In Orange County, one race to watch is for the seat on the County Board of Supervisors for District 1, which includes the cities of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Westminster. The incumbent is Republican Andrew Do and the challenger is Democrat Sergio Contreras, a councilman from Westminster.
Gustavo Arellano, host of KCRW’s “Orange County Line,” says Latinos represent a plurality of residents in this supervisorial district, but their voter turnout has been low. He says Latinos in the area always end up losing because of the “Vietnamese political machine,” which is skilled at getting that community to cast their ballots.
When it comes to the issues the candidates are focusing on, Arellano says Do has touted himself as someone who’s done everything possible to clamp down on coronavirus and bring back the local economy. Contreras, meanwhile, says homelessness is a big issue as well as the economy.
Do is being investigated for money laundering, but it may not matter much, says Arellano. “In Orange County, political corruption — for crying out loud, we had a former sheriff, Mike Carona, he still probably would have won reelection if it wasn’t for the fact that he got indicted and eventually convicted on one felony.”