mary Navarro, a University Professor, is endorsed by the Democratic Party of Orange County. The OC GOP has endorsed Lisa Sparks, a University Dean/Professor. She is also favored by charter school advocates. We like what she has to say in her ballot statement and are endorsing her as well.
• Board of Equalization, 4th District – The incumbent, Diane Harkey, is running for Congress. State Senator Joel Anderson has enjoyed top ratings from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. He is our pick for this seat. Loony former state legislator Ken Maddox-Lopez is also running for this seat – but get this, he is now a Democrat. But neither the OC nor the CA Democrat Parties are backing him. And he is no Lopez – he added his wife’s last name to his own. What a nut!
• O.C. Clerk-Recorder – the incumbent, Hugh Nguyen, has done a great job cleaning up the mess left by his sloppy predecessor, political hack Tom Daly. You might recall that Daly spent our tax money like a drunken sailor including hiring another political hack, Jordan Brandman, to write expensive consulting reports that turned out to be copied from Wikipedia! Needless to say Nguyen has our full support. He has streamlined his agency’s operations, saved money and improved service to our residents. He is opposed by loony Steve Rocco. Nuff said!
• Orange County District Attorney/Public Administrator – My friends in law enforcement are sticking with the longtime incumbent, Tony Rackauckas. I just can’t vote for him again after all the scandals that have hit the OCDA’s office including the dreadful jailhouse snitch disaster that saw many felons get away with lighter sentences because of T-Rack’s shenanigans. But I also cannot vote for the narcissist Todd Spitzer. Remember he is one of the reasons we have a public employees pension crisis! That leaves two other candidates. One of them, Lenore Albert-Sheridan, has as suspended law license. Ouch! No bueno. That leaves one last candidate, Brett Murdock, a former City of Brea Councilman. Murdock holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. He earned his Juris Doctorate from Chapman University School of Law. He is a self-described moderate and he has our endorsement. Find out more about him here.
• Orange County Sheriff/Coroner – Incumbent O.C. Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is retiring – which is a good thing as she has been a total train wreck (jailhouse snitch scandal). Her right-hand man Don Barnes is running to replace her. No thanks! The sooner we say adios to Hutchens and her minions, the better. I will be voting for David Harrington, a 28 year veteran of the Orange County Sherrif’s Dept and current Mayor of Aliso Viejo.
• O.C. Superintendent of Schools – The incumbent, Al Mijares, is running unopposed. We would have backed him anyway!
• O.C. Treasurer/Tax Collector – The Republican incumbent, Shari Friedenrich, is unopposed.
• 2nd Supervisorial District – The incumbent is Republican Michelle Steel. Her Democratic challenger is Brendon Perkins. He is an aerospace executive in the national defense industry. He says he will  will “tackle tough problems like protecting our environment, addressing homelessness, and ensuring our schools and neighborhoods get the financial resources they require to be safe and secure.” That’s all well and good but he is running for the County Board of Supervisors. His candidate statement sounds like he is running for a City Council. I am not sure it will behoove the people of the 2nd District to elect a guy with zero experience in elective office. We are sticking with Steel.
• 4th Supervisorial District – This is an open seat. The OC GOP has endorsed Tim Shaw, a La Habra City Councilman. The Democrats have endorsed Jim Kerr, who we are told is a carpetbagger from Coto de Caza. Other candidates include Pringle hack Lucille Kring, Fullerton Mayor Doug Chafee (a total RINO) and perennial candidate Rose Espinoza. We are backing Shaw for the 4th District.
• 5th Supervisorial District – the Republican incumbent, Lisa Bartlett, is unopposed.

Statewide and State Legislative Offices

• Governor – Because of California’s Top Two election law we just might end up with two Democrats in the November General Election. That is bad news as the top two Democratic candidates, Antonio Villaraigosa and Gavin Newsom, are both complete pigs with awful records of womanizing and carousing. I find it hard to believe that a major political party would put all their chips on two complete bastards! Newsom famously boinked his campaign manager’s wife when he was Mayor of San Francisco. That was a total violation of the bro code as his campaign manager was also his best friend. And Villaraigosa cheated on his long-suffering wife with just about every woman in L.A. when he was the Mayor of that city. No thanks! As the GOP has zero chance of winning this seat in November I am encouraging folks to vote for another Democrat, State Treasurer John Chiang, a moderate and fiscal conservative. Yes there are not one but two Libertarians running – Nikolas Wildstar and Zoltan Istvan. And they both got endorsed by the CA Libertarian Party. I hear they are both great guys but I will be voting for Chiang to try to block the pigs Villaraigosa and Newsom. But I must admit that Wildstar and Istvan have great comic book superhero/villain names!
• State Controller – Konstantinos Roditis, an entrepreneur, is endorsed by the CA GOP. Betty Yee is supported by the CA Democratic Party. Roditis supports ending the onerous CA Gas Tax so he has our vote!
• State Insurance Commissioner – Independent candidate Steve Poizner once held this seat as a Republican. However the CA GOP is so dead now that Poizner is running this time as an independent. The CA Democratic Party has endorsed Ricardo Lara, a State Senator. Poizner is a successful high tech entrepreneur with over two decades of starting and running technology companies in Silicon Valley. Lara is a longtime politician. I’ll be voting for Poizner.
• California Lt. Governor – The CA GOP has endorsed Cole Harris, an entrepreneur. The CA Democratic Party was not able to reach consensus on a candidate for this office. Tim Ferreira is backed by the CA Libertarian Party. I will be voting for Ferreira as Harris probably has a small chance of winning in November.
• California Secretary of State – Mark P. Meuser, an attorney, is endorsed by the CA GOP. The incumbent, Alex Padilla, is backed by the DA Democratic Party. The CA Libertarian Party has endorsed Gail Lightfoot. She walked precincts for GOP Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater way back in 1964! Meuser likely has zero chance of victory so I will be voting for Lightfoot. Padilla, in my opinion, has been overly political in a seat that should be fairly non-political.
• California State Treasurer – Jack M. Guerrero is endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and by the Republican Liberty Caucus. The Democrats are backing Fiona Ma, another rich candidate from Coto de Caza. Perennial GOP candidate Greg Conlon is running too. We’re backing Guerrero.
• State Attorney General – The incumbent, Xavier Becerra, has been a disaster. He is a former Congressman and clearly does not understand the job of State Attorney General. His top job should be fighting crime but he has spent all his time fighting Pres. Trump. I don’t think the Republican candidate, Eric Early, can get into the top two nor do I think he can win in November. I am backing Dave Jones, the current State Insurance Commissioner.  He is an attorney and he has done a solid job as State Insurance Commissioner.
• 55th Assembly District – The incumbent is Phillip Chen, a Republican. The Democrats are backing a fellow named Greg Fritchle. We are endorsing Chen. He has done a good job and is a reliable fiscal conservative.
• 56th Assembly District – The incumbent is Sharon Quirk-Silva, a former teacher and Fullerton City Council Member. The challenger is Republican Alexandria Coronado, a piano teacher who served previously on the Anaheim Union High School District Board of Trustees. Coronado has the backing of the OC GOP. Quirk-Silva backs the California gas tax while Coronado supports its repeal so we are endorsing Coronado.
• 68th Assembly District – Former Irvine City Councilman Steven Choi is the incumbent. He is backed by the OC GOP. His Democratic challenger is  Michelle Duman, a businesswoman. Choi has done a good job in Sacramento opposing government growth. He has our endorsement.
• 69th Assembly District – the incumbent, Tom Daly, has no opposition. We really don’t like him and won’t support him. It is not surprising that the GOP failed to mount a challenge as there are few Republican voters in this district, which is in Orange County’s blue center. And Daly is a longtime ally of former GOP State Legislator Curt Pringle who no doubt worked to make sure his friend would be unopposed in this election. Fortunately we have another option! Libertarian candidate Autumn Browne has successfully been nominated as a write-in candidate for the 69th Assembly District. So write in Autumn Browne!
• 72nd Assembly District – this is an open seat! The leading Republican candidate is Westminster City Councilman Tyler Diep. Diep opposes the CA Gas Tax and the ridiculous High Speed Rail to nowhere. Other Republicans in the race include Greg Haskin and Long Pham. Josh Lownethal is the endorsed Democrat in the race. His dad is a Congressman in the area. Strangely Lowenthal did not buy a candidate’s statement which seems like a bad move – unless he thinks he has the victory in the bag. We are backing Diep.
• 73rd Assembly District – Bill Brough, a Republican, is the incumbent. He has drawn a Republican challenger, Ed Sachs, a Mission Viejo City Councilman. We have never been fans of Brough and we still aren’t today. Sachs has our endorsement. The Democrat in the race is Scott Rhinehart. He appears to be a businessman. He did not buy a candidate’s statement.
• 74th Assembly District – the incumbent is Republican Matt Harper, a former Huntington Beach City Councilman. He is so confident he will win that he did not buy a candidate’s statement. Hilariously two of his opponents have previously run for office in Irvine – Katherine Daigle and Karina Onofre. The Democrats have endorsed Catherine “Cottie” Petrie-Norris, who wins the prize for the longest name on the ballot. She serves on the on the Laguna Beach City Housing and Human Services Committee. She is supported by the usual suspects who support the CA Gas Tax so no thanks. Harper has our endorsement.
• 29th State Senate District – This is the seat held by Democrat Josh Newman, who was a key vote in passing the awful CA Gas Tax. He is now facing a recall, which we support. His GOP challengers include our favorite candidate for this seat, Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who has our endorsement, and Ling Ling Chang, who does not. The Democrats are sticking with their man, Newman.
• 32nd State Senate District – The incumbent is Democrat Tony Mendoza, who vacated the seat due to his alleged sexual shenanigans but is amazingly running for the seat again, according to the L.A. Times. Understandably the Democratic Party is not backing him but they were not able to reach consensus on any of the other challengers for the seat – and there are a lot of them. The GOP is backing Rita Topalian. Only a few of the Democrats in the race bought candidates statements including: Ali Taj, Rudy Bermudez, Vanessa Delgado, and Vicky Santana. Topalian is endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association so she has our support too.
• 34th State Senate District – We have loathed the incumbent, Janet Nguyen, for many years. She has the backing of her party, the GOP. She is so confident she will win that she did not buy a candidate’s statement. Her Democratic challengers including the loathsome Tom Umberg, who was disgraced the last time he ran for office when he got caught cheating with his wife with a coworker, while he was away and his poor wife was working hard to get him elected. Umberg is also a huge supporter of the dreadful CA High Speed Rail to nowhere. Other Democrats in the race: Jestin Samson and Akash Hawkins.The Democratic Party did not endorse anyone in this race. Neither are we. But please don’t vote for Nguyen or Umberg.
• 36th State Senate District – The incumbent is Republican Pat Bates, a former O.C. Supervisor. The Democrats are backing Marggie Castellano. She says she is an “Environmental Advocate.” You know what that means! We are sticking with Bates.
• California Superintendent of Public Instruction – The Democrats are backing Tony Thurmond, a State Assemblyman. We are backing a proponent of charter schools, Marshall Tuck, who enjoys bipartisan support. Other candidates include Lily Ploski, and Steven Ireland.

Federal Offices:

• U.S. Senate – Whatever you do please do not vote for ultra-liberal Kevin De Leon. The incumbent, Dianne Feinstein, is much better but even she has started to tilt to the left. And she is so darn old! Republican James P. Bradley is just barely behind De Leon in the polls. He is a businessman and we are backing him in case he can prevail against De Leon and at least make it to the November ballot.

Here are the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer’s Association endorsements for the O.C. seats in the U.S. Congress:

• Mimi Walters, U.S. Congressional District 45
• Diane Harkey, U.S. Congressional District 49

Here are the OC GOP’s endorsements for the U.S. Congress:

• David Clifford – Congressional District 47
• Congressman Dana Rohrabacher – Congressional District 48
• Diane Harkey – Congressional District 49

We don’t like Harkey and never have. So we are not backing her. And we prefer former State Assemblyman Scott Baugh to Rohrabacher. However there is also a Libertarian candidate running for the 48th District, Brandon Reiser. He has our endorsement.

State Ballot Measures:

• Prop. 68 – No
• Prop. 69 – No Endorsement
• Prop. 70 – No
• Prop. 71 – Yes
• Prop. 72 – Yes

Art Pedroza Editor

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

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