Voters to pick two Assembly hopefuls for runoff
Newport Beach and Costa Mesa residents will go to the polls Tuesday, selecting two of three state Assembly candidates to move forward to a November runoff as well as deciding two countywide measures.
California’s open primary creates an unusual situation because voters can send two members of the same political party to face each other in November. Two Republicans, Assemblyman Allan Mansoor (R-Costa Mesa) and Newport Beach Councilwoman Leslie Daigle, are on the ballot with Democrat Bob Rush, a Newport businessman.
The GOP-heavy district could mean a Republican will face a Republican in November, or Republicans could split votes in a way so that the Democrat advances to face one of them.
This the first primary
in which voters can cast their ballot for any candidate irrespective of party affiliation, after Proposition 14 passed in 2010.
*
On the ballot
The recently redrawn 74th Assembly District serves Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Woods and Huntington Beach. With redistricting, the area has no traditional incumbent, though Mansoor currently represents some the territory in his current post and is viewed as the incumbent by the Orange County Republican Party, which endorsed him.
Leslie Daigle: Serving on the Newport Beach City Council since 2004, Daigle touts conservative fiscal policy, public employee pension reform and a commitment to coastal preservation. Daigle, a moderate Republican who works as a telecommunications consultant, lays claim to working with her peers on the council and in city management as a person who put Newport Beach in the black during an economic downturn. Her campaign professes a devotion to education, citing her position as council liaison to local schools.
Allan Mansoor: Before serving as an assemblyman for the 68th District, Mansoor served on the Costa Mesa City Council from 2002 until 2010, when he was elected to the Assembly. While serving as mayor, the conservative Republican, who worked as a sheriff’s deputy, became known for his hard stance against illegal immigration. He declared Costa Mesa would not be a “sanctuary city” for undocumented immigrants and spearheaded a measure in 2005 that required police to check the immigration status of suspects.
Bob Rush: Best known for community activism, Rush, a real estate investor, has worked as an accountant and auditor for what is now known as PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Continental Grain Co. He also opened U.S. Realty Group in 1997. On his campaign website, Rush boasts that he worked to close the area’s rehabilitation homes. He also defines himself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. He is a longtime council critic, and this is his first run for public office. He recently changed his party affiliation from decline to state to Democrat.
*
Other measures
Republican Party County Central Committee, State Assembly District 74: Voters can vote for six of 16 candidates running to serve on the committee. This contest will appear only on Republican Party ballots.
Orange County Measure A: This initiative would change the public administrator from an elected position to an appointed one. The public administrator, or public guardian, manages the affairs of deceased residents who left no will, heir and named no executor or selected an ineligible executor.
Orange County Measure B: If this passes, Orange County supervisors would have their pension reduced to the lowest possible option.
*
Finding your polling place
Voters can cast their ballots any time between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Tuesday. To find your polling place, visit the Orange County Registrar of Voters website and enter your street address, or visit SmartVoter.org. Voters can also call the registrar at (714) 567-7600.
Twitter: @lawilliams30