The "Elephant" is the symbol of the Republican party.
But the term "elephant in the room" does not have a political meaning. The "elephant in the room" has a different meaning, and is defined in Wikipedia as an English idiom for an "obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. It is based on the idea that an elephant in a small room would be impossible to overlook."
The press in Orange County has not focused on the "Elephant" issue that is the subject of this post. The press in Orange County has only reported the "conventional wisdom." But I will here, especially because there is a legal issue associated with it, speak the truth.
73rd Assembly District Assemblymember Mimi Walters has been a darling of the Orange County Republican Party. After losing her first bid for election, she has served well as an appointed member of the Laguna Niguel City Council, later elected, advancing the highly publicized policy of privatization on the council established by her predecessor Pat Bates, passing on creating government jobs to serve the city in favor of private contracting. Her influential father, a savvy leader in the opposition to El Toro Airport, Tristan Krogius of Dana Point, has been a big asset to her political success. Mimi was elected to the Assembly four years ago in 2004 with the support of conservatives like myself and John Paul Ledesma, a Mission Viejo City Councilman. We went against the CRA and other conservatives that supported Jim Gibson, from San Diego, for the 73rd AD, because we believed Mimi would carry the conservative banner best.
As a city council member, Dana Point’s Diane Harkey has reversed privatization of public services in neighboring Dana Point. As Mayor, she presided over and led changes that ousted private contractors and added about a dozen new full time civil servants, all OC public employee union members, to the rolls in the City of Dana Point. She is privately despised by Mimi’s father, Tris Krogius, because Tris knows Harkey’s political success in Dana Point is rooted in opposing private property rights and variances for private property owners.
A few months ago, an "unholy alliance" was formed. The wealthy Harkey, who had lost a personally costly race for the state senate against Tom Harman, and Walters had a meeting of the minds. They would divide up south Orange County. Harkey would support Walters’ race for the 33rd Senate District, if Walters would agree to be Harkey’s chairman to succeed Walters in the 73rd Assembly district. They made their handshake.
It looked like a match made in heaven. Until Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu decided he would be a better Senator than Mimi Walters in the 33rd SD. Sidhu, a popular Anaheim City Councilman, has drawn strong support for his race. Rumors are he has over $600,000 cash on hand in his political account. He is well known and liked in areas of the district Walters has no exposure too and may have little connection. Sidhu has friends in the corporations that care about travel and tourism in Orange County, like Disneyland There are rumors of huge independent expenditure efforts on his behalf. Walters is not looking as strong for this seat as she once did. And a few days ago, a colleague of Walters, Assemblyman Van Tran of Orange County, endorsed Sidhu. A step that would have been seen as political suicide a few months ago. Assemblyman Van Tran, the highest ranking elected Vietnamese in America, is a bright guy. He would not endorse a candidate without looking at some polling………
Harkey has drawn an opponent for the 73rd AD, but a weak opponent, with a horrific ballot designation as "Attorney." She will win her seat in a cake-walk, whether she deserves it or not.
A few conservatives are not so happy with Walters. Mission Viejo City Councilman John Paul Ledesma told me a few weeks ago that he had stuck out his neck with conservatives to back Walters over Gibson in their criticial election, but that Walters had not answered any of his calls after she won the election. I could relate. I supported Harkey’s bid for the Senate against Harman and helped her make her presentation for endorsement by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, only to have her plunge a dagger in my back when I ran for reelection to the Dana Point City Council. Trust me, Harkey will win the Assembly election, but only as a function of money, because she is no conservative.
The legal issue is term limits. Under the California Constitution, Walters is entitled to serve three terms in the Assembly. Since she was first elected in 2004, she would qualify for a "free ride" this year in the Assembly. But she has effectively turned her seat over to Harkey.
So, here is the elephant in the room: the conservative Walters, who would have had one more term to serve in the Assembly, and whose father hates Harkey, has apparently conceded her seat in the Assembly to Harkey, who has betrayed a conservative, and whose record does not support conservative ideals such as privatization and property rights. In the meantime, Walters has a race on her hands from Sidhu, whose race has drawn the support of conservatives such as Assemblyman Van Tran. Which conservative leader will be the next to announce support for Sidhu?
Harkey looks like a winner out of this convoluted process. And Walters could very well be a loser, having given up her safe seat to Harkey. And that is the "elephant in the room" in Orange County.