Too Many Candidates

Voters will have an opportunity in the June 5 California Primary to elect their Central Committee representatives. With redistricting, Mission Viejo is now in the 73rd Assembly District, along with Aliso Viejo, Coto de Caza, Dana Point, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

Each Assembly District has six representatives on a political party’s county Central Committee. For the Orange County Republican Central Committee, the 73rd A.D. has 21 candidates – an unusually high number, but not a record. The following candidates are nearly all incumbents who have done a good job of leading, working for, supporting and growing the Republican Party.

In the order they appear on the ballot:

Alice Anderson, incumbent, 73rd A.D. Central Committee
Norm Dickinson, incumbent, 73rd A.D. Central Committee
Tony Beall, incumbent, 73rd A.D. Central Committee
Jon Fleischman, incumbent, 73rd A.D. Central Committee
Nancy Padberg, former Central Committee member
Mary Young, incumbent, 73rd A.D. Central Committee

Many of the other 21 candidates are not involved with the Republican Party of Orange County. They’re not volunteers, they don’t register voters, they’ve never walked their precincts to Get Out The Vote (GOTV), and they don’t attend GOP Central Committee meetings. They are either completely disconnected from the GOP or they only posture as Republicans for the sake of getting into office. According to voter registration data, some of them changed their party to Republican within the last year.

A similar group of challengers ran for the GOP Central Committee two years ago – it’s not a coincidence. The political chicanery comes from a club called SOC912. Those who have attended SOC912’s meetings notice the nature of the group: SOC912 is neither Republican nor Democrat, but it attacks Republicans. SOC912 meetings are extremely negative, and their group leaders target elected officials – Republicans -- they intend to remove from office. They have attacked Orange County’s most conservative Republicans.

The work of the OC Republican Central Committee is to grow and support the party. It should be troubling to Republican voters – those who want Republicans to win elections – that so-called “Republican” candidates for Central Committee want to lead a party they don’t like.