Troy Edgar to run for State Assembly instead of Congress
February 7, 2012 in Uncategorized By: Dave Emerson
(2/7/2012, Los Alamitos)From Troy Edgar’s Press Release: Earlier today, Mayor Troy Edgar announced that he will be running for California’s newly drawn 72nd Assembly District, encompassing West Orange County.
In launching his campaign, Edgar has already amassed almost $300,000 Cash on Hand, and has picked up endorsements from some of West Orange County’s most respected leaders, including Representative Ed Royce, State Senator Tom Harman, and Assemblyman Jim Silva. [ad]
“I believe California has arrived at a critical moment in its history. We must become a state that allows businesses to thrive and jobs to flourish. I am anxious to take my experience in the business world and local government to Sacramento to become a force for a prosperous future for California,” said Edgar.
Edgar has also picked up support from local leaders from throughout the 72nd District, including Los Alamitos Mayor Pro Tem Marilynn Poe and Councilman Ken Stephens, Seal Beach Mayor Pro Tem Gary Miller, and Fountain Valley Councilman Larry Crandall.
In announcing his bid for the State Assembly, Edgar brings to a close his previous candidacy for the 47th Congressional District, deciding that the Party’s best opportunity to win the seat was to run united and avoid a costly Primary.
Troy Edgar is a Navy Veteran, the owner of two successful Orange County businesses, and currently serves as the Mayor of Los Alamitos. Active in his community, Troy volunteers much of his time with the Casa Youth Shelter, AYSO, PTA, and his local Chamber of Commerce. Troy and his wife Betty live in Los Alamitos, where they have raised three sons.
Dave here. Interesting.
Here’s the current line-up for the 72nd State Assembly Race, thanks to J M Ivler’s comments below:
Current (as of tonight) 72′s are:
Huntington Beach Councilman Matthew Harper (R)
Westminster Councilman Tyler Diep (R)
Little Saigon businessman Long Pham (R)
Joe Dovinh (D)
Albert Ayala (D)Rumor has it that Diep may be dropping out, Dovinh and Ayala haven’t filed
Harper already has Dana’s endorsement. As far as I can tell Joe Dovinh and Albert Ayala have not filed campaign finance reports (generally indicative of low levels or non-existent fundraising).
For JM’s interesting analysis of this race & why Mayor Edgar may have jumped in, see the second and fourth comments at the end of this post.
I believe there are currently no Democrats running in the primary. Under the state’s new election laws, the top two finishers in all state primaries will face off in the General Election, regardless of party affiliation.
If my memory is correct, and feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken, Troy opposed the inclusion of Los Alamitos in the coastal 72nd Assembly District, encouraging the redistricting commission to instead include Los Alamitos in the same inland district as Cypress, Buena Park, and Stanton.
As always, your thoughts and insights, expressed diplomatically, are welcome.
Edgar has been wanting out of Los Alamitos since he got here. He has never really been the community person he says he is. He is a carpetbagger / climber, always has been always will be.
It has been pretty obvious as he sits on the council in the last year his heart is not in it. He just wants out.
He will make it out one of these days, but probably not by getting elected to higher office. Stay tuned for the on going saga of Mr. Commitment.
Thanks, JM. My bad.
Thanks to our observant & knowledgeable readers, once again the error has been corrected instantly, in far less time than it would have taken to simply print and distribute the original story using the old media.
That’s the beauty of cyberspace, especially when informed readers are free to contribute!
Dave I hate it when I miss it by an inch or a mile, and this time I appear to have missed the list I gave by omission..
Prior to Edgar’s announcement the 72nd candidates were:
Huntington Beach Councilman Matthew Harper
Westminster Councilman Tyler Diep
Little Saigon businessman Long Pham
Joe Dovinh
and
Albert Ayala (the one I missed)
As far as I can tell Joe Dovinh and Albert Ayala have not filed campaign finance reports (generally indicative of low levels or non-existent fundraising). Both are (D)’s and really don’t count in this race.
While the press is reporting Edgar’s deep finances as a validation of his entry, they all seem to be missing two critical factors. The first is that MOST of that (in excess of 80%) is self-funded by a loan. The balance was funding from his Congressional campaign. All of that money has an effective lien on it, in that the people who gave it gave it for a Congressional campaign and they all have the right to request a full refund (not that they will, but they all can).
As I stated before, leaving a race and jumping to another is generally NOT a good sign (it’s a sign of a political opportunist). Doing so when there is already a strong candidate in the race (Harper and Diep are both strong candidates) makes the move even more questionable.
With Diep’s possible dropping out, if he supports Harper, the candidate becomes even more formidable. Now consider that the race is now a bunch of (R)’s and the district is ~35% (D), if one of the two (D)’s drops out and the other draws off that 35% because he is the only (D) and a strong (R) pulls 35% that leaves only 30% to be split among the balance and only the strongest two go on to the General.
For election buffs it’s an interesting dynamic. If Diep drops, it would benefit Harper if either Joe Dovinh or Albert Ayala drops as well as it would leave Pham, Harper and Edgar in a race to determine the (R). The nature of the district is whomever the (R) is in a (D) .v. (R), the (R) wins (unless there is a fatal flaw that comes out after the Primary, and even there, considering the +R percentage, that may even not be enough to lose).
Once you again you show how little you actually know about local politics. Tyler HATES Harper and is supporting Edgar.
Hi Jason, and welcome to letsfixlosal.
Tyler had support from the Los Alamitos’ fearsome threesome prior to Edgar jumping into the race.
Not having a horse in this race (being a Dem and knowing it’s going GOP, I don’t) my first impression is that Harper is doing rather well in endorsements, nabbing Westminster’s Mayor from Diep’s list.
He also has Mike McGill, former Mayor of Cypress and one of the most honest and straight forward elected Republicans I know (I may disagree with him on many issues, but I really do respect the man).
If Tyler is thinking Moorlach’s seat in two years I would think that he might take a look at where the Newport support/money is flowing, and in this case it appears to be Harper with Dana, two major GOP orgs, three State Senators and three out of five County Supervisors (and lest we forget the County Sheriff). So, if higher office is his gig, then maybe putting aside personal animosity might be in his best long term interests.
Politics makes strange bedfellows (one has to look no further than DeBolt and Ivler working together). So, until Diep formally announces, I’ll just keep watching from the sidelines and wondering which way it is gonna go.
PS: In politics the use of the term “hate” (even in caps) is very liquid. While many people think I “hate” (or “HATE”) Troy, the truth is I don’t know Troy well enough to “hate” him. I dislike a number of things that Troy has done, but I also stood up and defended him from an unfair attack. Being a Dem neither Troy or Harper have my support or vote, but from what I can tell of each’s record, if I had my druthers, between the two of them I would rather Harper wins. And if McGill were running I would hope he would win (like I did last time, when he did run for office – even though I voted for the (D)).
The bottom line is not one of these candidates represents my interests, so for me I will end up being represented by someone who won’t represent me at all, and if that’s the case, then I’ll have to look at something other than their “platform” and that is their honesty and integrity. And there Troy just comes up way too short to make my list of acceptable.