Will Tyler Diep Ask for Recount?

With less than a thousand ballots left to count,  Tyler Diep is trailing Diana Carey by 258 votes.   The clock is about to strike at midnight for Diep.  What would he do?  It is understandable that he would lose the Sergio Contreras but to an unknown Diana Carey.  Even worst, he lost the seat as an incumbent.

On the bright side,  he is young, has a lot money,  so he can always bounce back 2 years from now.  However, by losing, he just opens doors to other Vietnamese-American candidates in 2014.

CITY OF WESTMINSTER Member, City Council

Number To Vote For: 2

Completed Precincts: 57 of 57

	Vote Count	Percentage
SERGIO CONTRERAS	11,324	25.9%
DIANA CAREY	8,703	19.9%
TYLER DIEP	8,445	19.3%
CHARLIE NGUYEN MANH CHI	7,432	17.0%
HELENA RUTKOWSKI	2,868	6.6%
KHAI DAO	2,554	5.8%
AL P. KRIPPNER	2,436	5.6%

300 Votes Separate Carey from Diep

With 2,600 ballots left to count,  the incumbent Tyler Diep is closing the gap on Diana Carey.   This race will go down to the wire with now only 300 votes separate the two candidates CITY OF WESTMINSTER Member, City Council

Number To Vote For: 2

Completed Precincts: 57 of 57

	Vote Count	Percentage
SERGIO CONTRERAS	10,971	26.0%
DIANA CAREY	8,454	20.0%
TYLER DIEP	8,144	19.3%
CHARLIE NGUYEN MANH CHI	7,111	16.8%
HELENA RUTKOWSKI	2,791	6.6%
KHAI DAO	2,422	5.7%
AL P. KRIPPNER	2,361	5.6%

Tyler Diep Lost City Council Race - A Shocker

With little more than four thousand ballots left,  the incumbent Tyler Diep (Diep Mien Truong)  is trailing Diana Carey by 650 votes. The chances for him to pull out a last minute miracle is slim since his Vietnamese-American votes are being diluted with Charlie Nguyen and Khai Dao. In the last 5 days after the election, he hardly gains any ground against Carey. If the trend holds, his lost would be an out of this world shocker for he is an incumbent with a loaded campaign chest of $150,000.   LSI could not remember when a last time an incumbent city council lost in Westminster.   But on the other, Tyler Diep probably knew he is not popular already when earlier this year he dropped out of the state assembly race in a district where Asian-Americans make up a strong voting bloc.  This unexpected event then begs the question  whether he would be appointed by the city council to replace the seat left open by Tri Ta as he becomes the newly-elected mayor.  Tri Ta owed his mayoral victory to the endorsement and support of the popular ex-Mayor Rice.  She went out of her way to not support Tyler Diep. Just a pont of reference, the Vietnamese-American community in OC never really cares for Tyler Diep.  He is deemed to be controversial and arrogant, especially with the leaks on how he abused his seat to get special treatments.    It did not help that he was an underling of Van Tran, an ex-assemblyman who lost his congressional bid to Loretta Sanchez in 2008 in a landslide. After Tran's defeat,  his "Gang of Seven"  lost their political leverage and saw their power and influence dwindle further in Little Saigon  due to infighting.   Andy Quach and Tyler Diep Truong denounced against each other publicly as they fought to protect their consulting businesses.   Like most small cities, the city council job is a part time position.  They are allowed to operate consulting operation  to help business owners getting permits and other paperwork applications.  Ta Duc Tri and Tyler Diep are still friends but they know that they will have to leverage their political capital wisely are else it will hurt both. CITY OF WESTMINSTER Member, City Council

Number To Vote For: 2

Completed Precincts: 57 of 57

	Vote Count	Percentage
SERGIO CONTRERAS	10,407	26.3%
DIANA CAREY	8,128	20.5%
TYLER DIEP	7,478	18.9%
CHARLIE NGUYEN MANH CHI	6,446	16.3%
HELENA RUTKOWSKI	2,690	6.8%
AL P. KRIPPNER	2,273	5.7%
KHAI DAO	2,196	5.5%

Majority of Asian-Americans voted for Obama

http://www.mercurynews.com/presidentelect/ci_21949767/gop-challenge-looking-california-lessons-how-change

There is a myth that most Asian Americans tend to vote for Republican candidates.  Well, in the last two elections, the polls showed that they overwhelmingly voted for Democratic candidates to the tune of 64% and 79% respectively.   Being the fastest minority voting bloc, this is a troublesome sign for the future of the Republican party in a nation-wide election.   Hispanics actually have less affinity for Democratic candidates than Asian-Americans in the 2012 election.   They voted 74% (in 2008)  and 76% (in 2012) for Democratic candidates.

Jimmy Nguyen Lost by 10%

Unexpectedly,  Jimm Nguyen's  young political fortune ended for now at the hand of Rose Herrera.   He lost by 10% point in a bitterly fought campaign pitting Labor Unions against Rose Herrera.  

Jimmy Nguyen was an unknown in his own Vietnamese-American community as well as in the community-at-large.  He bursted into the scene as an opportunist, hoping that he could be a pawn for the proxy battle between Chuck Reed and Dave Cortese and his labor backing.   His inexperience, and limited in-depth knowledge of issues due to lack of participation in the community where he resides and immature campaign staff were shown throughout the campaign

A more mature candidate could have taken Herrera to the task.  Live and learn.

"Thin Skin" Rose Hererra vs. "Lucky Boy" Jimmy Nguyen

With a campaign reaching $1 million spending mark and probably the costliest city council race in the history of San Jose,  it will come down to this -  Should the citizens of San Jose vote for a candidate that support pension reform  to show that they really care how  their hard earned money being taxed and spent by the local government?

The incumbent Rose Hererra has a checkered personal history of fiscal irresponsibility and of course a second rate temperament.   She is legendary for her prima donna behavior among the Asian communities.  " I am a city councilwoman therefore, I should be treated like a queen to all events" .    She needs to remember that she is nothing but a low level public servant that can be kicked out of office anytime.   If it was not for her support of the pension reform, this race would not be even competitive.

Now the Vietnamese-American's "Lucky Boy"  Jimmy Nguyen of course happens to be at the right place at the right time.   His campaign was going nowhere and he was clueless on issues.  However, the puppet master Dave Cortese and the powerful unions cannot stand Mayor Chuck Reed.   It is a proxy political battle that they wave and if Jimmy Nguyen wins, he will be their pawn for the next 8 years.  

So San Jose voters,  what would it be?  The revival of unions and their ways by electing Jimmy Nguyen or keeping a second rate city councilwoman and sending a message about how they want their money to be spent?

The election will be a close one.   From preliminary absentee ballot numbers,  LSI is expecting anywhere from 20,000 to 24,000 total ballots.   If the turn-out is more than 21,000 ballots,  Rose will win.   

Jimmy Nguyen and Duc Lam - "Gotcha Game"

In a brilliant political "Gotcha" move,  Jimmy Nguyen and his supporters decided to see if they could embarass Rose Herrera.    The high paid political consultants, Tom Saggau and Dustin DeRollo were staking out at a park in District 8 to see if they could catch the person who supposedly has been dumping Jimmy Nguyen's campaign signs.    Accompanying  them is Duc Lam, a friend of Jimmy Nguyen and a video camera.    According to the Mercury News -

"...Software engineer Matt Wahlin, 58, admits he did remove some Nguyen signs, which he said someone repeatedly placed on the couple's front lawn in recent days. He said he also removed signs that had been on public property in the area, which he said is a violation of city rules.

But Wahlin said he was attacked Monday night as he was about to throw the signs away in a garbage bin, located in a small park less than a mile from the home he shares with Herrera.

"I was going around the corner and I was blindsided and knocked to the ground by at least one person," Wahlin told reporters late Tuesday morning from his living room. As he stood up after the attack, he said, two suspects shined a bright light and camera in his face.

Wahlin showed reporters scrapes and bruises on his face, hands and left knee that he said he suffered as a result of the confrontation. He filed a police report Tuesday against his unknown assailants...."

The video that the consultants posted on the web is in poor condition but here are two full stories reported on the Internet.

http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_21891637/san-jose-councilwomans-husband-removes-opponents-campaign-sign?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com


http://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/entries/10_30_12_rose_herrera_jimmy_Nguyen_campaign_signs/