Orange County Clerk-Recorder Tom Daly has inexplicably decided to run for the 69th Assembly District – the only Orange County Assembly seat the Democrats have a shot at – and the only such seat that has a Latino edge in voters.

As one might expect, the usual blue hacks are lining up behind Daly – and are scoffing at the campaign of Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez.  This is not however the first time that Orange County’s Democrats have lined up behind the wrong, white, candidate.

Consider that way back in 1996, the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) endorsed a real estate developer named James M. Prince for the 46th Congressional District.  The Democrats had correctly figured that the Republican incumbent, Bob Dornan, was vulnerable.  But they bet on the wrong candidate.

Here is a blast from the past, from the L.A. Times, regarding the Democrats who were running in the 1996 primary for the 46th Congressional District:

According to campaign finance statements filed last week, Farber is easily the best-financed candidate in the race, reporting contributions of more than $468,000, compared with about $203,000 for Prince and almost $73,000 for Sanchez. Brennan has spent about $3,000 to date, he said, below the $5,000 threshold for filing reports with the Federal Election Commission.

Prince did not raise nearly as much money as Mike Farber – who also ran in 1994.  But Prince, who worked for the Farber campaign in 1994, got the support of DPOC Chairman Jim Toledano.  And Toledano even broke the law to try to help Prince win the primary.

The L.A. Times reported that “Toledano touched off a controversy after the March primary when he accepted a $10,000 campaign contribution on behalf of the party and spent it–without authorization from other party officials–on a mailer backing Jim Prince, a candidate in the 46th Congressional District.”

Toledano was unapologetic about what he did.  He told the FEC that:

“In acting on my own,” Toledano explains, “I had plenty of history on my side.”   Toledano claims that “it was not uncommon nor wrong for the Chair of the Party to act independently of the Executive Committee and the Central Committee and without the knowledge of the members of those committees although that violated the express language of the By-laws.”   In fact, “it was customary for the Central Committee and its officers to disregard [bylaw] requirements without even thinking about it” when doing so “suited them.”   Toledano also alleges that he has “personally seen contribution check envelopes being opened and the checks tabulated, booked and taken directly into the bank by persons who were not the designated campaign treasurer.”   Toledano claims he “discussed this fact with several individuals employed by the FEC. Not one has ever denied that checks are indeed routinely deposited directly into the bank by persons other than the designated campaign treasurer without the treasurer ever having seen them, and that the FEC has never prosecuted any person for such a hypertechnical alleged violation.”

Toledano was ultimately fined by the FEC.  He made headlines in 1999 when he came out of the closet.  The OC Weekly reported that “In coming out as a gay man, Toledano has distinguished himself from other county-related political figures—conservatives such as Dornan confidant Brian Bennett and 1994 California Republican U.S. senate nominee Michael Huffington—who in recent years have independently revealed their homosexuality while painstakingly distancing themselves from the “gay community.”

In 2009, Toledano was charged with two felony counts in an alleged $350,000 extortion plot, according to the OC Weekly.  The OC Weekly updated that story in September of this year.

Today Daly is pushing ethical bounds by assembling what looks like a campaign staff that is paid for by the Clerk-Recorder’s office.  Former reporter Jean Pasco, who Daly questionably hired to curate the O.C. Archives has teamed up with Jordan Brandman, who Daly hired to be his External Affairs Director this year, despite the County of Orange hiring freeze.  Why would a Clerk-Recorder need a former reporter and an External Affairs director as part of his overpaid executive staff? 

History tells us that Sanchez went on to win the 1996 primary – and she made history by defeating Dornan in the 1996 general election.  She got 7,142 votes in the primary.  Farber got 6,125 votes.  Prince got 5,574 votes.  The fourth Democrat in that race, a guy named Robert J. Brennan, got 1,758 votes.

Will Martinez beat her opponents and go on to stardom in the State Assembly – as Sanchez did in the U.S. House of Representatives?  The DPOC counted out Sanchez in 1996.  The same hacks are counting Martinez out this year.  Well, today you cannot find any mention of Prince on the Internet, except for the Times articles I referenced in this post.  I wonder if a few years from now Daly will be an afterthought too?

In case you are wondering who would support the awful Daly, here is his advertisement for his upcoming fundraiser on Oct. 19:

Tom Daly for Assembly

Host Committee

• Bill Lockyer, State Treasurer
• Jose Solorio, State Assemblymember
• Gail Eastman, Anaheim Councilmember
• Bruce Broadwater, Garden Grove Councilmember
• John Hanna, Rancho Santiago Community College District Board Member
• Brian Conley, Rancho Santiago Community College District Board Member
• Leonard Lahtinen, North Orange County Community College District Board Member
• Donna Miller, North Orange County Community College District Board Member
• Jordan Brandman, Anaheim Union High School District Board Member
• Jan Domene, Anaheim Union High School District Board Member
• Anna Piercy, Anaheim Union High School District
• James Vanderbilt, Anaheim City Elementary School District
• Tom Umberg, State Assemblymember, 69th District (Ret.)
•  Todd Ament
• Frank Barbaro
• Dan Callahan
• Cynthia Contreras
• Lucy Dunn
• John Erskine
• Alden Esping
• Linda Esping
• Juan Carlos Flores
• Mark Gaughan
• Frank Garcia
• Gary Hunt
• Dan Jacobson
• Charles Kim
• Paul Kott
• Mike Levin
• Reuben Martinez
• Carrie Nocella
• Tom Phelps
• Michael Ray
• Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters
• Geoffrey Stack
• Bryan Starr
• Steve Sullivan
• Bill Taormina
• George Urch
• William C. Waggoner
• John Withers

Cordially Invite You to a Reception Supporting Orange County-Clerk Recorder Tom Daly for the 69th State Assembly District

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Original Mike’s Restaurant, located at100 South Main Street, Santa Ana

•  $3,900 Co-Host
• $2,500 Gold Sponsor
• $1,000 Silver Sponsor
• $150 Per Person

To RSVP or for more information please call 562-981-2111 or email gbuchert@earthlink.net