New Santa Ana | Category Archives: 2014 Elections

The rise and fall of Latino political power in Central Orange County

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, 2015 Elections, Andrew Do, Asians, Democratic Party, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Latinos, Little Saigon, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Orange County, Politics, Republican Party, Santa Ana 4 Comments

A Los Angeles Times analysis of election results shows how Republicans can still win because Asian American voter turnout is so much higher than Latino turnout. The outcome, of an analysis of the recent Special Election in the 34th State Senate District, found that in the core of Santa Ana, where voting heavily favored Correa, only 22% of the absentee voters got around to returning their ballots, far below the state and county’s 50% return rate for absentee ballots in the 2014 general election. The unreturned ballots represented tens of thousands of votes.

The bad news for the Orange County Democrats is that Orange County’s famed blue donut hole, in Central Orange County, is now mostly red. The only Democratic Legislators left are U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez and State Assemblyman Tom Daly. Continue reading→

The Democrats have only themselves to blame for their losses in Orange County

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Editor Posted in 2008 Elections, 2012 Elections, 2014 Elections, 2015 Elections, Andrew Do, Democratic Party, Janet Nguyen, Lou Correa, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 1 Comment

Orange County’s self-appointed Latino leaders are blaming the 2011 redistricting (that added more Vietnamese voters to the First Supervisorial District while removing Latino voters) for Lou Correa’s loss to Andrew Do in the January 27 First District Special Election, according to the O.C. Register.

The truth is that the Democratic Party of Orange County’s bizarre decision to give then Supervisor Janet Nguyen a free pass in 2012 has now cost the Democrats not only the First District but also the 34th State Senate District, which Nguyen won in last year’s General Election. And the Democrats might also lose the 46th Congressional District in 2016 if Nguyen comes gunning for the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez. Continue reading→

Orange County now has a majority Asian-American Board of Supervisors

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, 2015 Elections, Andrew Do, Asians, Janet Nguyen, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana, Vietnamese 5 Comments

Andrew Do’s defeat of former State Senator Lou Correa in the Jan. 27 First District Special Election has made history by creating a majority Asian Board of Supervisors here in Orange County.

Other Asian County Supervisors include Michelle Steel, a Korean-American who replaced John Moorlach after moving into Orange County from Los Angeles County, and Lisa Barlett, a Japanese-American who replaced Pat Bates. Both Moorlach and Bates termed out. Continue reading→

Applications being accepted to replace Bao Nguyen on the G.G. Unified School District’s Board of Ed.

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Bao Nguyen, Education, Garden Grove, Politics Leave a comment

GGUSD Board of Education Accepting Application for Provisional Appointment

The Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education is currently accepting applications for provisional appointment to fill a vacancy created when former trustee Bao Nguyen was elected to serve as the mayor of Garden Grove.

The application and supplemental materials are available below and must be submitted to the Office of the Superintendent before 5:00 p.m. on January 6, 2015. All eligible Garden Grove Unified School District residents who are interested in the position are encouraged to apply.

In order to be eligible to serve as a trustee, applicants must: Continue reading→

The new City Council majority won’t include Reyna and Benavides

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

While none of the Santa Ana City Council incumbents lost in the November General Election there is still major change coming to our City Council. You might recall that former Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero withdrew his support for Councilman David Benavides, prior to the General Election. Now Tinajero has joined forces with the new Mayor Pro Tem, Vince Sarmiento. In short, the adults are now running the Santa Ana City Council.

Tinajero and Sarmiento are working to form a new City Council majority with Council Members Angie Amezcua and Michele Martinez. The latter has at times joined with Reyna and Benavides. But if Martinez wants to survive in politics she will now dump them and work instead with Sarmiento and Tinajero.

If Martinez decides to be obstinate then Tinajero and Sarmiento have another option. They can form a Council majority with Amezcua and Mayor Miguel Pulido. Continue reading→

Sarmiento confirmed as Santa Ana’s new Mayor pro Tem

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

City of Santa Ana

Community Alert: Council Member Vincent Sarmiento selected as Mayor Pro Tem at Tuesday’s Council Installation

“It’s an honor to be chosen to represent the City of Santa Ana as the Mayor Pro Tem. I look forward to working with my colleagues over the next two years to deliver efficient public services with our community, ensure public safety, create opportunities for our youth and deliver a high quality of life for our residents,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sarmiento. Continue reading→

Sarmiento is Santa Ana’s new Mayor Pro Tem

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Civic Affairs, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 1 Comment

We thought that Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides was going to seek the Mayor Pro Tem nomination at tonight’s City Council meeting. However none of his colleagues on the City Council nominated him.

In the end it was Councilman Vince Sarmiento who was nominated and then selected as the new Mayor Pro Tem. This became possible after the previous Mayor Pro Tem, Sal Tinajero, opted not to retain the title.

As Mayor Pro Tem, Sarmiento will run the Santa Ana City Council meetings when Mayor Miguel Pulido is late to a meeting, leaves a meeting early, or is absent altogether.

This was an early Christmas gift for Sarmiento, who is going to be running for reelection in 2016. Continue reading→

Poll – Should Councilmen Sarmiento and Tinajero be recalled over Measure BB?

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Drugs, Marijuana, Measure BB, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento Leave a comment

Kandice Hawes, of OC Norml, told the Voice of OC that the group that campaigned for Measure CC is now considering legal options including suing the city, and starting a re-call of council member Vince Sarmiento and Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero.

Hawes feels both “mislead the public” as they pushed voters towards measure BB (which regulates local medical marijuana dispensaries). Continue reading→

The City of Santa Ana can now shut down all the medical marijuana dispensaries

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Drugs, Health and Medical, Marijuana, Santa Ana 3 Comments

The Santa Ana City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an enforcement plan to shut down illegal pot shops in the city now that Santa Ana residents voted Nov. 4 to legalize and tax medical marijuana collectives, according to the OC Register.

Under the plan, city officials will begin shutting down illegal stores after Feb. 5, which is when city officials are scheduled to have sorted out which shops will be allowed to continue operating, according to the Voice of OC. Continue reading→

Valerie Amezcua finally gets elected to the SAUSD School Board on third try

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Education, Politics, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Valerie Amezcua 2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 17, 2014

Contact: Derek Humphrey

Cell: (951) 805-4167

VALERIE AMEZCUA WINS RACE FOR SANTA ANA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD

Santa Ana, California – Valerie Amezcua has won a seat on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board. Final election results posted by the Orange County Registrar of Voters show Amezcua placed second in a field of eight candidates. The results are expected to be certified tomorrow.

“I’m humbled by the support our campaign received from families throughout the Santa Ana Unified School District,” said Amezcua. “I would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to all of the candidates that volunteered their time and talents to advocate for improving our schools. I look forward to working with Boardmember John Palacio and the rest of my new colleagues in helping to move our district forward.” Continue reading→

Sarmiento and Tinajero continue to gloat about Measure BB

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Marijuana, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 2 Comments

City of Santa Ana

Community: MAYOR PRO TEM TINAJERO (WARD 6) & COUNCILMAN SARMIENTO (WARD 1) PREVIEW CITY’S IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS OF MEASURE BB

SANTA ANA, CA (November 14, 2014) – On November 4, 2014, City of Santa Ana voters approved Measure BB, a City proposed measure to regulate the establishment of medical marijuana collectives and cooperatives. The City has a legal duty to enforce a voter approved ballot measure and has begun developing the implementation plan.

“This is going to be an administrative process. The Council has given direction on the policy surrounding the selection process. City staff, with the assistance of an independent audit firm, will carry out the actual selection process,” said Councilman Vincent Sarmiento. Continue reading→

It’s time for a new City Council majority

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Angelica Amezcua, David Benavides, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Phil Bacerra, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, Vince Sarmiento 3 Comments

Transparency really matters to Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero. It is why he split from Councilman David Benavides’ “Team Santa Ana” in the recent City Council election. Benavides steadfastly refused to compel his Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra to fill out the mandated Communication Disclosure forms until Tinajero threatened to remove Bacerra from his Commission.

Tinajero had the votes to dismiss Bacerra and Benavides knew it. Mayor Miguel Pulido and Council Members Vince Sarmiento and Angie Amezcua would have likely backed Tinajero.

Now that the election is over it is time for our City Council to get back to work trying to improve our city however Council Member Michele Martinez reacted in typical chola fashion after the election, when she told the Voice of OC that “When I was fighting the mayor before, the gloves were on, now the gloves are off — its bare knuckles.” Continue reading→

Why Quirk-Silva and Solorio lost in the 2014 General Election

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Democratic Party, Fullerton, Janet Nguyen, Jose Solorio, Orange County, Politics, Santa Ana 2 Comments

By the OC Politics Blog

Orange County Democrats were ecstatic when former Fullerton Mayor Sharon Quirk-Silva knocked off Chris Norby in 2012, in the 65th Assembly District. They partied hard but the party is over now that former Ed Royce staffer Young Kim has trounced Quirk-Silva in the 2014 General Election.

This was not a casual loss for the Democrats. It may well end up costing them their super majority in the State Assembly – an uncertain matter as several Assembly seats are still in close contention.

Make no doubt about it – retaining the 65th Assembly District was the major goal of the Democratic Party of Orange County in the 2014 General Election. They failed – and there are several good reasons for that. Continue reading→

A look at the final Santa Ana voting results in the 2014 General Election

Posted on November 5, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, David Cavazos, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Politics, Roman Reyna, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD 3 Comments

Mayor Pulido’s daughter kept tabs on the election results on Election Night

I met with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido last night at his Election Night Party. He was relieved that he was winning but was worried he wouldn’t garner more than 50% of the vote. His 11-year-old daughter was checking the election results on her IPad last night. She has quite an interest in politics – and perhaps she will be running for office after she finishes college.

Pulido ended up with 50.7% of the vote while his challenger Roman Reyna only mustered 6,778 votes, or 33.6% of the vote. The unknown third mayoral candidate, Mark I. Lopez, netted 15.8% of the vote – likely from those who couldn’t bear voting for the other two candidates.

The bad news for Pulido was that his team of City Council challengers – Alex Padilla, Mike Gonzalez and Mirna Velasquez, all lost. If there is any good news it is that the incumbent who did the worst was David Benavides. While his colleague Michele Martinez got less votes than Benavides she had three opponents while Benavides squared off against one challenger – Padilla. Continue reading→

Santa Ana’s incumbents leading in the 2014 General Election early returns

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Editor Posted in 2014 Elections, Adam Nick, Alex Padilla, David Benavides, Gilad Salmon, Janet Nguyen, John Palacio, Jose Solorio, Loretta Sanchez, Lou Correa, Michele Martinez, Miguel Pulido, Mike Gonzalez, Mirna Velasquez, Politics, Rene Gomez, Sal Tinajero, Santa Ana, SAUSD, Shuntele Andrews 6 Comments

The early returns are in with regard to today’s General Election. So far the incumbents are leading in all of the Santa Ana City Council races. It is early yet but in what should prove to be a low turnout election this first batch of votes can foreshadow the evening’s results. These are the early absentee votes – representing the most frequent voters.

Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido is thoroughly trouncing Councilman Roman Reyna, with over 52% of the vote versus only 32% of the vote for Reyna. Clearly Reyna’s campaign was undone by his unwise decision to hang out with gang bangers.

In Ward 2 the incumbent, Michele Martinez, is leading with 53.8% of the vote in a crowded field. Shockingly Gilad Salmon is in second place with 21.3 % of the vote. Not surprisingly the sole Republican in the race, salsa dancer Rene Gomez, is in dead last with 9% of the vote. Continue reading→