Primary Update

The race for Orange County Republican Central Committee has 22 candidates in the 73rd Assembly District (which includes Mission Viejo). The Central Committee is the policy-making body of the Republican Party of Orange County, and it’s also a work group. Its members support and build the party, register voters and get out the vote to elect Republicans.

The sheer number of candidates running for Central Committee should alert voters that something is up. This blog has previously covered the county-level power struggle in the Republican Party, with non-Republicans attempting to take control. It is crucial for voters to choose tried and true Republicans as their Central Committee representatives. The best choices in the 73rd are nearly all incumbents except Nancy Padberg, who was previously a Central Committee member. In the order their names appear on the ballot, they are Alice Anderson, Norm Dickinson, Tony Beall, Jon Fleischman, Nancy Padberg and Mary Young.

As a quick way to size up the overall validity of “voter guides,” look at the Central Committee list. (This does not refer to slate mailers in which candidates pay for listings. It means the personal recommendations that several South County activists send out, primarily by email.) If their recommendations don’t include Mary Young, something is wrong. Mary is Orange County’s No. 1 super-volunteer and workhorse for the Republican Party.

A legitimate list should also include Jon Fleischman, a former president of the California Republican Assembly. He’s a leader, strategist and a reliable conservative whose contributions are immeasurable.

Norm Dickinson heads county GOP precinct operations and does an outstanding job of training and organizing volunteers to Get Out The Vote. He’s a retired Navy officer, a genuine conservative and active in his church.

Tony Beall’s fight against union control of the Capo school district is legendary. He and his wife Jennifer were honored last year as Republican Volunteers of the Year.

These “big four” GOP leaders in the 73rd A.D. should be on every Republican voter guide. Voters should beware of any list that mixes candidates from the side supporting the Republican Party and the side opposing it. Either the list-makers are trying to fool the voter or they don’t know the candidates. The other two legitimate recommendations for six seats on the Central Committee should go to Alice Anderson and Nancy Padberg, who have earned their stripes as genuine conservatives and hard-working Republicans.

While it is one thing to circulate recommendations among friends, it is quite another to post them online with claims that candidates have been researched. Why would a conservative Republican voter guide tout a lieutenant of Frances Akhavi ( http://missionviejoca.org/html/article212.html )? The next campaign finance reporting period ends May 24 – follow the money.

To the credit of list-makers in south Orange County, none recommended any Central Committee candidates from the SOC912 cell. Maybe it was by chance, but the smell of stink bombs emanating from SOC912 is offensive even to bystanders.

On June 5, California could set a new record for low turnout in a Primary Election. On the positive side, Republicans could take advantage by getting their informed members to vote.