Have you decided who you will vote for in the upcoming Nov. 5 Santa Ana City Council, Ward 4, Special Election?
The race features several candidates with widely varied experiences. Almost all of them have some civic experience as well.
Elections have really changed in Santa Ana, which is a tough town to run in because so many of the newer residents have a tendency to move from city to city. This is a city dominated by Latino residents but Latino voters don’t always bother to vote.
As this is a Special Election I expect the overall voter turnout will be extremely low. Older voters can be expected to vote – particularly those who are worried about the direction the city is going in.
There are several candidates who are basing their campaign on getting young people out to vote, including former Santa Ana planning agency employee Manny Escamilla and Arts Commissioner Jennifer Oliva. But those voters often don’t vote.
Escamilla is also spending a lot of time garnering support from Santa Ana’s older voters, as you can see on his Facebook page. Smart move!
The candidate with the biggest advantage is former Planning Commissioner Phil Bacerra, who lost a close race to Roman Reyna last November. However Reyna quickly got into big trouble because he tried to carpetbag in Ward 4 and he bungled getting an address in the Ward in time. Quite frankly the City Clerk should never have allowed him to get onto the ballot.
Bacerra has several advantages. He has the highest name I.D. in the current race. While he is a Democrat he is popular with the city’s Republican voters. And he has garnered a lot of support in Ward 4 from residents who are mad about perceived over-development in the city.
But how are these candidates doing on Facebook? Oliva’s Facebook page only has 296 followers. Escamilla’s Facebook page has 851 followers. Bacerra’s Facebook page has 448 followers.
There is also a candidate who moved into Ward 4 fairly recently, former Planning Commissioner Beatriz Mendoza. Her Facebook page has 538 followers.
Mendoza has even less followers than the relatively unknown businessman Brandon Sisco, who is also running for Ward 4. His Facebook page has 125 followers.
There is one more candidate in the Ward 4 race – Bishop Gale Oliver Jr., who also heads up a church in town. His Facebook page has 322 followers.
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Phil Bacerra has the biggest advantage ?? He doesn’t even show up to the “ debates “. I’ve been to more and I’m just a resident. In garden grove, people will tell you that phil Bacerra not showing up is nothing new.
I don't blame him for skipping one-sided debates hosted by organizations that are overtly backing other candidates.
This is nothing new though. Go ask in garden grove how many things he didn’t show up for. They back the other candidates because that’s who they like. Like I said I’ve been to all of them and they all get asked the same questions. Obviously those questions are too hard for him to answer. “Overtly backing other candidates “ means they ain’t backing Phil and that upsets you. I get it. We all know who your voting for.
Personally I am just not a fan of these loaded forums which overtly favor one candidate over the others. And at the end of the day few voters show up to these events and they really have almost no impact on the election itself.
Winning a special election is all about walking precincts, talking to voters and increasing your name I.D. The candidate that has the most help in such an election will probably win.
Escamilla does seem to have a lot of grassroots support. I think he has a good shot at this. I think at this point the race is between him and Bacerra. I don't think any of the other candidates will come close to victory.
I never mentioned him. Cisco Oliva and the pastor all
Have also shown face. Just my own personal humble non bias comment on a public forum.
Again I cannot blame him for skipping some of the forums. Hopefully for his sake he is spending that time walking precincts.