OC Blog

SD33 Watch: Mimi Won't Take The Raise

Martin Wisckol notes over at Total Buzz that Assemblywoman Mimi Walter's will refuse to accept the newly approved pay raise.

Smart move.

Mimi's heading into what promises to be a bloody, expensive state Senate primary against Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu. If she'd accepted the pay raise, Harry and his consultant Duane Dicharia would have beaten her over the head with it. Then again, they already have one pay hike stick to beat her with, but that is what it is.

And for the record, I support Mimi and plan to vote for her in June.

SD33 Watch: By The Numbers Update

It's been almost six-months since we've done a "by-the-numbers" post on the battle for SD33's GOP nomination, so time for an update. The contenders are Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu.

The previous post in May compared registered voters with likely voters in a city-by-city breakdown of the district. Since the likely low turnout of the June primary will elevate the already critical role of absentee voters, I thought it would be illuminating to profile the SD33 GOP electorate through the lens of the permanent absentee voter population.

There are 259,907 Republican voters in the 33rd Senate District. Of those, 89,867 -- or 34.6% -- are PAVs.

Here is a city-by-city breakdown of 259,907 registered GOP voters (I got these numbers last week from the Registrar of Voters):

SD33: New Majority Endorses Mimi Walters

This just came over the transom from The New Majority:

New Majority Endorses Mimi Walters For Senate
Orange County Chapter Weighs in on Ackerman Replacement

COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA –– Today the New Majority, Orange County Chapter, announced its endorsement of Mimi Walters for State Senate District 33.  The New Majority is one of the most influential political action committees in the state of California, and a major player in state and federal candidate races.

In making the announcement, Caroline Beeson, New Majority California Growing Republican Opportunities to Win (GROW) Committee Chairman stated that, “Mimi Walters has been an effective advocate for Orange County in the State Assembly in promoting fiscally responsible policies, we look forward to Mimi taking her leadership skills to the State Senate.”

SD33 Watch: Union Hits Walters In The Mail

Wow -- the negative phase of the 33rd Senate District campaign has started early.

Really early.

This mailer landed in SD33 mailboxes today:

More on 33 SD Primary: Sidhu Leading in Money Raised

Martin Wisckol over at Total Buzz posted an accurate analysis yesterday about the upcoming primary battle between Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu and Assemblywoman Mimi Walters for the soon to be vacated 33rd Senate District.  The Orange County Register also ran a short article on Sidhu's unexpected, but strong showing in the latest campaign finance report.

It is worth mentioning again that Sidhu, without any real concrete support from the political establishment, deserves a lot of credit for raising this huge amount of cash.  He is definitely being more than just viable.

SD33 Watch: Walters Leads Sidhu In Money Chase

Assemblywoman Mimi Walters leads Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu in fundraising totals for January-June 2007.

Candidate              Total Raised           Expenditures          Cash-On-Hand
Mimi Walters            $413,841.99            $57,604.83               $528,373.15
Harry Sidhu               $467,775                $34,477.97               $433,297.03

Both candidates loaned themselves sizable amounts: $100,000 each, as a matter of fact.

UPDATE: Here's the press release from the Harry Sidhu campaign:

SD33 Watch: Who Will Show The Bigger Pile O' Cash?

Campaign finance reports will be out soon, and in the 33rd Senate District they will show both Assemblywoman Mimi Walters and Anaheim Councilman Harry Sidhu with healthy warchests.

According to Walters consultant Dave Gillard, Mimi will show well over $500,000 -- all in donations with no loans.

Sidhu's numbers won't be quite so big. A very good source said Sidhu will report between $300,000-400,000. My source wasn't sure how much, if any of that, is a loan from the very wealthy Sidhu, but did say Sidhu hadn't yet tapped the Indo-American network.

This primary is going to be a bloody and expensive brawl. I'm still of the opinion Mimi wins it, but it's going to be a tough fight.

SD33 Watch: Walters & Sidhu At Orange-Villa Park CRA Tonight

While they won't be debating, I received an as-yet unconfirmed tip that 33rd Senate District GOP nomination rivals Mimi Walters and Harry Sidhu will both be making remarks and taking questions at the Orange-Villa Park CRA meeting tonight.

Also speaking is OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh. Maybe he can referee.

The meeting is at 7:00 p.m. tonight at Republican Party of Orange County headquarters, 1800 W. Katella Avenue, Suite 210 in Orange.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE (4:45 p.m.): Assemblywoman Mimi Walters won't be able to make it to the Orange-Villa Park CRA meeting tonight. The Legislature's floor session is still going and is expected to go for a few more hours. So Harry will have the room to himself.

SD33 Watch: Mimi Walters Fundraiser This Friday

Rounding at this round of fund raiser posts, Assemblyman Mike Duvall is hosting a fundraiser for Assemblwoman Mimi Walters' quest for the GOP nomination in the 33rd Senate District.

The festivities take place this Friday, June 22 at "Mayor Mike's Saloon" in that land of gracious living, Yorba Linda.

Click here for details.

SD33 Watch: By The Numbers

There will be three competitive Republican legislative primary battles next year: AD 71, AD 60 and SD33.

These are three heavily Republican seats in which winning the GOP primary is tantamount to a general election victory. Red County/OC Blog already described the AD71 contest with by-the-numbers post of the basics of the campaign: candidates and their teams, registration and geographic distribution of GOP voters, etc.

Now let's take a look at the battle for the 33rd Senate District, which is represented by termed-out Senate GOP Leader Dick Ackerman and boasts 259,850 Republican voters who will determine the next senator:

Following is a breakdown of Republican voters by city (I got these numbers form the ROV on May 10):