Sun. Nov 17th, 2024

In two years, Supervisor Janet Nguyen, a Republican, is going to have to run for re-election.  She only won by three votes, back in 2007.  She won a full four year term in 2008.  However, since then she has antagonized voters numerous times. 

In her latest gaffe, she has upset most of Little Saigon by taking over this year’s Black April event, which commemorates what happened when Vietnam fell to the communists and the people had to flee, many of them arriving here in California.

Rumor has it that popular Assemblyman Jose Solorio, who is a Democrat, will be challenging Nguyen for the First Supervisorial District, in 2012, when, coincidentally, he will term out of the State Assembly.

Solorio represents the Cities of Anaheim and Santa Ana, in the State Legislature.  Those same cities are in the First Supervisorial District. 

A few years ago, State Senator Lou Correa left the State Assembly and won the First Supervisorial District.  He left for the State Senate a couple years later and Nguyen took the seat.

In that race, the Democrats put carpetbagger Tom Umberg on the ticket and he didn’t even make the run-off, against Nguyen.  She ended up beating Trung Nguyen, by the aforementioned three votes.

Solorio has won by huge margins in each of his Assembly races.  He previously served on the Santa Ana City Council.  His wife is a public school teacher in Santa Ana.

Nguyen’s husband, Tom Bonikowski, owns a Lee’s Sandwiches franchise in Stanton that has received over fifty violations from the Orange County Health Department.  He works, ironically, in food safety for Sodexo.  Nguyen pulled strings to get him appointed to the Garden Grove Planning Commission.

I don’t think Solorio will have any trouble trouncing Nguyen.  The only question in my mind is how big a margin will he win by?

Nguyen might be better served conceding the Supervisorial seat to Solorio and running for the State Senate.  Senator Correa will be terming out of the State Senate in 2014. 

Nguyen’s ambitions however are limitless.  This year she is even running for the Republican Party of Orange County’s Central Committee, in the 69th Assembly District.  This is quite unseemly given that she is the Chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors.  One would think that she would have more important things to do than dabble in obsure partisan political offices.

author avatar
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.

By Art Pedroza

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.

10 thoughts on “How badly will Jose Solorio beat Janet Nguyen in 2012?”
  1. Solario, even thought he’s as slimy as she since he raised taxes for a lot of people who are right on the edge anyway, would kick her butt. She’d get beat for a Senate seat as well — heck, even Loretta will be looking for a job by then.

  2. Gustavo,

    She knows it! It must drive her crazy to know that she will be out of power in only two years…

  3. It will be a refreshing change to have Jose Solorio represent us in District 1 at the county level. He has been receptive and responsive to his constituents concerns in the 69th State Assembly District.

  4. If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained? Those by death are few: by resignation, none.
    – Thomas Jefferson

  5. Does anyone know why Long Beach Resdident Gerrie Schipske told the Long Beach Press Telegram that she hasn’t taken the OC Democratic Party Exec. Director job yet? She says it’s because they are hung up on a salary. This isn’t true, is it? Weren’t a lot of Dems pissed about the hire in the first place?

  6. It is interesting to read about the demise of Janet in the 69th Assembly district race in 2012.

    It seems that the prediction is based on the idea that Solario is Latino and the District is comprised of the cities of Santa Ana, Anaheim and or course Garden Grove. Thus a Mexican-American candidate will beat an Asian-American candidate in that district.

    Sound logic.

    By the way who is the Latino Congress person representing East Los Angeles. Oh yea, Judy Chu.

    2012 is two years away, a lifetime in politics. Now seems a little ealy to be chicken counting.

    1. An Observer,

      Janet Nguyen is no Judy Chu. For one thing, Chu is a Democrat. And Chu, unlike Nguyen, is quite competent and does a good job of serving the community.

  7. Subject: Get our Freedom Park back to our Vietnamese Community

    To Mayor Rice and Janet Nguyen,

    The VN WAR Memorial Park near City of Westminster is not the regular public site that anyone can use for they own personal political gain. More than ten year ago, We attended the public concert to raise money to build this park, the event took whole day on the vacant lot in the place of our Freedom park now resides. Thousand of Vietnamese from every where in the country emptied their pocket money to raise few hundred thousand dollars (final cost is $1.2 Million) to build the park and hoping some day we can visit the park on Black April to remember our suffering, sorrow, and thank you to America saving our lives. So, this PARK IS NOW PARTIALLY BELONG TO OUR VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY to use on the most important day of this park.

    Mayor Rice, please help us to get the fairness to our community.

    Janet, how much money did you contribute to build the park?
    Have you ever lived in City of Westminster?
    And now you want to take advantage of the loop hole in City of Westminster that allowing anyone to reserve and use the park in any day of the year especially our sacred April 30 – the Lost of Saigon day.

    Janet, get lost, let our Community Leader handle the ceremony and you will be invite as the guest speaker of OC Supervisor as you’re usually done so in the past of many years.
    We prepare for JANET NGUYEN IMPEACHMENT letter on April 30, 2010 to fight for our freedom and democracy that we have in this country.

    To fellow Vietnamese, please join us at the event on on April 30 weekend to show your support and to FIGHT the RIGHT for the Freedom Park in the City of Westminster by signing IMPEACH JANET NOW! form.
    Thank You

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