Don Palabraz

{Rose Espinoza Makes Her 4th District Bid Official}

Earlier this week, The Daily Pilot released the fundraising numbers for, among other local races, candidates seeking to become the 4th district supervisor of Orange County’s . It was no surprise that my former “neighbor” Harry Sidhu leads the way with money in the bank as he is trying to buy another seat. Fullerton city councilman, Shawn Nelson, who once claimed the Lemon Street murals were “crap,” is out in front in terms of  actual contributions netting $36,632. Bottoming out the field, Art Brown of Buena Park, who recently entered the race after Tom Daly dropped out, has already garnered $7, 950.

Coming in last is La Habra councilwoman and former Mayor Rose Espinoza. She has only raised $5,463 and has spent very little of it thus far. Her campaign for supervisor is barely visible. The local political blogosphere rarely, if ever, mentions her name while the top three candidates, Harry Sidhu, Lorri Galloway, and Shawn Nelson get praise, scorn, and ridicule on a consistent basis. The first Latina Mayor of La Habra and the person behind the non-profit “Rosie’s Garage,” Espinoza actually lives in the 4th district (unlike Sidhu and Galloway) and has a smattering of progressive endorsements from the likes of Amin David and others. (Every Rose has its thorns, however, and the endorsement of Santa Ana councilwoman Claudia Alvarez shivers my timbers!)

Fullerton and Anaheim are cities much more central to the swath that is the 4th district. They have more residents than that often forgotten place in the hills known as GuadaLaHabra. My own ventures into Rose’s city have been limited to backyard parties from back in the day! Despite all of that, she could do much better for herself in the race – even without the money. Her campaign twitter account has no tweets. Her facebook page has less than 100 fans. And her youtube channel hasn’t even managed a flip video upload (although in Galloway’s case, having such doesn’t necessarily help!)

C’mon Rose! At least let people know that you’re in the race…