Commentary

Call it the stealth campaign on your primary ballot. You thought trying to figure out who to vote for in the judgeship races was difficult. What did you do about radio silence on the central committee candidates for your political party? How did you determine how to select up to six candidates to vote for?

In reviewing the three major Orange County dailies—The Epoch Times, Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times, and the online Voice of OC—a search for the words “central committee,” going back to the beginning of December, turned up a big goose egg.

Keying in “Fred Whitaker,” the current chairman of the Orange County Republican Central Committee (OCRCC), was also a bust. Why the lack of media coverage?

Central committees are the county governing bodies for your political party and work in conjunction with their state parties. Selecting good leadership is essential and critical to their success. It would appear that, after reviewing the election results, name identification was critical to getting elected. And the majority of candidates that prevailed were local elected officials.

As a lifelong Republican, and affiliated with the OCRCC for some three decades, I can at least speak to this side of the aisle. You’ll have to find someone else to provide commentary about the election results of the other major and minor parties in this urban, 3 million-plus populated, county.

Each Assembly district has six representatives, and they are provided below in the order of votes received, highest to lowest, except for the 64th Assembly District, which is in alphabetical order, since no election was held. Some commentary is provided along the way, to assist in what bodes the OCRCC for the next four years, after these elected officials begin serving in this non-paid capacity come January of 2025.

59th Assembly District

• Gene Hernandez—Yorba Linda Water District Director and former Yorba Linda City Councilman


• Donald P. (Don) Wagner—Orange County Supervisor, Third District


• Ryan Bent—North Orange County Community College District Area 7 Trustee


• Leandra Blades—Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Trustee


• Jon Steven Fleischman—Former Executive Director of the California Republican Party


• Janice Lim—Yorba Linda City Councilwoman

Susan Silvestri, the current OCRCC Secretary, did not place in the top six and will not be returning next year. Anthony Johnson, the OCRCC Assistant Treasurer, was also not reelected.

64th Assembly District

• Barbara Gastelum


• Bertha Manzanares


• Tim Shaw—Orange County Department of Education Trustee


• Karen Shaw—Lowell Joint Unified School District Trustee


• Debbie Tankersley

Since only five La Habra residents in this mainly Los Angeles Assembly District filed to run, the Orange County Registrar of Voters did not even hold an election. If you live in the city of La Habra and wish to serve on the OCRCC, then contact these five individuals, as they will have to select someone to fill the one vacancy.

67th Assembly District

• Bruce Whitaker—Fullerton City Councilman


• Scott Minikus—Cypress City Councilman


• Debbie S. Baker—La Palma City Councilwoman


• Bonnie Peat—Cypress City Councilwoman


• Steven K. Mauss


• Baron Night

68th Assembly District

• Mike Tardif—Candidate, 68th Assembly District


• Fred M. Whitaker—Longtime Chair of the OCRCC


• Timothy “Tim” Ryan Whitacre


• Pasquale Talarico


• Gale Oliver


• Stephanie Townsend

70th Assembly District

• Van Tran—Former Assemblyman and Orange County Supervisor Candidate-First District


• Patrick Harper—Fountain Valley City Councilman


• Ted Bui—Fountain Valley City Councilman


• Amy Phan West—Westminster City Councilwoman and Sales Tax Ballot Measure Proponent


• Stephanie Klopfenstein—Garden Grove City Councilwoman


• Jim Cunneen—Fountain Valley City Councilman

Kermit Marsh, the OCRCC Parliamentarian and former Westminster City Councilman, was not reelected.

71st Assembly District

• Wendy Bucknum—Mission Viejo Councilwoman


• John C. Gresko


• Walter Nirenberg


• Susan Stivers


• Nick Wilson


• Linda Koelling

72nd Assembly District

• Janet Nguyen—California State Senator, former State Assemblywoman, former Orange County Supervisor-First District, and Orange County Supervisor Candidate-First District


• Tony Strickland—Huntington Beach City Councilman and former California State Senator


• Gracey Van Der Mark—Huntington Beach City Councilwoman


• Michael E. Gates—Huntington Beach City Attorney


• Casey McKeon—Huntington Beach City Councilman


• Will O’Neill—Newport Beach City Councilman

Erik Weigand, the OCRCC Treasurer and Newport Beach City Councilman, was not reelected.

73rd Assembly District

• John M. W. Moorlach—Former State Senator, former Orange County Supervisor-Second District, and Former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector


• Scott Peotter—State Assembly Candidate and former Newport Beach Councilman


• Anthony C. Kuo—State Senate Candidate and former Irvine City Councilman


• Austin Lumbard—Tustin City Councilman


• Christina L. Shea—Former Irvine City Councilwoman


• Mike Carroll—Irvine City Councilman

John Park, the current OCRCC First Vice Chairman was not reeelected.

74th Assembly District

• Laurie Davies—State Assemblywoman


• Lisa A. Bartlett—Former Orange County Supervisor-Fifth District


• Ray Gennawey—Laguna Niguel City Councilman


• Kelly Jennings—Laguna Niguel City Councilwoman


• Steven Knoblock—San Clemente City Councilman


• Victor Cabral—San Clemente City Councilman

To recap, five of the eight OCRCC Executive Committee members were not reelected, and Second Vice Chairman Jeff Barke did not rerun due to relocating to another city within the county. This means only two of the current Executive Committee members will return in January.

They have a chance to serve on the OCRCC if one of the six members in their Assembly District resigns between now and the end of 2028, and the remaining five members vote to appoint them.

There are also ex officio members. These individuals serve if they were the Republican candidate for partisan offices. If the Republican candidate for a state office resides in Orange County, then they would serve on the OCRCC.

Ex officio members hold office until the Secretary of State issues a certificate of nomination, which should occur before the April monthly meeting (California Election Code 7404). Consequently, 2022 46th Congressional district candidate Christopher Gonzales will be replaced by David Pan. Former State Senators Ling Ling Chang and myself will be replaced by Steven Choi. And Soo Yoo will be replaced by 67th Assembly Candidate Beth Culver.

There are three elected Central Committee members, Mike Tardif, Scott Peotter and Laurie Davies, who are also ex officio members. According to the Bylaws, they are “limited to one vote even if [they] hold two seats.”

Now you have a scoresheet for the 2025–2028 Orange County Republican Central Committee. And since it is a political body, expect plenty of politics among these 54 individuals as they determine the composition of the next Executive Committee.