The Waiting Game for OC Supervisor D1 Race

Almost two weeks after the election, the race for Orange County Supervisor D1 has not been settled yet.  Andrew Do is leading Michele Martinez by 4,398 votes after 134,944 ballots counted.  With still about 12,000 ballots left to be counted, there is still a small chance for Martinez to catch up because these ballots are coming in from heavy populated Hispanic area.

Do was leading 5,902 votes after 107,840 ballots counted 5 days ago.  He lost ground steadily but his lead is substantial enough that his supporters are hoping that it will hold.

Hopefully by Thanksgiving, the picture will be clearer.

Another Recount in San Jose City Council Election

With about 1,000 ballots (including provisional ballots) left to be counted and the difference  margin will likely be less than 0.50%, the city council race for D8 appears to head for an automatic recount.   After 33,889 ballots counted, Sylvia Arenas is 51 votes ahead of Jimmy Nguyen, 50.08% vs. 49.92%.

The race is far from over for both candidates as they practically are living out of the ROV building for almost two weeks now.  This will mark the second time this year a race involved Vietnamese-American candidate is facing recount.  And the margin of victory could be decided by a few votes.

Jimmy Nguyen Takes An Aggressive Stance

The election for city council in San Jose City  D8 is taking an interest tone after Election Day.   With still about 7,000 to 8,000 ballots left to count,  Sylvia Arenas has taken a 51 votes lead.   On Election Night, she started out with a 730 votes deficit.  The trend has been in her favorite as the Hispanic tends not to vote with absentee ballot.

One of Jimmy Nguyen's advisors,  Bryan Do, the same person who ran City Councilmember Manh Nguyen's campaign, advised him on strategies on how to maneuver the  ROV to their advantage.  Recently, he and Manh Nguyen went through a painful process with the recount in which Lan Diep won.

Nguyen took it to heart and decided to take an aggressive stance against in-coming ballots for the last 3 day.   He and his team are camping out at the ROV and starting to canvassing and  challenge ballots already.

It is quite unusual to do this since ROV is still the process of their normal counting ballots.   Yet Jimmy is putting pressure and gaming the ROV as if this is a recount procedure.

Arenas was caught by surprised  and vividly upset  by this development so she send out an email on Facebook to her supporters -

Today, I brought my kids to the Registrar of Voters office and to my surprise I found that my opponent Jimmy Nguyen had been challenging District 8 ballots for several hours. It was painful that my son had to see this.

The majority of challenged ballots are directed specifically towards latino voters. This kind of targeting is not only offensive, but a racially charged manner of maneuvering the system.

It's discouraging that Jimmy Nguyen has personally resorted to this method now that he has lost the lead.

I was down over 500 votes when the first results were shown, but I never even thought of trying to suppress votes. I ran a fair campaign. My team and I worked hard to win and serve, no schemes necessary to get a win, just honest work and dedication.

I want to thank my team, my family, all of my supporters and the voters for exercising their right. We continue to work and do what we have to do to get this victory so that District 8 has a quality Councilmember to represent them.

Ash Kalra Wins State Assembly D27

With all the precincts counted,  Ash Kalra has apparently won the state assembly election against Madison Nguyen.  A big sigh of relief could be heard from at least half of the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose.

Nguyen was ahead by 130 votes at the beginning of the night and by the time the rooster crowed, she was behind by more than 2,000 votes.   At this moment, she is behind by 3,897 votes.

Kalra was left for dead after the primary when he came in second but was 15% behind.  Nguyen and her IEs launched  a barrage of negative attacks in the primary.  The voters received half a dozen hit pieces in May alone.  Strangely enough, Kalra did not send a single negative piece in response in kind.

Undeterred with such a large deficit,  he quickly built a coalition with the third, fourth and fifth place finishers of the primary.   An Asian Wall was established with the Indian, Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese voters.    The whole idea was to slow Nguyen down at the early and absentee voting, while Kalra hoped that Labor Unions would drive the Hispanic vote to carry him to the finish line.   The district registered voter map shows about 1/3 Asian,  1/3 Hispanic and 1/3 White.

 Raising  more than $1 million and having nearly $5 million in IE from outsiders (not in San Jose),  Nguyen was in a catbird's seat.   She outspent Kalra 2 to 1 and had the support of both current and former mayors.   Everybody in her camp thought she would not only win but win big.  Nguyen herself was emotionally upset at her Election Day party at the Xoncion to Community when her lead started to disappear.

Kalra's internal poll showed he was 4%-5% behind going in October.   He knew he had a chance as long as Labor Unions would deliver with their ground game for Sylvia Arenas, Jim Beal and him. LSI poll for Vietnamese voters only indicated he was neck to neck with Nguyen.  He trusted his Vietnamese supporters for he spent a considerable amount of time building relationships with the community.

At the end, to the delight of  his supporters,  Kalra's Asian Wall held and Labor Unions came through.

The voting trends for the last 24 hours are in his favorite.  There are still thousands of ballots to be tallied but it is unlikely that she can catch up.

If there is such a lesson about local politics it shall be that one should never betray one's own supporters and expect to win an election.

Vietnamese Voters in Orange County and Santa Clara County

In Orange County, the first set of result showed the Vietnamese voters with their penchant to vote with absentee ballot gave Andrew Do a nice cushion.  Will this lead holds, only time can tell.  The Hispanic turn out is lower than expected in OC.

County Supervisor 1st District Completed Precincts: 0 of 209 Vote Count Percentage * ANDREW DO 31,734 58.9% MICHELE MARTINEZ 22,150 41.1% In San Jose, the Vietnamese vote is crucial to Ash Kalra and his race for state assembly against Madison Nguyen.  He is 117 vote behind after the first 52,777 ballots.  There will be another 75,000 to 100,000 ballots to be counted.   The total Viet vote is expected to be about 16,000. It will be a long week for both Nguyen and Kalra.

Qui Nguyen Wins Word Series of Poker

According to ESPN News -

"Qui Nguyen won the 2016 World Series of Poker main event late Tuesday night, earning $8 million and the diamond-encrusted gold bracelet.

He defeated Gordon Vayo in a heads-up battle that lasted 182 hands and well over seven hours to win the WSOP bracelet in his first time playing the WSOP main event.

Qui Nguyen is the 47th WSOP main event champion and just the second Vietnamese-born winner; the first was Scotty Nguyen, who won the 1998 WSOP main event for $1 million."

Qui Nguyen is a nail technician / owner of nail salon in Orange County, California.  He started playing professionally in 2003 and his career earnings up till now was around $52,400.  Scotty Nguyen is also from California.

Andrew Do and Orange County Register

The  OC Register Editorial Board recently gave a resounding endorsement to Andrew Do for Orange County Supervisor, First District.   See excerpt below:

" The race for First District Orange County Supervisor has narrowed down to two, with incumbent Andrew Do facing off against Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez.

We endorsed Do in the June primary because in the nearly 17 months since winning a special election for the seat, he had taken a role of leadership, helping to craft county policies that prioritize public safety, creating a more open and transparent county government and tackling our region’s homelessness crisis.

A few months later, we have grown to admire Do even more. His commitment to the residents of his district and the county are clear. That is why Andrew Do again has our endorsement for another term as First District supervisor.

During his tenure, Do has advocated for residents on the most important issues. He has pushed the conversation forward on the county’s homelessness crisis, which, according to a report by KPPC, has grown “about 5 percent in the last two years.” Most recently, Do put forward a motion to open the old Santa Ana Transit Terminal as a temporary homeless shelter.

As a former prosecutor, Do knows the important role that law enforcement plays in our community. His championing of public safety issues is likely why he earned the endorsement of Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

“I trust Supervisor Andrew Do on public safety,” Sheriff Hutchens said in a statement. “Over the past year, Supervisor Andrew Do has led the effort to provide the Orange County Sheriff’s Department with more resources to respond to the state’s early release of convicted criminals.”

Do’s upbringing has also taught him the importance of keeping government small and unobtrusive in people’s lives. His family fled communism in Vietnam “with just the clothes on their back and a suitcase full of dictionaries.” As such, Do has held the line on spending and has been a stalwart defender of small businesses and property rights."

The Editorial Board recommends Andrew Do on Nov. 8.