Supervisor spat calls on local lawyers

The election was more than a month ago — Feb. 6, to be exact — and the wait continues for a winner to be sworn in as Orange County’s 1st District supervisor. At last recount, seven votes put Garden Grove Councilwoman Janet Nguyen ahead of Garden Grove school board member Trung Nguyen, and a trial challenging that outcome is set to begin March 21.

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are in the second supervisorial district. So why should Newport-Mesans care about this race? When you’re in a close political contest, it helps to have a good attorney, and Newport Beach attorneys are calling the shots for both candidates. Here’s the skinny on the race in the words of Phil Greer, a Newport Coast resident representing Janet Nguyen, and Mike Schroeder, who lives in Corona del Mar and represents Trung Nguyen.

Question: Why is this a unique election?

Greer: I think its unique from a number of different perspectives. No. 1, it shows for the first time the emergence of the Vietnamese community as a powerful political entity. If you look at the predictions, it was Tom Umberg’s [seat] to lose…. The turnout from the Vietnamese community was amazing, and for those two candidates to be the top two vote getters and come within 7 votes of each other shows the resilience of that community.

Schroeder: There’s two things that really make it unique. One of them was it was a loud statement by the Vietnamese community that they want to be heard from, and they were heard from. District-wide turnout was 9.5%; in Little Saigon, though, it was 64%. The second thing that makes it unique is we’ve never had a large election in Orange County this close — a seven-vote margin.

Q: Was it a surprise that the vote came out with such a razor-thin margin?

Greer: I think so. I think both candidates have very strong constituencies; they both did an excellent job getting out the vote; they both did an excellent job working their base. It was a surprise in the sense that I don’t think anybody understood that community.

Schroeder: I was not surprised by how large the turnout was in the Vietnamese community. I think everyone was surprised to see the vote this close…. Neither one of these candidates were supposed to be in the top two. Everyone assumed Tom Umberg would be in first place, and people assumed Carlos Bustamante would be No. 2.

Q: With a court involved and roughly seven votes between winner and loser, will voters believe the winner has a mandate, and will the outcome make the winner vulnerable during reelection?

Greer: I think a mandate is created by you once you’re in office…. I know Janet’s first goal is to reach across that divide and bring all the communities into her district. She wants to be supervisor for everybody.

Schroeder: I think whenever someone’s elected by this narrow a margin … the incumbent is more vulnerable next time around, but if the winner builds some bridges and uses the advantages of incumbency for the next two years, they usually survive the reelection.

Q: Do voters gain something here regardless of who wins?

Greer: Having participated now in a number of political pieces of litigation and having now sat through a full recount, what the voter should take away is that the system works. It’s a transparent system, it’s a system that does seek to count every vote…. This is kudos to the democratic process. It was fascinating to watch.

Schroeder: I think what’s gained here is the fact that the concerns of the Vietnamese community will be paid much more close attention than they have in the past. I think everybody woke up and took notice that the Vietnamese community is an important political community and they need to be heard.