Primary Election Update

The OC Registrar of Voters expects to begin mailing absentee ballots on May 7. In past elections, ballots arrived in mailboxes over a period of several days. It’s not unusual for two people at the same address to receive their mail-in ballot on different days. Voters wanting to verify that they are registered can call (714) 567-7600 or check the website, https://www.ocvote.com/registration/verify-your-voter-registration/

Mission Viejo precinct captains noticed a change in voter lists while reviewing precinct walk sheets. In past years, a voter who selected “Decline To State” instead of choosing a party was listed as DTS. This year, the category has been changed to NPP, No Party Preference. Voters who declined to state their party when they registered in prior years might take issue with being categorized as having no party preference. In this year’s June 5 Primary, NPP voters will have only two presidential candidates to choose from – Democrat and American Independent. Each political party chooses whether or not it will allow NPP voters to receive its party’s presidential ballot, and only two parties said yes.

Political pundits expect a low turnout in the California Primary. The Republicans and Democrats already have their presidential nominees. Except for a few contests, there’s little excitement about the June 5 election.

One of the more interesting races in Orange County is between Todd Spitzer and Deb Pauley for Third District OC Supervisor. With only two candidates in that race, if either of them gets 50 percent plus one vote on June 5, no runoff in November will be needed. While money isn’t everything, Spitzer had more than $1 million on hand at the end of the most recent reporting period and Pauley had approximately $2,500.

A statement in last week’s issue of this blog warrants correction. The number of Republican Central Committee candidates running for six seats in the 73rd Assembly District (which includes Mission Viejo) is 22.

The situation of eight incumbents running for six seats in the 73rd resulted from redrawing Assembly District lines last year. Likely winners include some of the incumbents, along with a former Central Committee member with name recognition:

• Alice Anderson, incumbent
• Norm Dickinson, incumbent and current Executive Board member
• Tony Beall, incumbent
• Jon Steven Fleischman, incumbent
• Nancy Padberg, former member, currently a South OC Community College District trustee
• Mary Young, incumbent and current Executive Board member

Six challengers are unknown or relatively unknown.

Of the remaining 22 candidates, 10 of them (three incumbents and seven challengers) allegedly have ties to SOC912, the professional noisemakers funded by the Iranian woman from Irvine (linked here) . If all the bizarre stories about them are true, then the most interesting political group in Orange County is the SOC912 circus.

A dustup on May 6 occurred when a SOC912 member (one of the candidates for Central Committee) organized a “Republican candidate forum” in Casta del Sol but invited only six of 22 candidates for the OC GOP Central Committee. To have only six candidates accept an invitation would be one thing, but hand-selecting six is not a Republican candidate forum.

Generally, it is up to members to draw a line on what goes on in their club. However, three years ago, the leader of the same Casta group introduced guest speaker Sir Eldon Griffiths as Elton John. No one seemed to notice.