Ideally, you will have read the introductory post first — but if you’re here to “cut to the chase,” that’s fine. I mean, we’re not going to do that, but you can skip down if you want to be left confused. We’ll see you when you come back up here.
[Note that this is revised twice. First, as of about 2 p.m. on Friday 1/25, to eliminate two candidates — one who has joined a slate with Lenore Albert and one who I believed had supported it. Second, just before 7 p.m. on Saturday, when that candidate wrote in (as you can see below) to clarify that she had not intended to convey support.]
This ADEM has 22 female candidates and 18 male candidates (the actual terms are “self identified as female” and “not [that]”) for the position of Assembly District Delegate (“ADD”), which is … a lot. I know of one actual slate (which has a lot of good people) and one semi-slate (which is to be avoided).
MALE CANDIDATES
Here are the men:
Benny Diaz, Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Eric Peterson, Hans Furtado Laursen, Jamison Power, Joel Block (E Board), Ken Arnold, Kenneth Cole, Matt Filler, Michael Kellner, Nathan Searles, Norman Dobrofsky, Oscar Rodriguez, Philip Silverthorn, Ray Cordova, Sergio Escobar, Steve Einstein, Trung Ta (E-Board)
Three of them are plain hideous and should not be supported under any conditions. I just received a notification that Matt Filler is on a slate with Lenore — just the two of them, apparently — so he’s tossed out for being stupid.
Benny Diaz, Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Eric Peterson, Hans Furtado Laursen, Jamison Power, Joel Block (E Board), Ken Arnold, Kenneth Cole, Matt Filler, Nathan Searles, Norman Dobrofsky, Oscar Rodriguez, Philip Silverthorn, Ray Cordova, Sergio Escobar, Steve Einstein, Trung Ta (E-Board)
Three are so excellent that they don’t even require discussion.
Benny Diaz, Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Eric Peterson, Hans Furtado Laursen, Jamison Power, Joel Block (E Board), Ken Arnold, Kenneth Cole, Matt Filler, Nathan Searles, Norman Dobrofsky, Oscar Rodriguez, Philip Silverthorn, Ray Cordova, Sergio Escobar, Steve Einstein, Trung Ta (E-Board)
So after choosing three and throwing out three others, we’re left with choosing four out of the remaining 12.
ONLY AT THIS POINT will I look at Harley Rouda’s slate for hints about who’s best. Because he didn’t recommend Block, he suggests five: Power, Ham, Laursen, and Searles. (He also recommends School Board member Sergio Contreras, who is not listed as a candidate — and if Contreras pulled his candidacy because he got an appointment and decided to make way for another grassroots activist, I want to know so I can salute him!) I’m adding Perkins, who just ran for Supervisor. (One can also make a case for Arnold — an establishment figure, but a hard-working one, and also someone who spends most of his time in Sacramento — but he’s respected enough by establishment politicians that I expect he can get an appointment, especially being in Sacto.) I’ll underline those on the bubble.
Benny Diaz, Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Eric Peterson, Hans Furtado Laursen, Jamison Power, Joel Block (E Board), Ken Arnold, Kenneth Cole, Matt Filler, Michael Kellner, Nathan Searles, Norman Dobrofsky, Oscar Rodriguez, Philip Silverthorn, Ray Cordova, Sergio Escobar, Steve Einstein, Trung Ta (E-Board)
At this point, you may end up wanting to read some of their statements — and you can do so at this link. (Just navigate to District 68 from the drop-down menu.)
- Perkins has a good statement. Just appointed to HB Planning Commission! Congratulations!
- Ham has a good statement. Classroom teacher, active in CFT union.
- Laursen has a good statement. ER Doc. Hillary/Obama campaigns.
- Power is both more moderate and more establishment than I’d prefer, but he has a solid background and I wouldn’t object to him. I suspect that he could get an appointment — maybe an out-of-district from Rouda (or otherwise from someone with whom Rouda makes an arrangement.)
- Searles has a very good statement.
This really is a wealth of talent — with ample ties to the grassroots. I think that Power is prominent and solid enough that he should be able to get an appointment rather than needing an ADD seat, though he’d be a fine choice. That narrows it down to four.. Boldfaced names are recommended, underlines ones are reasonable choices, plainface names are unobjectionable. Just please steer clear the crossed out names and you’ll be fine! (A clearer summary is at the bottom.)
Benny Diaz, Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Eric Peterson, Hans Furtado Laursen, Jamison Power, Joel Block (E Board), Ken Arnold, Kenneth Cole, Matt Filler, Michael Kellner, Nathan Searles, Norman Dobrofsky, Oscar Rodriguez, Philip Silverthorn, Ray Cordova, Sergio Escobar, Steve Einstein, Trung Ta (E-Board)
WOMEN [Note: revised Saturday 7 p.m.!]
The women running are:
Carey Jo Chase, Debbi Parrott, Dorothy Howard, Holly Le, Gina Clayton-Tarvin, Julie Killeen, Kathleen Rockney, Lenore Albert (E-Board), Libby Frolichman, Lorelio Lachman, Lori Muller Gray, Louise Larsen, Mai Khanh Tran, Margaret Tomlinson-Lehman, Mary Elizabeth Tromp, Michele Newman (EB), Nadia Turner (EB), Natalie Newman, Olaina Anderson, Shannon Brooke Limbach, Shayna Lathus
There are three compelling reasons not to vote for Lenore Albert:
- She’s a complete horror show
- You have too many good alternatives
- Some elected horror-show fan will probably appoint her anyway
A couple are in without further discussion here: Gina Clayton- Tarvin and Shayna Lathus of Huntington Beach, who are both excellent, hard-working, and dedicated grassroots activists..
One, Mai Khanh Tran, might be considered to be expelled on the grounds that she could get a political appointment, so let’s consider her before we get to the others.
If Tran had not run for Congress in CA-39, she’d be an obvious candidate for an appointment: a wealthy Vietnamese pediatrician is someone many electeds would want on their side. But she did, and it endangered what became Gil Cisneros’s eventual victory there, and I think that a lot of people are still irritated at her seeming unwillingness to consider the larger good until late in the game. (I still think that she had a real shot for Supervisor.) So I’m NOT removing her from consideration (and in fact will be endorsing her) for three reasons:
- She’s obviously well-qualified to be a party leader
- It’s not completely obvious to me that she would get an appointment
- She really does need to get closer to the grassroots to be a stronger candidate — and maybe being an ADD will help her do so.
In the long term, Dr. Tran will probably be a serious force for good within the county party — and while she may not think that she stumbled out of the gate, she really did, and the people who were telling her not to run in CA-39 were trying to help her. Her upside is strong enough that she deserves an ADD seat.
I know less about the other candidates than those of most districts, so I’ll take a look at the Rouda slate and underline his picks, along with some candidates I know from their active participation in discussion forums (Larsen) and runs for office (Anderson), so that they get serious consideration.
So we start out with this lineup:
Carey Jo Chase, Debbi Parrott, Dorothy Howard, Holly Le, Gina Clayton-Tarvin, Julie Killeen, Kathleen Rockney, Lenore Albert (E-Board), Libby Frolichman, Lorelio Lachman, Lori Muller Gray, Louise Larsen, Mai Khanh Tran, Margaret Tomlinson-Lehman, Mary Elizabeth Tromp, Michele Newman (EB), Nadia Turner (EB), Natalie Newman, Olaina Anderson, Shannon Brooke Limbach, Shayna Lathus
We need to narrow eighteen names down to four additional choices. Here’s what I get from reading their statements:
Impressive activism and background:
- Debbi Parrott
- Holly Le
- Julie Killeen
- Kathleen Rockney
- Libby Frolichman
- Lorelei Lachman
- Louise Larsen
- Mary Elizabeth Tromp
- Michelle Newman
- Olaina Anderson
Appointee Material
- Shannon Brooke Limbach (Rouda’s Social Media Director)
Well-intentioned but less prepared:
- Lorri Muller Gray (better prepared)
- Carey Jo Chase
- Dorothy Howard
- Margaret Tomlinson
- Nadia Turner
- Natalie Newman
I’m eliminating the bottom seven names. Limbach is exactly the sort of in-district appointment that Rep. Rouda should make — and if she needs an appointment to be out of district, he should arrange it. Getting a smart industrious progressive in on the appointee leg of the stool will undo some of the damage from elsewhere.
Those in the bottom category — you all seem like strong activists. If the competition weren’t so tough, you’d be perfectly good candidates. But I suggest you read through the statements of those with whom your competing to get a sense of the combination of personal experience and good intentions that people want here. You have lots of opportunity to gain it, and now you have some models to follow about how to convey that experience in an ADEM election.
So, now we’re down to wanting four more from the remaining ten, all of whom are solid candidates.
- Debbi Parrott — Garden Grove teacher, exceptionally smart and organized
- Holly Le — Retired aerospace software engineer, Viet-American Dem Club
- Julie Killeen — DWOC, hard campaign worker, coordinated w/non-party
- Kathleen Rockney — DWOC, Indivisible 48, programmer, oppo researcher
- Libby Frolichman — DWOC, field protester, canvasser, anti-Gracey
- Lorelei Lachman — 72nd AD Alliance, HB Huddle work, lots of festivals
- Louise Larsen — social media maven; Indivisible 47 founder; allergy activist
- Mary Elizabeth Tromp — Seal Beach LW Dem Club, pro-left policies
- Michelle Newman — Incumb., Hill ’16 delegate, ALS health activism
- Olaina Anderson — Ran for Los Al School Bd, gun control, journalism/Engl.
This group is scary good, full of talent the party should not want to waste. Le, Lachman, Newman, and Tromp (despite her excellent policy stances) seemed a shade behind the others. It strikes me that Al Lowenthal should want Anderson on the DSCC, so he should quickly announce his plan to appoint her, at which point that would free up a space.
I’m inclined towards adding Parrott, Killeen, Frolichman, and Anderson, with instructions to Al Lowenthal to appoint Larsen, Josh Lowenthal to appoint Le, Tom Umberg to appoint Lachman and Newman, and to someone somewhere to appoint Le.
SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS (top tier is underlined):
Men: Joel Block (E Board), Oscar Rodriguez, Steve Einstein; Brendon Perkins, Daren Ham, Hans Furtado Laursen, Nathan Searles.
Women: Gina Clayton-Tarvin, Shayna Lathus, Mai Khanh Tran, Debra Parrott, Julie Killeen, Libby Frolichman, Olaina Anderson
INTERLUDE — SOME NICE PHOTOS OF THE EVENT!
Both are courtesy of former DPOC West Vice-Chair Shelley Haggerty, who has our thanks!
The milieu, with tent and without (near) faces!
Mensches Joel Block and Victor Valladares
And .. RESULTS!
Photos from a Facebook post by Louise Larsen … with an “e”:
Males:
- Jameson Power, 297
- Brendon Perkins, 259
- Oscar Rodriquez, 226
- Steve Einstein, 225
- Philip Silverthorn, 214
- Trung Ta, 190
- Nathan Searles, 179
- (Alt.) Hans Furtado Laursen, 175
- (Alt.) Ray Cordova, 167
- [not elected] Ken Arnold, 155
Females:
- Lorelei Lachman, 250
- Shayna Lathus, 234
- Louise Larsen, 210
- Mai Khan Tran, 243
- Olaina Anderson, 202
- Julie Killeen, 201
- Libby Frolichman, 197
- (Alt.) Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 195
- (Alt.) Carey Jo Chase, 189
- [not elected] Michelle Newman, 181
OK, we got four male winners, five female winners, and one alternate in each group. Our only unelected endorsees were Joel Block, Daren Ham, and Debra Parrott, all of whom I hope will get appointed. I’m dismayed at Joel not winning, I’m shocked at Michelle Newman not winning, and I’m both dismayed and shocked at Gina not finishing in the top seven. Appointing Gina outright should be Rouda’s top task; if she eventually takes over one of the seven ADEM position he’d then just have an extra appointment.
You can only become an E-Board rep through the ADEM if you win your ADEM election. (I don’t actually know whether winning an alternate seat is enough.) The only person on this list who won a seat was Trung Ta — and if he was on the same slate as Michele Newman (as I think he was), then this may suggest why Newman didn’t win her seat — because Ta’s people that wanted him on E-Board didn’t support her. (This is not to say that Ta himself knew of or favored any such effort; treachery or simple lack of interest can come from elsewhere, as we’ll see when we discuss AD-69.)
Vern cackled at Lenore’s showing in his comment below: I’ll be more sober about it. That she got ten more votes in the E-Board vote than the ADD vote suggests that there were at least ten people who didn’t vote for her as a delegate only due to lack of enough open spots. On the other hand, the fact that she got 23 fewer votes than her slatemate Filler suggests that she didn’t get much of an advantage off of being on her slate. As she’s no longer going to be the ex officio from AD-72 on DPOC, she can now only get onto DSCC (1) if she can get appointed as an alternate of someone who has the right to appoint her — an AD-72 rep, elected, or maybe Melahat Rafiei and if Ada Briceño then decides to give her one of the few and coveted DPOC alternate spots) or (2) via a PLEO appointment (almost certainly from out of district). This is significant not because I just like reporting on Lenore (I like it much less than she thinks I do), but because if she’s not on DSCC, she can’t run for CDP Chair — and that’s news.
I don’t know where you got the idea that Loise Larsen (sp) was supporting Lenore. She is on and working hard for the Progressive Blue Slate. Thanks for some of the good words but I don’t think establishment necessarily fits unless you mean has been around a while. Regardless, if had a appointment wouldn’t be doing the ADEM. Thought it was the best way. Still a Fountain Valley resident with day job working hard supporting social workers and their clients in Orange and 17 other counties. Such as I am at moment seeing 160000 families got their February benefits in spite of DJT’s shutdown. So you only found one Viet-Am worth a seat and critized that one. Don’t you think the largest Vietnamese community in a free country should have a bit more representation in the State’s controlling party?
Thanks for keeping up the blog. Hope to see ya soon.
Louise liked the Facebook announcement of the joint slate of Lenore and Matt Filler, that’s how. If that was done by error — what an error! — have her tell me so. With her experience, she also seems like someone who should be ripe for an appointment by either Lowenthal. (Remember, Josh gets appointments too.)
In Louise’s case and yours, I would have said yes had there been another spot or two, but this is mostly a function of strong competition. My sense is that local electeds have had a lot of respect for you and, while you’re progressive, you have not been one to roil the waters. I think that you have the connections, especially with your time spent in Sacramento, to get an out-of-district appointment. And that’s good, because you’re also someone who, unlike many with such appointments, would be inclined to use your own judgment on things.
As for Vietnamese, not very many were running. (Too small of a percentage are Democrats to begin with.) I did place one woman from another district into a 2 of 4 candidate, largely because I think that there should be more Viet representation. But let’s talk specifics: you seem to want to know why I didn’t choose Trung Ta and Holly Le, and only chose Mai Khanh Tran — despite my criticizing her for running. Frankly, I recommend Tran, despite thinking that she would be a VERY good candidate for a PLEO appointment (for reasons stated) because a PLEO appointment for her is not a sure thing — largely because, as stated, there are still hard feelings among electeds and the party from her unwillingness to back out of the CA-39 race once polling had make it clear that she was only going to make a shutout of Dems from the runoff more likely — and I do think that there should be at least ONE person elected from Little Saigon.
Do you really want me to get into why specifically I chose the other four women I categorized at about the same level as Le over her? Well, I’d have to compare her statement to theirs. Here is her statement:
She seems entirely decent, but the others generally showed more of the sort of activity I would hope to see in an ADD. (Which of my recommendations do you think I should have left off?) I expect that one of the electeds representing her area (or a neighboring one) should be likely to appoint her if she’s not , and I’d be very happy to see the Viet community agitate for that if she loses.
Such an appointment is even more likely for Trung Ta. I didn’t support him because he’s very much not progressive, and should really be an appointment of someone like Umberg or Correa (even if he’s out of district; I don’t know his residence), or even Feinstein, Harris, Newsom, etc., where he’d be on a leg of the school where we’re not losing someone as good as Brandon Perkins or Nathan Searles, who are less likely to be appointed by some PLEO in the state if they are not elected.
Now I hope you’ll pardon me if I incorrectly read some “don’t you care about the Vietnamese people” into the tone of your comment, but: I AM the member of DPOC who was most busting his butt to get a Viet, Duke Nguyen, elected Sheriff of this county, while those assholes Correa and Daly were endorsing Republican miscreant Don Barnes. That was, if you were listening during my expulsion hearing, one big motivation for my endorsing Todd Spitzer and doing my best to sear the snitch scandal that Barnes largely made happen into the minds of voters. And I kept hearing from the party how — despite that Rackauckas was running on a virtual slate with Barnes — we didn’t want to emphasize that because it might help Spitzer, and we just didn’t care about Nguyen’s supposedly “unwinnable” race enough to risk helping Spitzer. It turned out that the Sheriff’s race WAS winnable in this climate, if we had pushed it at the right time, and we betrayed a fine and brave candidate. So don’t give me crap about not supporting the Vietnamese people in OC, because when it mattered I put my political career on the line to help one of them who was really deserving, a man who would have been an absolute pride and joy to that community.
Thanks for the good wishes about the blog.
Dear Greg.
Haven’t met you yet. I’m sure I will eventually. First of all – WHOAH THERE WITH THE SNAP JUDGEMENTS! You could not have summed me up more off course if you tried to. I was being supportive of those on a page I manage courtesy of The Assembly District 72 Democratic Alliance — Which I voluntarily manage for the AD 72 Dem Alliance.
IN ORDER TO BE AS FAIR AND NEUTRAL AS POSSIBLE I LIKED THE POSTS OF PEOPLE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO UPLOAD THEIR SLATE MESSAGE ON OUR PAGE, THAT’S IT FOR THE “LIKE.” — Good Lord!
You have zero idea how progressive I am or what work I’ve been doing all my life let alone since I got involved in local politics and therefore it is very unwise of you to post these snap judgement endorsements based on what?????!! A “like?!” What kind of “journalist” does THAT?
You ought to pick up the phone or email me or do SOMETHING to contact me to find out who I am, what I support doing, what I have DONE before you blast out some weirdo statement about what kind of candidate I am.
I’m here in OC and not terribly hard to find if you care to do some real reporting on the candidates running for ADEM (again, in my case as I am already an ADEM as of 2017.) and perhaps I would have run into you at the DPOC Central Committee where I’m an alternate for U.S. Rep. Alan Lowenthal. If you ever set foot in the 72 AD Democratic Alliance you’d know I’m both chair of membership and online media chair. I run their webpage and their fb group page.
In the last Pres. primaries I voted Bernie. I’m originally from VT and my family is a big fan of his. The day he stepped out of the race I flipped my enthusiasm right over to Hillary FULL FORCE b/c hey, that’s who I am. I root for the Dem Team.
What else can I tell you? I voted KE over EB for Chair of the CADEM back in 2017.
And I’m a passionate advocate for many different groups of people, especially parents of kids with a lifethreatening food allergy and run a support group of over 12.4K members on my own 24/7 for over a decade now. It’s a closed group and I do it out of love for others who are overwhelmed their kid can die from one wrong bite and they feel overwhelmed and depressed they will never be able to relax about the food around their child ever again.
What else?
I founded Indivisible 47 for both OC and Westminster.
I’m very progressive and won’t bore you with the litany of progressive issues I’m EXTREMELY passionate about. I care about Democratic policies and I’m a liberal.
I’m a Hell of a hard worker and I stand up to bullies.
I love pizza.
Any other questions? Find me and ask them.
But, please do NOT presume to know what I stand for with politics based on a FB “LIKE.”
Thanks,
Louise Larsen
You love pizza, and you’re in HB? Been to Munchies on Adams? That’s the best!
and for the record I absolutely do NOT support Lenore and Matt’s slate.
I support the slate I am running on: The Progressive Blue Slate!
It’s absurd your mistook my making sure all slates were fairly and evenly uploaded onto the FB group I manage for Assembly District 72 (The 72nd AD Democratic Alliance) to be some bizarre sign of supporting those RUNNING AGAINST my own slate! Think about that for a minute.
And for the record — My name is spelled LOUISE LARSEN. With an “e” not an “o.” Since you’re a journalist I thought you might care to get facts, like names, correct.
Thank you for your comment, Louise. You had originally been “on the bubble” — not due to any major deficiency on your part, but simply due to the strong competition. I will reevaluate my choices in light of your comments and will certainly change the relevant points of the description..
You may be unaware of the horrific effect that Lenore has had within the state party. Several people running there — including Phil Silverthorn and Ray Cordova — have been significant allies of hers over the years. (I’m surprised not to see them on her slate ) So what you apparently intended as a mere pleasantry happened at the wrong time — just as I was preparing to publish — and in the wrong context.
With a slate of two, she and her friend are trying to poach a couple of spots from the weakest members of other slates. Like it or not, I have absolutely seen people from a slate be positive towards a small “opposing” slate, if they don’t expect to be the one edged out.
I also had tried to get onto the AD-72 page — which I do know you manage, and on which I’ve been active as a reader and occasional commenter — and found that it was suddenly inaccessible to me, so I could not easily find your account. I’m sure that that reinforced my suspicion that you were a supporter of Lenore, who seems to try to eject me from every group in which we both are members.
I’m sorry for my reaction. But I’m also sorry that, with what I can only presume must be pretty fair knowledge of her, you treated her as someone within the normal range of political opinion who merited such a pleasantry. Some people put themselves beyond courtesy. Sorry about misspelling your name, too — these pieces take me 2-3 hours apiece and by the time I finish I’m not always noticing details.
If it makes you feel any better, this piece has gotten the least attention of any of the ones we’ve written — it will likely pick up tonight — so you’ve reached me in time.
I noticed in editing just now that in my previous edit I had left in the suggestion that Alan Lowenthal should appoint you if you don’t win. Yesterday, it was a mental coin flip for the seventh spot between you and Olaina Anderson, with her getting the nod both because I respect her run for office, for geographic balance (she provides support where the district is both weak and has untapped potential), and because Al Lowenthal already considers you the type of activist he wants to appoint. If you win a seat, though, I will not be one bit sorry. Again, the field of women running is truly amazing, and I say that having read almost every statement in every district. I apologize again for misconstruing your intent.
Anyone in AD-72’s ADEM who is reading this want to give us a sense of how big the turnout has been, whether people are still in line to vote, etc.?
I heard about 500. Not as many as 74 or 73 yesterday.
Results.
Biggest surprise – Gina only made #8, I sure wasn’t expecting that.
Biggest disappointment – Joel Block only 88 votes; Ken Arnold only 155.
Biggest schadenfreud – Lenore came in #16 with 48.
MEN
1. Jamison Power 297 votes (yay)
2. Brendon Perkins 259 votes
3. Oscar Rodriguez 226 (BOOM!)
4. Steve Einstein 225
5. Phil Silverthorn 214
6. Trung Ta 190
7. Nathan Searles 179
8. Hans Laursen 175
9. Ray “Godfather” Cordoba 167 – how the mighty have fallen!
WOMEN
1. Lorelei Lachman 250
2. Shayna Lathus 234 yay!
3. Louise Larsen 210
4. Mai Khanh Tran 203
5. Olaina Anderson 202
6. Julie Killeen 201
7. Libby Frolichman 197
8. Gina 195 HUH?
9. Carey Jo Chase 189
I understand Trung Ta will be e-board. And I’m sure Harley will appoint Gina, although her low showing was a shock.
Note to OJB readers — this post has just been updated with results and analysis.
Gina is an attention slug. Someone who makes up facts for coverage. Glad she kost