If you’re a reader of the Red County blog, and follow especially the Orange County page, you’ve seen plenty of banter today about the results of last night’s OC GOP Central Committee. Obviously the three most talked about endorsements were also the most contested. The committee made endorsements without objection on the Clerk Recorder, Assessor, OC School Board and judge race that was considered. The real fireworks came with the contested endorsement considerations of the 4th Supervisorial District, the Treasurer/Tax Collector and the Sheriff’s race.
After a guest speaker from LA County the meeting got started off with a debate between the two main GOP candidates vying to replace Chris Norby on the Board of Supervisors. Fullerton Councilman Shawn Nelson and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu debated for approximately a half hour. The debate included no personal attacks and was moderated by Chairman Scott Baugh. The debate went very smoothly and included thoughtful questions relevant to the issues the incoming Supervisor will have to face. Sidhu focused on his story of succeeding in business as an immigrant and his desire to see changes made in government. Nelson had a more homey message, outlining his life in the district and really hit a home run when driving home the point that he has taken on member of his own party to deliver responsible policies those who elected him. Sidhu seemed to get tripped up on the question poised about his position on defined contribution vs. defined benefit contributions for union employees. His answer was not clear and confused members of the committee.
Following the debate the committee took up a motion for an endorsement of Nelson. Each side of the motion was allowed 3 speakers. The Pro-Nelson side featured Chris Norby aide Bruce Whitaker, Long-time Central Committee member and activist Marcia Gilchrist and activist Tim Whitacre. Those speaking against the endorsement only featured two members willing to speak. Chairman Baugh then called for a voice vote on the motion and from what it sounded Nelson had the endorsement. However, opposition to the motion had a right to see a standing vote. Once the vote took place, it was very clear, the committee overwhelming supported Nelson. The final tally was reported being 47-8 in favor of the endorsement.
The anti-Nelson movement has been active in their comments in the blogsphere the past 24 hours. Several commenters have griped that 8 new alternates were sworn-in before the meeting. What they fail to mention is that when committee members can’t make a meeting, especially a meeting including major endorsement votes, the members routinely appoint an alternate in order for their vote to be counted. An interesting note was that Harry Sidhu was in the front of the room when the new members were being sworn in. This makes me if Harry himself was being sworn in, and now his people are complaining that new members were being sworn in! Another interesting side-note from my observation was that almost, if not every, member of the 60th and 72nd Assembly Districts on the committee seemed to be voting for Nelson. Those two districts overlap the 4th Supervisorial District more than any other, clearly Nelson was not only the committee favorite, but also the local favorite. Later in the meeting, it appeared that many voting members of the committee had either left the room or were standing in the back, once this had occurred there was an attempt to revisit the endorsement. That motion was called out of order and dismissed. Once the dust settled it was clear, Nelson was endorsed by an overwhelming majority.
Following that endorsement the party took up votes for two more local races. The consensus in the room could be made that there wasn’t much support for Sandra Hutchens, so with that in mind Craig Hunter rolled the dice to try to garner an endorsement. Failing to get even a majority, Hunter’s endorsement push was then dismissed. The Bill Hunt loyalist in the room clearly did not want to have Hunter be the standard bearer for the OC GOP pick for Sheriff. One thing does remain clear though, the committee members do not particularly like Hutchens either. Expect to see a resolution debated on next month expressing lack of support for Sandra Hutchens.
The last endorsement considered was for Shari Freidenrich, running for Treasurer/Tax Collector. In a four-way race an endorsement was unlikely even if she was the only person being considered. I spotted three of the candidates, Freidenrich, Rodenhuis and Lang, at the meeting working the room. Ultimately no candidate was endorsed at all.
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
RT @DrunkonPolitics: "Daily Drink-6/15/2010" - http://bit.ly/9yHwJF #tcot #sgp #gop #teaparty
Twitter
Facebook
