So on Sunday night I headed out to Huntington Beach to attend a Flag Day shindig that included face painting, flag pins, a fruit platter and a bevy of local political candidates and leaders. There was Chris Kluwe, running for State Assembly. There was Chris Duncan, running for state senate. There was this person and that person and that person and this person and … and …

There was Erin Spivey.

In case you don’t know the name, Spivey is one of four Democrats (along with Ben Davis, Brenda Glim and Taryn Palumbo) vying for city council in HB, a land of MAGA nuts and Trump slavery and LGBTQ+ bashing and librarian defaming. And, well, the woman has something snappy to her. First, she’s a longtime educator and librarian. Second, she doesn’t take any shit, and has refused to be intimidated by the nutty Gracey Van Der Mark and her merry band of assholes. Third, she’s insanely charismatic and likable, without any of the political residue. And fourth, she has her late dogs’ paw prints tatted on her right arm. I mean, c’mon.

Erin and I sat down on a patio, and she won me over from jump. You can donate to her campaign here, visit her website here and follow her on the ol’ IG here [Oh, and you can watch the entirety of this interview at the bottom of this page. Just scroll on down].

Here’s Erin Spivey …

JEFF PEARLMAN: Erin.

ERIN SPIVEY: Jeff.

JEFF PEARLMAN: How’s it going?

ERIN SPIVEY: Pretty good. How are you?

JEFF PEARLMAN: I’m good. I didn’t see that I would wind up today at a rooftop in Huntington Beach.That was a life twist I didn’t see coming …

ERIN SPIVEY: Oh, well, good life twist.

JEFF PEARLMAN: I guess so. All right. Serious question. We’re here in Huntington Beach. I do not live in Huntington Beach. When I started my website, everyone said to me, avoid Huntington Beach because ‘they’re fucking crazy and it’s just going to drive you in a sinkhole,’ which it has done. What has to happen for even one Democrat to break through and get on the city council? Literally, what actually has to happen? Because you would agree this is not an easy battle …

ERIN SPIVEY: No, not at all. So just looking at the numbers and the data—Republicans outnumber Democrats in the city by about 12,000 votes. So it’s about 52,000 to 40,000 and then we have 33,000 NPPs. So the path to victory—as it did with the library measure—it runs through those independents and it runs through a lot of people who are tired of what’s going on here in Huntington Beach. And we saw that in the turnout for the library amendments in June 2025. What we’re looking at is Huntington Beach used to be a libertarian town. And while that’s not exactly my bag, I at least can get it. Let people do their thing. And I totally understand that. But we’ve strayed so far from that and I think a lot of our NPP voters and our independent voters still, that really resonates with them. So I think reaching out to them is the path to victory.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Do you feel like there’s maybe a tipping point moment or a moment … the MAGA plaque or the, I don’t know, QAnons? I don’t know. For you, do you see a moment where it’s like these people are just behaving in crazy ways that maybe crosses a bridge for people?

ERIN SPIVEY: I really think it was the library fight, right? I think it was those porn signs that Chad Williams put up. That actually ended up doing my side of the fight a big favor because it raised so much awareness. It was a black eye for the city, unfortunately. We made the news yet again for a really bad look, but it helped get the word out and people were so opposed to the library that they loved being framed as porn pushing, pedophiles, groomers, abusers. People in this town really love the library. And I feel like that was the moment that really tipped the scales in our favor.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Do you think there was a point when even those people were like, wait a second, we sort of overplayed our hand on this?

ERIN SPIVEY: Yes, absolutely. I think you saw it when Chad came out initially and was pushing back and being like, “Why do you care what the signs say when there’s porn in the library?” And so many people were like, “There’s not porn in the library.” And people started visiting the segregated books in the library and were like, “This is not pornography. I don’t know what they’re talking about.” And they started talking to their friends and they were like, “This is bonkers now.” And you saw Chad come back after that and met with the guy who cut out “PORN” from all of the signs and was like, ‘We sat down and had a great conversation.’ So he knew and then you saw it, he brought it up several times how he kind of got hung out to dry on this issue because it was clearly the whole council behind it, but Chad was the face of the project. I think a lot of what we’re seeing from Chad now is bitterness over that and over the mayor issue.

JEFF PEARLMAN: It’s actually interesting because it seems like he actually is rebelling a little bit against the MAGA that created him locally …

ERIN SPIVEY: I don’t necessarily know if it’s against MAGA. I think it is only against this current city council. He feels very betrayed by how they played the whole library thing by letting him take the blame for the porn signs. And he is very mad that he got skipped over for mayor. And so he’s really only mad at this current city council. I think he’s still MAGA all the way.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Since I started doing this site, I’ve often thought to myself, ‘it takes a certain level of crazy person to decide to run for office.’ You would agree with this, I’m guessing?

ERIN SPIVEY: Yes.

JEFF PEARLMAN: What made you actually initially decide to run?

ERIN SPIVEY: I was relentlessly bullied by the community. As a librarian. So I was working here and as I mentioned, I quit and I sued the city as soon as they passed the censorship measures. And once I sued the city and I started coming out and speaking out about this a lot, people started asking me to run and, like, my mom’s best friends were asking me to run and my best friend was asking me to run. And then when we won the library issue in court in September and the city council voted two weeks later unanimously to appeal that decision and keep the censorship ordinances on the book. That was the tipping point for me. And Dan Kalmick called me up and said, ‘This is the moment, Erin. There’s momentum already because of what’s going on nationally and locally.’ And because I was the face of this library movement in a lot of ways that resonated so deeply with the community, they were really like, ‘This is the time for you to run.’ My plan was to run for school board because I was a teacher librarian or I was a teacher. That was my jam—education. That’s what I was going to do. And they were like, ‘No, you need to run for city council.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t think so.’

JEFF PEARLMAN: So how did you actually finally decide to do it?

ERIN SPIVEY: Yeah. So I have three kids. My oldest is high-functioning autistic and my youngest is a person of color. We adopted her through the foster care system. She’s already had a traumatic life and having to be in a city that’s not always very nice to people of color … I had a long conversation with Rhonda Bolton about her experience and she told me she would do it again.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Why?

ERIN SPIVEY: Because she believes in the project, she believes in democracy, she believes in government and the fact that she would be willing to do it again spoke clearly volumes to me and she assured me that safety was never an issue for her kids and there are precautions they took that I can take. So we talked it out. I also had a long conversation with Natalie Moser just on the mechanics of running and I was like, ‘Why would I do this?’ She’s like, ‘Because you are the person.’ And I of course talked to my parents. They were against it. They live here in Huntington Beach and they’re like, ‘Are you joking? City council’s insane. Why would you do that?’ And I said, ‘Because this is me, I’m the person. This is the moment.’ And they were like, ‘Oh.’

JEFF PEARLMAN: That’s funny.

ERIN SPIVEY: Yeah. My sister’s very against it, but now everybody’s come around because they see the momentum. They see that the city is actually ready for change.

JEFF PEARLMAN: So I’m a sports writer. There are times when a team is a long shot to win and you ask players, ‘Do you think you’re going to win or do you hope to win?’ A lot of players will be like, ‘Honestly, I hope to win, but I’m not sure.’ Do you believe you’re going to win? How do you feel confident wise?

ERIN SPIVEY: I absolutely believe I’m going to win. I know that it’s a big swing for all four of us, so that’s where I hope we can retake the majority, but I absolutely believe that I am going to be the next city council member for Huntington Beach come November.

JEFF PEARLMAN: And what gives you that confidence?

ERIN SPIVEY: I talk to people. I talk to a lot of people and people believe in the library. People are ready for calm, normal city council meetings. They’re ready for any kind of life without drama. And Huntington Beach is just exacerbating that right now. So I know that people are ready to support me for this because I speak the same language they do. I didn’t choose this fight. This fight chose me.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Actually, It’s very interesting. When I talk to friends about the national elections, I always say if I were running for president in 2028, I’d be like, ‘Don’t you just want to have a normal ... Don’t you not want to think about me every day?’ And it seems like it’s the same in Huntington Beach. Don’t you just not want to think about this nonsense every single day?

ERIN SPIVEY: That’s 100 percent what I tell people is like, I want to make government so boring that you forget about me. I don’t want to know who the secretary of the treasury is. I don’t want to know who my city councilor is and what every issue is coming before city council. We need to engender trust again in city council and so many people want that same thing. I was at a meet and greet with some parents of small children yesterday because I have small children and they’re all saying the same thing. They’re so tired of this. And that fatigue is really, I think, what’s going to change the vote in November.

JEFF PEARLMAN: What’s been your best moment of running and your worst moment of running?

ERIN SPIVEY: I think my worst moment of running was when I called a school board member here in Huntington Beach and I was like, ‘Can you endorse me?’ And she’s like, ‘No.’

JEFF PEARLMAN: Did you think she would?

ERIN SPIVEY: I did. She’s not endorsing anybody. She’s like, ‘Politics is too crazy now. I’m not making any endorsements.’ And so that was disappointing. My best moment I think was at my kickoff. I had it at Eat at Joe’s across the street from Golden West College. It’s like a sports bar, but it’s family friendly and we filled it. It was max capacity in there and I didn’t even anticipate that. And so many people were fired up. These were people like friends, family … like my best friend’s aunt, people that I didn’t think would be there, like the secretary at my kid’s school. People are ready for change and that was just the most empowering moment.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Much of my career has been library-dependent and librarian-dependent. Librarians have truly helped me in ways high and low. Why do you think the city council has sort of seemed to go after librarians as a profession?

ERIN SPIVEY: I can give you one answer. A very clear answer: Gracey Van Der Mark.

JEFF PEARLMAN: She’s awesome.

ERIN SPIVEY: She’s amazing. She’s the best. I love her. So much. She would love me if we ever got to sit down together. She is the reason the city council went after the library. She was the engine behind the whole thing. So it all started because we had Gender Queer, which is a well-known graphic novel, in the library.

JEFF PEARLMAN: I just want to say I read it about two months ago. I fucking love that book.

ERIN SPIVEY: It’s amazing. And it’s obviously not pornographic. There are some depictions of sex scenes, but it’s an illustration and it’s not photographs. Anyways, we won’t get into the actual legal definitions of pornography, but she found out that was in the library. And when it initially came out, it was a YA, a young adult book, because that’s who it was written for. And over time, the publisher and the author decided it was better to move into adult because there were sex scenes in it. So Gracey Van Der Mark, after she had already gone after Ocean View School District for the sex education in middle school, which was a state mandate, she fed all kinds of lies to parents in the community and they were like, no, this is untrue. So she then came after the library, she met with the librarian. The librarian said, ‘Okay, let me review the book.’ She was like, ‘You’re right, this should be in the adult section.’ And they moved it from YA to adult.

However, the library director, when she met with her, was perhaps a little rude and Gracey took that personally and she went on a rant about how librarians are terrible people, how just having a degree doesn’t make you an expert, how parents know their kids best and they should be the ultimate judge. And we agree. We absolutely agree with that point. But she could not let it go because this was personal to her. She had been insulted and that is the whole impetus of this whole thing. And then Moms for Liberty popped up

JEFF PEARLMAN: Those guys are awesome.

ERIN SPIVEY: Also awesome. They would be my best friends for sure. So when Moms for Liberty popped up, they gave her cover to run an even bigger campaign of censorship and they were going after school libraries and we were the only city in California to go after the public library because that is crazy and it is illegal and there is constitutional precedent about this issue and Gracey lost in court and now she can’t get away from the issue fast enough or far enough. The city council really thought they were going to win this issue because Moms for Liberty was winning across the country at the time. And then the tide turned because libraries have an 84 percent approval rate. Congress has like a 21 percent approval rate. It is crazy to go after the library.

The tide turned and city council did not see this coming because none of them are library users. None of them are fans of education or reading for fun. So they were embarrassed when the community came together and spoke out against what they were doing and they organized and they got more votes than they even got when they got elected. That was embarrassing for the city council. Dave Min took Huntington Beach to Sacramento as an example of what not to do and passed the Freedom to Read Act. That was embarrassing for Huntington Beach. So then they lost in September in court. That was embarrassing. So they continue to go after the library because their egos cannot take it. This has never been about what’s best for Huntington Beach. This has always been about their personal biases.

JEFF PEARLMAN: How long have you lived here?

ERIN SPIVEY: My whole life. I went to UCSB for college, bounced around a litle bit during grad school and then came back when my oldest was 1 1/2.

JEFF PEARLMAN: So when we hear about Huntington Beach—we, being people who don’t live in Huntington Beach—we hear how crazy Huntington Beach is. Are we getting a fairly accurate depiction of Huntington Beach or is there something that this is obscuring?

ERIN SPIVEY: I think it’s hard to say, right? I don’t think there’s a clear picture of what Huntington Beach is or what it wants to be right now. During COVID, we saw the worst of Huntington Beach with all those rallies downtown, all the anti-mask stuff. Then there was the anti-BLM riots or I don’t even know what you would call them.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Good times.

ERIN SPIVEY: We just call them good times. All great stuff and right in front of our iconic pier. And so that is a great national news story. Huntington Beach and you see the pier and the beautiful ocean in the background and it just makes us look bad. And that attracts more bad actors that want to be part of those stories. So then we elected four MAGA people and then three years later we elected three more. So I’m not sure Huntington Beach knows what they want to do. I think there’s a lot of apathy in this community, at least until the last couple of years. And I think there’s confusion about what’s really important. I think now more eyes are open than ever because of the shenanigans of the city council. And I grew up in a town that was a life of duality.

I was born in 1980. So Huntington Beach in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s had actual skinhead riots and there was the racially motivated murder in the ‘80s and there were neo-Nazis in Huntington Beach. That was true. And Huntington Beach worked very, very hard from the mid ‘90s through the 2000s to remake our city. That was a place that was inclusive, that was for everybody that businesses wanted to be a part of. And then everywhere in the world kind of lost its mind during COVID and Huntington Beach did, too. And I think people were just fed up. And I said this before, I think we all experienced kind of a collective trauma from COVID. Definitely. And we all experienced it in different ways. And a lot of people around here were so scared and they were so fed up with what was going on and the lack of information and the lack of security that they wanted change. It changed for the worse and I think they’re seeing that now.

I believe Huntington Beach wants to become Surf City again and not the Trumpiest city in America, as the Wall Street Journal called us. I think Huntington Beach wants to be a sleepy surf town where we have all these events during the summer that welcome people from around the world. I think we missed out on a huge opportunity to host the Olympics here when we have the infrastructure and the practical know- how on how to do it because of this craziness. And I think Huntington Beach would have been so proud to have that surf event here. So my impression when I talk to residents is they’re ready to go back to a place that would have been the perfect location for the Olympic surf event.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Are you mentally prepared for the idea that you could be, like, one person on a board with these less-than-ideal folks and that you’d have to work with them?

ERIN SPIVEY: Yes. Yeah. When I worked for Huntington Beach, I used to call myself the most annoying employee in the city, because I am the squeaky wheel. I am super tenacious. I keep going after what I want until I get it. And I plan to do the same thing when I’m on city council. Hopefully I will not be alone. Hopefully we retake the majority. I think it’s going to be a big swing. If I’m there by myself, I’m going to be the most annoying person on city council. I’m going to make it known that they don’t support transparency. I’m going to make it known that they have no plans to better this city. I’m going to make it known that they continue to support cronyism and nepotism and corruption and I am against all those things until I can move the needle enough until we get to a place where we elect a common-sense majority.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Chad Williams comes up to you. Do you guys have something in common? Could you work with a ...

ERIN SPIVEY: Sure. I mean, Chad did call librarians pedophiles and groomers.

JEFF PEARLMAN: That is true.

ERIN SPIVEY: So I think it would be starting from a rough place, but he has changed his tune over the last year and he seems to be more focused on making things better, like actual city business. And I can work with anybody if they’re actually focused on the issues that face our city and not culture wars.

JEFF PEARLMAN: Let me ask you a final very important question. Tell the story of your arm tattoos.

ERIN SPIVEY: So these [on the right arm] are all of my dogs who’ve passed over the rainbow bridge. So these are their actual paw prints that we got scanned.

JEFF PEARLMAN: How many dogs have you had?

ERIN SPIVEY: So this is four that have passed and I currently have two, a pit bull and a German Shepherd. And then this [on the left arm] is from Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and this is a character called No Face. And No Face in the movie is looking for meaning and he is only happy at the end of the movie when he finds purpose and his purpose is just cleaning house.

And so to me, this speaks about how we’re all searching for purpose in this life and it doesn’t matter what it is, but once we find that purpose, we can find happiness.

By Liv Martin

Guest contributor to the Truth OC

•••

AI wants to fuck college students.

But not the way you think …

While everyone panics about AI messing with the job market, the job market will not be the primary way AI fucks with college students. I know, I know … but worse things are actually coming for us.

As a college student currently in the thick of finals, I see AI harming my fellow college students in several ways that will harm their career prospects outside of an AI agent taking all the jobs. Aside from environmental destruction, unlawful surveillance, and outright theft from artists and writers. As a side note, let it be known, readers, I have never used any of the free LLMs (Large Language Models) apart from Google Search trying to foist it on me without my consent. And yes, people ask “don’t you want to keep up with the times? This is the future.”

BUT!

The main issue facing college students is that AI is making them stupid. I’m not joking, the cognitive atrophy is real. Also, AI is harming the education system itself and eroding trust and connection between professors and students.

Literacy is more than just being able to understand words—it’s the ability to understand nuance, irony, satire, entendre, and even reading a room. When AI summarizes, whether for a research article or a novel, it takes over the student’s thinking for them and degrades their literacy skills.

This is scary because half of college learning is reading articles and writing papers to show your understanding of course materials and original thinking. Group projects are even more tortuous when you have to read literally thoughtless writing from a teammate because they used AI to read the book for them and write their part of the paper.

Some of these students may actually finish college knowing less than when they were admitted because their brains are leaking out their ears with every LLM summary or hallucinated analysis and un-researched paper reference.

They’re even using AI to write and respond to posts in online class discussions. Thanks for the feedback, Chad, but I don’t really care what Grok thinks about the child development class readings.

Truthfully, I find it terrifying.

Then there’s the fracturing of trust between students and teachers. We now have lockdown browser tests with webcams, long “check-in” assignments to ensure students are following along, and essay authorship scans (ironically AI powered and producing so many false accusations). Teachers constantly doubting and searching for the slightest hint of AI, and the students who actually do the work trying to desperately prove their innocence.

It’s a weird combination of 1984’s Big Brother and The Giver’s creepy banality that’s positioning professors who are supposed to guide us as our keepers and adversaries.

AI is creating a future where some college graduates will enter the workforce truly unprepared and, despite the predictions that only those who know how to use AI will have the advantage, will be utterly unable to actually do the work.

Despite the hype, the future will belong to those who can function without AI and still be able to think for themselves, read, learn, and understand complexity. But the rich guys selling AI, and the CEOs gleefully planning to replace workers with bots, really just want us college students to be fucked.

Liv Martin mostly studies psychology at a local university. On occasion, she indulges her passion for writing with short stories, articles and lively online debates. You can follow her on Instagram here.

So folks in this area continue to discuss the CA-40 congressional race, which was pretty much designed under Prop 50 terms to result in two Republicans battling to the death inside a steel cage with hamsters, cheeseburgers and those miniature Slurpees everyone loves.

Wait.

Where was I?

Right—CA-40. So the latest results have been offered up, and they’re pretty interesting …

First, because we’ve predictably wound up with the two leading Republicans, who will (truly) use the next four months to spend millions of dollars beating one another up with mailings that will drive all of us to drink.

Second, it’ll be fascinating to watch Young Kim now shift back from I-love-MAGA! to I’m-the-centrist-y’all-love! now that the primary is over and she needs to woo … us. To quote KISS, “I’ve gotta laugh, because I know I’m gonna die.” Like, it’s actually funny, in that pathetic sort of way.

Third, Joe Kerr has landed 16,491 votes. And since I’ve promised y’all that the lead Democrat’s name will never again appear on this site, I’ll just say … hmm … the LA Interloper Ice Cream Truck Person of Interest Who Continues to Blather Incoherently on Instagram at a Staggering Pace should maybe stop solo-bashing Lisa Ramirez.

Hell, if I’m Ramirez and/or the LA Interloper Ice Cream Truck Person of Interest Who Continues to Blather Incoherently on Instagram at a Staggering Pace, I look at Kerr’s totals and think, “Why, Joe? Why?”

And I’m not mad at Kerr, because (truly) this district was created for Republicans to win. But, if we’re being honest, bro never had a realistic shot. And, if we’re also being honest, the majority of those 16,491 probably go to Lisa, not the LA Interloper Ice Cream Truck Person of Interest Who Continues to Blather Incoherently on Instagram at a Staggering Pace. Why, I’ll note that in the heat of the race, a Lisa supporter/political guru told me Kerr’s presence was profoundly hurting L.R., who lacked the LA Interloper Ice Cream Truck Person of Interest Who Continues to Blather Incoherently on Instagram at a Staggering Pace’s money, but dominated in likability and zest.

I don’t disagree.

•••

To be clear, Joe is a good dude. But also to be clear, going forward I’d like to see more of our candidates ask themselves, “What’s my purpose here?”

What I mean is, are you in it because running is fun and you’re bored? Are you in it because of ego? Are you in it because you want to make changes? Are you in it to make speeches? To eat free chicken? To legitimately win?

To enter politics, you have to have a big head. It’s true, and anyone who disagrees is likely a political figure with a big head. But, deep down, you also have to be able to self-assess and ask yourself the important questions.

Namely, can I triumph?

And, also namely, am I causing other decent people to lose?

A friend told me the executive vice chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County “ripped into” me on Facebook.

“Really?” I replied.

He proceeded to (kindly) forward me the letter, which was a reaction to this post, headlined, KATRINA FOLEY WILL LIVE ON. It was written by Lauren Johnson-Norris, a person I’ve yet to meet [To her credit, she also e-mailed me the note. I’d missed it—my bad].

Here you go …

And, of course, we live in this era fueled by rage and backlash, where I’m supposed to rip into Johnson-Norris and defend everything I wrote and growl and bark and shoot little snot sparks from my nostrils.

But, well, I think it’s a good letter.

I really do. As I’ve written about more than once, women do (factually) get the short end of the political stick. A toad like Trump can bark and slam and insult—and he’s tough and rugged. A supernova like Hillary Clinton can appear cold—and she’s impersonal, rude, offputting. Fuck, all you have to do is look at the California gubernatorial race, where Katie Porter lost the day she was caught behaving in the manner of 100 million male CEOs before her. Those guys receive promotions. She plummets in the polls.

So, yes, it sucks. No diggity, no doubt.

That being said, I will make a strictly political point: Johnson-Norris writes, “The most telling aspect of your piece is that competence alone does not appear to be enough.” And … well … eh … um … yeah. It’s not. It should be, obviously. Like, Foley-Dixon shouldn’t even be close. But the reality is, most voters don’t pay attention to the nitty gritty. Katrina Foley apparently distributed $50,000 in business recovery grants to local restaurants. She pushed to build a new Fire Station 1 on Royal Palm. On and on and on. Her list of accomplishments are long and impressive. But the depressing-as-fuck reality is, the vast majority of voters will never know. They’ll see her mailing, maybe catch a commercial, perhaps meet her once at the OC County Fair. People form incredibly quick impressions, and—like all of us—those impressions are generally banal and vapid. She remembered my name. He talked to be about the Angels. She was eating a candy apple. Do women get this worse than men? 100,000,000 percent. It’s not even close. Again, it sucks.

But I don’t operate this website in a bubble. Katrina Foley does not come off particularly warm. It doesn’t make her (at all) a poor supervisor, but it does (in my opinion) impact a local campaign, where handshakes and nods and small rallies matter. As I noted in the original post, my first time seeing Katrina Foley on the campaign train was pretty … awkward. That doesn’t make her bad at her job. But part of this job (sadly) is exposure to voters. Positive exposure. Warm exposure.

It sucks. It’s not cool. I feel Lauren Johnson-Norris’s frustration, and I share it. I’m gonna think a lot about her letter, and my own biases.

And, of course, I’m gonna vote for Katrina Foley.

So based on the latest totals, it appears Katrina Foley, the incumbent county supervisor, will march on toward the general election, where she will (yet again) face off against Republican Diane Dixon.

And, based upon voting trends and tendencies, odds are strong Foley pulls out the November win and remains on the job.

However …

In the course of her campaign, I was struck by a few things that someone should probably let Foley in on. And I don’t say this to be jerky, but because this is a local political website, and shit matters to me …

First, never, ever, ever, ever, ever talk like this again.

Never, ever, ever …

Why? Multiple reasons. To begin with, it comes off as waaaaaaay too cocky and self-assured. But even more important, the best way to drive supporters to the polls is to stress the exact opposite of confidence: You’re nervous. Diane Dixon has a wildly smooth apparatus working for her. The hard right is throwing millions of dollars into the race. It’s gonna be super tight. I need all of you to not only vote, but tell your friends to vote.

Second, present better.

Foley is, by all accounts, tremendous at her job. She’s a no-brainer, especially against a bougie lightweight like Dixon. But, man, she isn’t the easiest sell. I attended a Katrina Foley event, oh, seven months ago. A lot of people there. Multiple candidates. And after one Democratic colleague wrapped his remarks by encouraging people to donate to his campaign, Foley stressed that her race was more financially pressing and urgent. It was painfully awkward and inappropriate, but sorta Katrina-esque. You don’t walk away from her thinking, “Man, it’d be great to hang.” You walk away thinking, “I mean, I guess so.”

And, to reiterate: Katrina Foley is great at her job. But she’s not smooth, or warm and cuddly. Which you sorta need to be, especially in local races. Hell, you at least need to fake it a bit. Dixon sucks, but she comes off grandmotherly. People love grandmothers.

Third, knives out.

When we get past this crazy season, it’s time to bring out the butcher knives on Dixon. The woman is a warmed-over MAGA puppet; a Will O’Neill fever dream. She’s unaccomplished, hoity, out of touch, lame. One can coast through a primary with, “Hey, I’m grandma! Want a candy?” But now shit gets real.

Now, we have to take it to Diane Dixon.

Katrina Foley—take it to her.

So if you read this site, you likely know of the passing of Jerry Rocha, the comedian/Orange County resident/Truth OC contributor who battled cancer like a champ.

Jerry was a great guy, and equally wonderful is his fiance Andrea, who was by his side every … single … step … of the way.

Anyhow, a Go Fund Me was recently set up by one of Jerry’s close friends. It’s 100-percent legit and warmly intended. This is what he wrote …

The world recently lost one of its most brilliant souls, Jerry Rocha. Jerry passed away on June 3, 2026 after a 5 year battle with stage 4 Colorectal cancer. Jerry waged an epic battle deserving of recognition in the halls of Valhalla or worthy of recognition in the archives of the Jedi Order. The tales of his bravery in the face of an unrelenting enemy will echo through Hyrule, across The Great Sea and live in The Lorule Kingdom for eternity. If you got any of those nerdy references then you truly loved Jerry and the light he brought to this sometimes dark world.

On June 3rd I not only lost my best friend and brother, but more importantly Andrea Lassen lost the love of her life. Andrea over the last 5 years has been Jerry’s real life Guardian Angel. Extending his life countless times by making him go to the doctor instead of brushing off a blocked colon as gas or a blood clot in his neck as a pulled muscle. Without Andrea’s love and care we wouldn’t have had Jerry for as long as we did. Now it’s time to return that favor. Andrea this past January had to leave her job to become a full-time caregiver after Jerry’s health took a turn. With these last 4 months of lost wages, mounting medical bills and after death costs Andrea could really use some Guardian Angels herself.

So I’m asking you to please, if you can, give whatever you can or at least light the Beacons of Gondor and spread the word (if you got that reference then you really got Jerry). I know times are tough and everything costs more, but if you can spare anything it would mean the world to me and help Andrea in this time of need. Also, to quote my late, great best friend, “Don’t Make a Fuck Outta Me” (IYKYK)

If you feel compelled, here’s the link.

No pressure, obviously.

Thanks.

— Jeff Pearlman

Earlier this week I promised I would never again use a certain name on this site. So, in keeping with this promise, I’ll just refer to someone as The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus.

And The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus posted the above video earlier today on The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus’s Facebook page. And it is … eh, wild. Even for The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus.

The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus also wrote this …

estherforcongress: Thank you for saying it. I held my tongue for too long.

Endured too much antisemitism and unfounded accusations coming at me from the far left this past year while running. GLOVES ARE OFF.

FACT : Dems got locked out - and let 2 MAGA extremists into the general in CA40 - because a desperate DSA candidate, Lisa Ramirez, spent 6 months spreading rumors that I had ties to AIPAC. Look at her website — she proudly took the DSA endorsements and told them that “Esther is tied to AIPAC” How ? I don’t take any foreign or corporate interest money.

She told Dem delegates “to look for the Jews on my donor list” as proof. Jew hunting. Can you imagine if it was hunting any other race ?

My husband is Jewish, my kids are Jewish — and she exploited that simple fact to gain an extremist following that boxed the leading Dem out of the primary.

And you know what’s so dumb ? The MAGA I was fighting literally receives millions from AIPAC — and Ken Calvert sits as the chair for arms sales and the Department of War. Now they continue to sit in power.

This isn’t strategy, it’s sabotage.
•••

And … well … eh … um … argh …

I want to acknowledge the uncomfortable elephant in the room: At one point I encouraged people to consider sucking it up and supporting The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus. I thought maybe it was our only hope in the CA-40 congressional race. Which, obviously, was an incorrect take. And a misguided one. For The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus is the political equivalent of an agitated polar bear chewing on crack berries while sniffing its own poop.

I apologize.

Truth be told, with hindsight as my guide, I’d honestly take two more years of Young Kim or Ken Calvert over The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus. Because while we know who they are, The Candidate We’ll Never See Again, Praise Jesus would have been our responsibility; our choice; our representative. And she would have behaved as a weird toddler, showing up in Fox News clips and barking at Sean Hannity’s dog. She’d have been Uncle Bo, the drunk Christmas guest snarling at his nieces and dipping his turkey leg into the wine glass.

It wasn’t worth it.

It just wasn’t.

Jesus Christ. What a country.

This is a story that has nothing to do with local politics, but I want to tell it.

So, last December, I received a DM via Instagram. It was from a comedian I’d never heard of, concerning another comedian I’d never heard of.

This is what it said …

And it turns out Jerry was being treated in Orange County, at City of Hope. So instead of just sending a video message, I asked if, perhaps, I could visit in person.

Which is what I ultimately did.

From jump, Jerry was special. You could see it and feel it. Even ravaged by cancer and largely bedridden, he had a light and a pep. He was funny, interesting, curious. He loved Weird Al and superheroes and the Dallas Cowboys and baseball cards and figurines. He was a brilliant stand-up comedian whose work included this, this and this. My first visit turned to a second, a second to a third, a third to a … I dunno, maybe seventh or eighth. One was at the hospital. Most were at the home of Jerry’s fiance’s parents (the most wonderful people). We texted frequently. Sometimes about cancer. Oftentimes about sports and Trump (who Jerry loathed) and comedy and random stuff …

Jerry asked if he could write something for this website, and three posts followed (here, here and here). I always looked forward to seeing Jerry and Andrea, his fiance. They were a magical couple. He hated that she had to dote on him. Even in the most trying of times, she loved doting on him. They had a banter you had to dig. Fun. Light. Quirky. Lotta reality TV and pop culture and boy band chatter.

•••

The wife and I were scheduled to go to Europe two weeks ago. Before we left, I stopped by to see Jerry. He was in bed—weak, emotional. He reached to shake my hand, told my how much my friendship had meant—“In case I don’t see you again …” We were both choked up. I insisted I would see him again, because I would purchase him a pink beret in Paris, and he needed to be alive to wear it.

I returned home to California on Tuesday. Jet lag hit me hard, and that first night I woke to check my phone. I had wanted to visit Jerry, so I’d texted Andrea to ask when would be a good time.

At 11:11 pm, her reply began with, “Jeff, I’m so sorry for the late text …”

Jerry had passed away.

I am gutted. Truly gutted.

Jerry Rocha wasn’t just a dude to me; some guy who read my books. He was a golden soul with heart, with passion, with kindness, with decency, with empathy, with a light. The outpouring of affection and heartbreak on social media tells the story of a person who was uber loved. Every so often, someone like that enters your universe, and you desperately want them to stick around and make you a better human.

You want them in your life.

Jerry Rocha was 48.

#RIP

•

PS: Jerry gifted me with a pair of New York Jets cards (at one point. I accidentally gave them back and felt like an idiot). They are now framed on my shelf, so that I will look at them and think of the man …

So, with the CA-40 race pretty much a wrap, here’s a final message of kindness, decency, compassion from Esther Kim Varet, Los Angeles’ finest OC savior.

She posted it on her socials …

And here are the things I wanna say:

• 1. This is, without fail and without surprise, the least-classy “I’ve lost” message I’ve ever seen. And it 100 percent meets the standards of the crumb who wrote it. Some people just … suck. They’re entitled and tone-deaf and without a sliver of self-reflection.

• 2. Esther, you were never the best candidate in this race. Only the wealthiest.

• 3. Esther, you inflicted endless cuts upon yourself with your rudeness, your cattiness, your tone-deafness, your arrogance, your impulsiveness. The only reason you gave people to vote your way was money. That’s it—money. Otherwise, you just presented as a unique-level asshole. Which this final post reinforced.

• 4. Esther, calling Lisa the “enemy from within” says it all about you. One. Hundred. Percent.

• 5. Esther, nobody liked you. Which is remarkable. Nobody. Liked. You. And, initially, I thought, “It’s a matter of messaging. That can be fixed.” Nope. Nobody liked you because you’re not likable. You’re the mean kid in school. The bully. The child who shows up in Dior sneakers and mocks those wearing Keds. You didn’t lose because other candidates took out your knees. You lost because you took out your own knees. You behaved as if all of this was beneath you; as if this election should have been handed to you; as if we were fortunate to have you.

• 6. Esther, do you at all find it curious that—despite spending roughly four times the amount of money—you barely finished ahead of Lisa? Isn’t that a bit strange? A tiny bit weird. Maybe, just maybe, if winning was THE thing, you’d have donated all your funds to Lisa’s campaign and stepped out of the way.

• 7. Esther, it’s time to return to LA. Your political standing here is zero. Less than zero. It’s over. I hope one day, maybe decades from now, you’ll muster up enough introspection to look in the mirror and understand what happened; why this happened. Regional political candidates don’t necessarily have to be humble, but they do need to at least present humility.

• 8. Esther, how many campaign managers did you run through? Was it four, five or six? I lost count.

• 9. Esther, how many social media randos did you attack? Was it 50, 60 or 100? I also lost count.

• 10. Lisa Ramirez, keep your head up. You ran a noble campaign. When I mentioned you last night at a meeting in Irvine, people applauded. Literally applauded. You put up a good fight as an underdog, and you have a future in this business. Be proud.

• 11. Esther, good news. This is the last time your name will ever appear on this site. You’re cold product. You’re Vanilla Ice at the Freedom Concert. You’re the Alf puppet.

Don’t let the door hit you …

It’s just been hijacked by assholes.

Here’s Chris’ website in his run for Assembly. If you have some spare bucks, he’s a most worthy dude.

So one of our turf’s most interesting races is State Assembly District 72, which involves former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe and a Huntington Beach City Council member who is 17 bricks shy of a load.

That would be Gracey Van Der Mark, aka one of America’s few Latinas to also go to bat for QAnon. And, in her time on the HB City Council, Gracey has supported book banning, MAGA plaques, corruption, cruelty and remarkable ineptitude. She is as Trumpy and Trump gets, but also incompetent with a capital V.

Put differently …

As I write this, it appears likely Kluwe and Kooky will be battling it out in November …

And while I am thrilled for Chris, I think it’s important for Democrats (and other reasonable people) to really get involved here. Chris is, truly, a great dude. Smart, intellectual, overflowing with decency, integrity. He’s the rare NFL vet who doesn’t like talking about the NFL. He’s much more into issues, solutions.

But, to win the general, he’s going to need three things:

1. A huge turnout.

2. To take some of Harper’s 17 percent.

3. To make people aware of Gracey’s awfulness.

It won’t be easy. But it’s possible.

And important.

So it’s plenty clear that Ken Calvert will walk away with the CA-40 primary, then enter the general as a huge favorite over Young Kim. Hell, I wouldn’t be 100 percent shocked if the state GOP urges Young Kim to drop out, endorse Calvert and save the party a bloodbath. But … what do I know?

Anyhow, with results pretty much in, here’s my list of Winners and Losers.

WINNER:

Ken Calvert: Look, I don’t like the dude. But he won in a landslide and he’ll likely cruise to a fairly easy November triumph. Truth is, the 40th (Young Kim’s old district) is far more 41st than 40th after Prop 50. So while Calvert winning isn’t surprising, I’m a little shocked by the margin …

LOSER:

Young Kim: I actually feel badly for her, because—politics be damned, and inconsistencies be damned, and MAGA pandering be damned—she’s genuinely thought of as a kind and decent sort. So to have it all come crashing down like this … I dunno. Sorta sucks. Also, Young Kim was very hard to paint as a villain. She just didn’t have that Dr. Doom thing in her.

WINNER:

Lisa Ramirez: She entered late, she didn’t have a ton of money or name recognition—and she’s not all that far behind Esther Kim-Varet. Most of all, Lisa walks away from this campaign genuinely liked and respected, and I suspect she’ll have a lot of party support should she run for another office. On a personal note, I very much admired her engagement skills. Lisa’s a real one.

LOSER:

Joe Kerr: Certainly not the way he wanted to go out. Joe was the Democratic candidate two years ago, and now he’s the Chris Kirkpatrick of this election. That said, I do believe he’d be an outstanding member of a city council or safety board. Sincerely.

WINNER:

Esther Kim Varet and Family: I joked with someone—have the Varets moved back to LA yet, or will it be next week? Now Esther is free to return to the big city, free to roam the streets and talk art, free to be with her people and complain about all the chain restaurants “down there.” Honestly, I just never got the feeling she felt like OC was her place; her peeps. So, now she can go home and be happy.

LOSER:

Jeff Pearlman: Multiple reasons. First, what am I going to do with my free time? Second, my coverage of this race—while well-intended—was pretty erratic. I’m new to political writing. It’s not sports. It takes more of a longer view. You learn.

WINNER:

Perry Meade: Candidate early on, wise enough to ditch this train. The kid has a super bright future in politics, should he aspire toward it.

LOSER:

Nina Linh: The most … befuddling candidate. I don’t think I ever saw her not look down at her notes. Will wrap this circus with less than 2,000 votes. Making her Chris Kirkpatrick’s stunt double, Biff.

WINNER:

Handel’s: The finest ice cream spot in Orange County no longer has to compete.

LOSER:

Esther Kim Varet’s “No ICE” Ice Cream Truck: Bruh had a glorious run.

I am sure the DM will come.

Maybe from Esther Kim Varet, maybe from her husband, maybe from a cousin or uncle or dog. Maybe from her third campaign manager, or her fourth, or fifth. Or is it sixth?

Whatever the case, it will come.

“You caused this to happen …”

She will be referring to this website, and her underwhelming showing in the CA-40 congressional race, which—as of this moment—has her a distant third to the two (inevitable) Republicans, Ken Calvert and Young Kim …

Esther, as y’all know by now, moved here from Los Angeles to save our souls. A Los Angeles art dealer and gallerist, she literally relocated her family to Orange County to become a member of Congress. She spent money, hired staffers, rented an ice cream truck, plastered her name all over the place. But she also, from Day 1, offended the living fuck out of people with arrogance, condescension, rudeness. She labeled herself an “apex predator,” dumped on her Democratic opponents, made enemies like Louisville Slugger makes bats. She and her crew responded to pretty much everyone who criticized her—but never with, “I admire your opinion, even if we disagree,” and usually with some sort of insult, or block, or smackdown.

And here’s the crazy part.

The crazy, crazy, crazy part.

Esther Kim Varet spent millions on this race. Lisa Ramirez, the warm immigration attorney, spent, oh, $300,000. And, as we speak, Esther is barely beating her. Like, b-a-r-e-l-y.

So what does it all mean?

• 1. A Democrat was never, ever, ever going to win this seat. Never. The rejiggered-under-Prop 50 40th is mostly Calvert’s old district (the 41st), and Calvert (pardon me as I vomit in my mouth) is popular there. The 40th is also plus-nine Republican—which is a far cry from, oh, plus-six or plus-seven. It is a district the Democratic Party knew it could not capture. In many ways, it was designed for them to lose. Even if a singular Democratic emerged from the primary, they would be roadkill for Calvert.

• 2. Young Kim will advance to the general, but she knows (and Calvert certainly knows) she’s squirrel stew. The good news: The two Republicans will spend millions bashing one another and tarnishing their brands. The bad news: As shitty as Young Kim can be, she’s moderate compared to the Ted Cruz-ish Calvert, a culture warrior douche with a love of MAGA. Oh, well.

• 3. This probably feels like a loss for Lisa Ramirez, but it’s not. Again—she was not going to win this election. But she performed extremely well, considering the limited dough and late entry. As a political insider said to me this morning, “If she were smart, she’d jump into a local race this November. Community college board, city council, fucking water board. Anything to get started.” I agree. I believe, truly, Lisa can be a political star. Her resume, her disposition, etc. This was a really good jumping off point for her.

• 4. I’ll miss Joe Kerr. I don’t care what anyone says, I believe he’s a good dude. And Esther’s efforts to have him remove RETIRED FIREFIGHTER from his ballot ID was just stupid, petty JV-level nonsense. I believe, ultimately, Joe thought he’d be good at this job. Which matters.

• 5. Am I alone in never before hearing of Claude Keissieh? Who has—a website?

• 6. Like many of you, I’m learning as I go along. The CA-40 was confusing from jump. The race began before Prop 50, changed 100 ways, had candidates come and go, arrive and depart, rise and fall. Remember Paula Swift? Remember Christina Gagnier? Remember Perry Meade? Remember Butch Huskey? Where have they all gone? What have they all become? I initially got sucked into the idea that a Dem might win, then realized it was silly, then got sucked in again, then realized it was silly, then …

California politics are strange.

• 7. In all seriousness, running for office sucks. I’ve witnessed it up close. The banal conversations, the ceaseless handshakes, the introductions to people you’ll never remember, the money requests. It’s thankless, tiring, emotionally draining.

So, props to those who tried in CA-40.

There’s always 2028.

Even in these crazed days, it’s easy to take voting for granted.

What I mean is, it’s easy to get sloppy, lazy, complacent. It’s fairly common for folks to forget to cast a ballot, then say, “Eh, next time” or “Well, it doesn’t really matter.” It’s common to feel frustrated and marginalized. To look at someone like Donald Trump and figure, “It’s all bullshit anyhow. So why bother?”

It’s easy.

•••

Earlier today, I finished the book, “Robert Kennedy: A Memoir,” written in 1969 by Jack Newfield. I’d purchased the text years ago at an estate sale for the low, low price of 50 cents, and only recently thought to pick it up and read.

And—holy shit. What a brilliant work.

Nearly 58 years since his murder, it’s easy to think of RFK in simple terms: Brother of JFK. Former attorney general. Former senator. Presidential candidate. Shot to death by Sirhan Sirhan. Father of a crazy-ass son.

But, truth be told, RFK was far more than the Wikipedia talking points. He was a man who, in his bones, both loved America and believed in its promise. When, in 1968, he went against the grain to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, he did so not because he aspired to glory or even dreamed of the position. No. RFK ran because he looked at the Vietnam War and couldn’t keep watching the caskets return home. He looked at the inner cities and couldn’t digest the poverty, the hopelessness. He looked at the Mexican farm laborers and couldn’t stomach their suffering, their abuse. He looked at Lyndon Johnson and saw fecklessness, indifference.

So he ran—and, while crisscrossing America, the one thing Robert Kennedy did was beg people to vote. He begged white people to vote and Black people to vote and Latinos to vote. He begged the young to vote and the old to vote. He repeatedly insisted it was a civic responsibility; a key to righteous citizenship. And this wasn’t just a talking point for the man. RFK wanted folks to vote—even if they voted for his rival, Eugene McCarthy. He also saw mass voting numbers as a way to batter the party insiders who resented his candidacy. They might have had the megaphone and spotlight—but they didn’t have the voting numbers.

•••

I bring this all up because tomorrow, June 2, is primary day in California.

And maybe you’re tired.

And maybe you’re lazy.

And maybe you don’t particularly care whether Spencer Pratt winds up LA’s next mayor, or Young Kim continues as the CA-40 rep. Maybe you’re fed up and indifferent and desperate for a nap.

If so, take a moment and think of how much this day would have meant to Robert F. Kennedy. Think about what he would say were he alive and well.

Then vote.

•••

PS: This is amazing.

We are two days away from the end of voting for the CA-40 primary.

I am so fucking relieved.

Just being blunt and honest, I hate this race in the way I hate oral herpes, three-legged cats, moldy olives, the mid-1980s music of Steve Winwood, my mom’s homemade pizza, the kid who punched me in seventh grade, potholes, nose pimples, barbed wire tattoos, “Rocky V” and J.D. Vance’s beard.

I hate it.

And over the past couple of days, that hatred has only inflamed itself, like a pyromaniac hosting a fireworks display. I have been in contact with the campaigns and/or representatives and/or boosters of all three Democrats (Lisa Ramirez, Joe Kerr, Esther Kim Varet), each squad looking to up their odds of somehow placing Top 2 in a race that includes a pair of incumbent Republicans (Young Kim and Ken Calvert) who are overflowing with dough and name recognition in a plus-9 GOP district (rejiggered via Prop 50).

So—for the final time—let’s discuss …

First, I need to say this: Don’t hate me. Seriously, don’t hate me. I’ve received plenty of scorn these past bunch o’ days, and, well, literally any of y’all could have started your own free political substacks and wallowed in this hellscape. I began The Truth OC because I was horrified by the lack of local political coverage. If you don’t like my takes—fine. But I’m trying my absolute best, and the ol’ “If you really love democracy, you’ll support [Blank]” and “If you’re genuine, you’ll admit you were wrong about [Blank]” is bullshit. We exist in a medium of emotions. Don’t let yours go off the tracks by solely blaming the messenger.

Also, post-results, do NOT damn me for your preferred candidate not winning. Orange County is enormous. The 40th is enormous. The odds X candidate triumphs or Y candidate fails because the sentiments of a hack sportswriter—fairly low.

Second, many people (affiliated with rival-Esther campaigns and unaffiliated with rival-Esther campaigns) recently directed me toward POPULAR INFORMATION, a substack operated by the terrific Judd Legum. And in his newest post, headlined, TWO ‘“PROGRESSIVE” SUPER PACS LINKED TO HOUSE GOP, Judd delves into a super PAC, “California Blue,” that passes itself off as liberal and pro-Democrat, but—beneath the underbelly—appears to try and muck up our side of the aisle.

Writes Judd:

Here is the pro-Esther California Blue advertisement …

And it gets even stranger …

Inevitably, this release—sent to me via Jerica Acero, Joe Kerr’s campaign manager, followed …

And …

And …

And …

Glub.

Here is what I believe, based upon my time writing about these races and insights from folks I trust:

• 1. The last thing the Republican Party wants is a general election campaign between Young Kim and Ken Calvert. Why? Because it’ll pit two comparable candidates unloading gobs and gobs and gobs of money on savaging one another. Millions upon millions upon millions of dollars will be spent—money that, with a singular Republican running, could be directed toward other campaigns/races. Truly, Kim v. Calvert is a GOP nightmare. Yeah, a Republican would win. But the financial drainage (especially in a rough year for the party) would be nothing short of crippling.

• 2. Ken Calvert may well be the most sad and pathetic sack of lard I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen many sad and pathetic sacks of lard …

• 3. Republican operatives have been playing the Esther Kim Varet campaign for a good while now. They’ve issued releases to boost her status; they’ve discussed how afraid they are of her; they’ve literally donated money. Why? Well, first, (again) the GOP doesn’t want two Republicans in the general. Second, Esther is (it seems) the only Democrat who can crack the Top 2. Third, she’s not a real win-the-general-election threat. I know that’s a bummer, but it’s true. She’s way too undisciplined and haphazard to upset seasoned pols in a district that already favors their success.

• 4. The DCCC isn’t putting money into this race. No chance. This has been chalked up as a lost cause, mainly because it’s plus-nine Republican turf. And while the national headwinds are certainly against the GOP, they’re not that against the GOP. Not here—in a crafted-for-the-Republicans district.

• 5. I’ve written this repeatedly, and if I’m wrong I’ll move to Guam and change my name to Steffi Graf. But while both Lisa Ramirez and Joe Kerr are good people, they don’t have the financial resources to compete. Even if they somehow place in the Top 2 (which I don’t see as a realistic possibility), both Kim and Calvert would stomp them like grapes. It sucks, but this shit takes LOTS of money. Millions of dollars. They don’t have it.

• 6. Esther Kim Varet has the best odds of (a Dem) reaching the general election. Whether that’s because she’s been boosted by duplicitous Republicans or not—it’s true. Hell, I’d argue she’s the only Democrat who can even possibly reach the general. And this leads to a legitimately intriguing/skull-splitting question: Do you support the Democrat you don’t like, who’s being propped by Republicans, who probably is the only member of the party who even has a puncher’s chance—or do you not? I’ve met many Democrats who simply can’t stomach Esther, and would rather vote Lisa or Joe and wind up (in all probability) with Calvert or Young Kim. Which I completely understand. I haven’t been shy in expressing my feelings about Esther as a political candidate (I’m not a big fan). She’s run the … strangest campaign I’ve ever seen. No close second.

• 7. Throughout this race, I’ve oftentimes found myself regretting ever trying to cover it. Politics suck. They’re ugly and gross and sorta sad. They cost so much money—and for what? A two-year position that results in the winner immediately fundraising for the next campaign.

Also, there’s a ton of ego. I’m a Lisa Ramirez admirer—but why not run for city council, or water board, or school board? Also, why was her campaign still holding fundraisers within a week of Election Day? Literally, she had one on May 31. Why? What for? Now is the time for door knocking, phone banking. New dough is—at this juncture—completely useless. There’s no time left to spend it. And asking people to give (past a point when it can be utilized) is kinda odd.

The same general befuddlement goes for Joe Kerr. Lovely dude. Firefighter cred. Best handshake you’ll ever experience. But there are so many smaller gigs that need Democrats.

And Esther—who literally moved from Los Angeles to run for congress. What has this all been for? I know you hate Trump. We all do. But … I dunno. I’ve never fully understood this whole circus.

• 8. Ultimately, you—dear reader—should vote your conscience. If I made one big mistake on this site, it came in a recent post when I urged voting for Esther. Honestly, do you. If you think Esther is the best choice, support her. If you can’t stomach her, don’t. If you’re hoping for a Lisa or Joe miracle, roll with it. Hell, if you’re a Trump-loving conservative, pick Calvert or Young Kim.

There are m-a-n-y Orange County Democrats (quietly) hoping for Calvert and Young Kim to top the primary, have at it and spend like Dennis Rodman at a mid-90s strip club.

Are those impulses wrong? Right? I honestly don’t know.

You’ll hear from me when we know the CA-40 results. But until then—peace.

I need a long-ass nap.

Back when I was a high school senior, I was a tri-captain of the Mahopac Indians’ cross country team. We’d travel to all of our away meets via bus—meaning we’d head off to Carmel, to Brewster, to Peekskill, to White Plains. And in the lord’s year of 1989, that means we would play one song over and over and over.

“Bust a Move” by Young MC.

It was the jam. Our jam. The song that motivated us, inspired us, kept us loose. All these decades later, I know every single word, note, pause. I friggin’ love “Bust a Move.”

Of course, time passes. And through the years, Young MC somewhat faded into the abyss; a rapper who, with age, became more novelty than fresh face. There’s a scene in the George Clooney film, “Up In the Air,” that shows Young MC headlining a corporate convention in a hotel lobby, busting out “Bust a Move” to 100 or so attendees wearing lanyards and khakis. That felt on point.

But then …

Earlier this week, Young MC did something far more important than a song, an album, a tour. He became one of the first artists to pull out of the Washington, DC-based “Freedom 250: The Great American State Fair,” a June 26 event he initially believed to be a celebration of America, but one that he came to learn was organized and controlled by (blech) Donald Trump. As an ode to (blech) Donald Trump.

And I’m sure Young MC could have used the dough. And the attention. After all, hip-hop isn’t the landscape of 59-year olds. But instead, he chose righteousness and integrity. “I had no clue it was considered a ‘Trump-backed’ event, so that was new to me,” he told Rolling Stone. “My whole thing was ‘tell me what the event is, what it’s about, who you are, and then give me the choice of whether I want to do the event or not.’ I was never given that choice. I was told one thing and then it was a bait-and-switch.”

So what happened next? What followed?

Well, this …

Bret Michaels dropped out.

Martina McBride dropped out.

Morris Day dropped out.

C+C Music Factory dropped out.

One artist after another artist after another artist dropped out, until Trump—a loser of losers—posted this …

And while his words are the blatherings of a fool, they’re also reminder No. 654,321 that there is no loyalty when it comes to the president. These “third rate” artists weren’t third rate when they were invited—only when they backed out.

Only when they dared to bust a move.

PS: Young MC’s last release was a 2024 song called “Loose.” This is the Apple Music link. Let’s all support the dude and download it.

There’s a race going on for the County Superior Court Judge gig (Office No. 41), and it features a little shell of a man who deserves to be a judge the way I deserve to lead the Society to End Profanity.

The shell of a man is named Charles Pell. And if you just scan his resume, you’d be inclined to think, “Oh, not a bad dude.” Pell is a Navy veteran, a former federal prosecutor, a USC Law grad and a father to this little guy …

Again, not bad.

But then, two months ago, Pell did something so, so, so, so disturbing and so, so, so, so nasty that it eliminates the military experience, the USC time, the cute kid. In his race for the judge gig, he filed a lawsuit against the Orange County Registrar of Voters, demanding his incumbent opponent appear on the ballot by her full name (Ami Sheth Sagel), as opposed to her listed name (Ami S. Sagel). And why, oh, why, would Charles Pell do such a thing? Like, why would he care what name Sagel goes by? Why would it worry him? Concern him? Consume him?

Easy: Xenophobia.

“Sheth,” Sagel has explained, is of Indian origin because (gasp) her parents are (gasp) Indian. And, because we’re living in the hellscape of 2026, when Ethiopians need to go back to their shit-hole country and brown people are being held in detention camps and white South Africans are greeted with open arms and the president can spew racist garbage without much backlash, Pell likely figured these things (Sheth!) matter. Remind Orange County’s majority white voters that Sagel is really Sheth, then pull the electoral upset …

And the weird part? Like, the weirdest part? Pell’s partner is Latina. His biological son is of mixed heritage. Which matters, quite literally, 0%. Hell, I actually think it’s cool. I love diversity. I love embracing cultures. I love compassion, empathy, kindness.

One might think Charles Pell would, too.

Of course, the lawsuit went nowhere. Wilfred J. Schneider Jr., a San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge, denied all four claims in a writ petition seeking to compel the Orange County Registrar of Voters to change Sagel’s ballot name and revise her candidate statement. And Pell has spent the last two months insisting he wasn’t being a jerk; just sticking to the rules and blah blah blah.

Not the behavior we’d like in a judge.

Or a human.

Because .000001 percent of local residents follow these things, I am using this space to let you know that Orange County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector is a woman named Shari (The Key Tosser) Freidenrich.

The Key Tosser has been on the job since 2010. She is responsible for overseeing our county’s $15 billion investment pool. She is one of three trustees handling the county’s near-$25 billion employment retirement system. She is a CPA who graduated from Washington State and is a past president of the Rotary Club of Huntington Beach. She loves scarves, pearls and berating underlings.

With the primary a couple of days away, there are four things you need to know about The Key Tosser:

• 1. Voting to re-elect Shari Freidenrich is a huge mistake.

• 2. The Key Tosser recently bragged about appearing with these losers (Tony Strickland? Really?) at this Loser-a-Thon (Four words: HOT. RODS. AND. HANDGUNS.) …

• 3. Earlier this year, according to multiple reports, The Key Tosser attempted to fire her top deputy, Dana Schultz, mere days after Schultz filed papers to run against her in our ongoing elections. Which is either (a) Horribly unethical. (b) Illegal or ( c) Both. Wrote Noah Biesiada of the Voice OC: “While Freidenrich is one of the few independently elected department heads at the county, the county HR department and legal team ultimately intervened to stop Schultz’s firing, despite the fact that Freidenrich said Schultz is an at-will employee.”

• 4. The Key Tosser so damn good at her job that—due to ineptitude and/or lack of trust—the Orange County Board of Supervisors voted to transfer the investment division’s personnel and functions from the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s office to the County Executive Office [aka: Freidenrich was stripped of her primary responsibility]. This, from an April 14, 2026 OC Register piece: “According to a 2022 independent investigation, Freidenrich threw office keys at one employee, which violated workplace violence policies, and threateningly pointed her finger at another’s face. County officials also said Freidenrich’s management of the treasurer’s office led to delays in issuing refunds to schools, filing tax liens and cashing property tax checks, which resulted in incorrect late fees and penalties for taxpayers. Former administrators of Freidenrich’s office have said that her investments were too conservative and failed to generate adequate returns.” [You can read more about her at this handy dandy website]

• 5. (Bonus)—Politics be damned, she’s profoundly bad at her job.

•••

Again, I am aware the Treasurer-Tax Collector race is probably the 800th thing you’re thinking about right now, well after this, this, this, this and this. And this and this. And, oh, this. But it’s a profoundly impactful gif, and if you have yet to vote, make sure Shari Freidenrich is a hard no and Dana Schultz is an easy, easy, easy yes.

If nothing else, it’ll save the keys from future damage.

In case you’re not following the upcoming Los Angeles mayoral primary, well, it’s quite the little shit show …

The top two vote getters will advance to the general election in November, making it a coin flip between Karen Bass, the (fairly unpopular) Democratic incumbent, Nithya Raman, a Democratic city council member and activist, and Spencer Pratt, the destructive MAGA idiot best known for, well, this sorta shit …

Wait. One more. There is also Rae Chen Huang, a senior organizer at Housing Now! CA and community organizer.

Ah, Rae Chen Huang …

Against all odds and logic, the little-known Huang is polling at 9 percent, which means she simultaneously has no shot at winning but a solid shot at being the person who propels the legitimately dangerous Pratt toward the general. You see, without Rae Chen Huang in the race, those nine percent votes go almost entirely to either Bass or Raman—all but guaranteeing the general election involves two sane, reasonable public servants who can battle over real issues.

So why won’t Rae Chen Huang, who—again—has 0.00% chance of victory—step aside?

Answer: Ego.

Ego.

Ego.

Ego.

Ego.

Seriously, this kind of shit drives me to drink. You entered the race—great! You put up a fantastic fight—great! You emerged as a potential future star—great! You have enough swagger that the winner might listen to you—great! But what are you accomplishing at this point? What are you adding, besides a boost to Pratt’s odds?

I don’t discuss this much, but once upon a time—nearly two decades ago—I ran for city council in my old hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y. It was a long-shot bid, but I just didn’t love everything the leading Democrat stood for. As the days passed, however, and it was clear my run was toast, I backed out and endorsed Barry Fertel, who wound up winning and doing an excellent job. Simply put, I wanted to help avoid a Pratt-like nightmare. I took the bullet.

Politics are not pretty. They’re petty, sad, gross, dispiriting. Like the 1996 New York Jets, things generally don’t go your way. You lose more than you win; fall more than you sprint.

But, ultimately, they should be about the greater good.

Not about ego.

So, in California politics, few things fascinate me more than the CA-40 congressional race. Not Spencer Pratt—who sucks. Not Steve Hilton, who also sucks. Not the ensuing Chris Kluwe-Gracey Van Der Mark royal rumble.

Nope, I’m all CA-40.

Why? Because there are so many riveting possible outcomes, and each one tells us something funky, unique, revealing, (possibly) dispiriting.

Now, as you surely know, CA-40 is a rejiggered post-Prop 50 district, and what was once something of a political tossup is now, oh, +9 Republican. Meaning: A. It’ll be very tough for a Democrat to take; B. The DCCC won’t be funneling money this way.

As we speak, there are five primary candidates. You have the incumbent, the socially likeable-yet-politically-soulless Republican Young Kim, who has incumbency in her favor. You have Ken Calvert, Kim’s fellow Republican who was the 41st congressman until his district was fed to the llamas. You have Democrat Esther Kim Varet, the straight-outta-LA art guru. You have Democrat Lisa Ramirez, an immigration attorney who performs very well in public events. And you have Joe Kerr, who lost to Young Kim in the last election and spent much of his career as a firefighter.

And, again, there are soooooo many different potential outcomes. So I’m gonna use my experience and knowledge and Brad Pitt looks to offer the most likely scenarios, in order …

1. Calvert and Esther wind up in the general: So I’m certainly not particularly confident with this stab, but hear a brother out: Calvert and Young Kim have devoted the past several months to gouging one another’s eyes out. It’s turned into a MAGA Battle Royale of I WILL PEE ON THE PRESIDENT’S LEG TO SHOW I LOVE HIM v. I WILL POOP ON THE PRESIDENT’S BED TO SHOW I LOVE HIM. I mean, it’s sooooooo embarrassing—especially for Young Kim, a not-long-ago somewhat moderate politician who has stooped to Calvert’s low level.

   But the thing is, Donald Trump is not popular right now. Like, yes, the MAGA assholes love him. But no one else does. And I do believe both Calvert and Young Kim have overplayed their hands on this one—and one of them potentially won’t last. Calvert has more money than Young Kim, and he’s been around since the Tyler Administration. So that gets him the edge.

   As for Esther—fuck, I don’t even know how to explain this one. Early in my career, a media critic in Nashville wrote of me, “If there is one cow pie in a field, The Tennessean’s Jeff Pearlman will step in it.” I feel the same way about Esther, a boastful political novice with more swagger than experience. But … she has money. And a recent (reliable) pollster had her in the mix. And what displeases political insiders doesn’t necessarily reach the general public.

   

2. Calvert and Young Kim wind up in the general: I mean, it’s not an unlikely outcome. And if you enjoy videos like this, Calvert-Young Kim should be your jam.

   Here’s the truth, and I know I’ll catch some shit for it: Young Kim’s strength is her warmth. Like, nobody hates her personally. But Calvert, by all accounts, is just a dickhead. So, if this comes down, I’ll pull for Young Kim. With my nose held.

   

3. Young Kim or Calvert wind up facing Joe Kerr: Bluntly, I don’t see it. Kerr is a good dude. Seriously, I have nary a bad word for him. I respect him, admire him, would love him as my rep. But it’s kinda like the time Hall & Oates reunited to release the “Marigold Sky” album in 1997. The general take from the critics: Not awful, but the period has kind of passed. I’m pretty sure the general Kerr consensus is: The period has kind of passed.

   Also, Joe just doesn’t have the money. And as much as it sucks, these things cost lots of money.

   

4. Young Kim or Calvert wind up facing Lisa Ramirez: As I’ve stated, Lisa would be my preferred candidate. I dig her message, dig her experience, dig her flow.

   She’s the Nas of this race.

   However, she’s the 1992 Nas—two years before “Illmatic” dropped and changed music. Again, I know I’ll get plastered for this, but her campaign just hasn’t taken off. You can see it financially, you can see it name-recognition wise. She entered a bit late, missed the early debates, hasn’t landed the Tyson-esque body blows an upstart needs.

   How to explain it best? In politics, there are two universes. Universe 1 is people (like me) who pay attention from jump, and know the highs, the lows, the lefts, the rights. We know who Perry Meade is, who Nina Linh is. We can tell you about Esther’s missteps, about Joe’s history. On and on. But Universe 1 is occupied by, oh, 6 percent of the population. Universe 2, on the other hand, is the dude who skips the local candidate forum (even though it’s 50 feet away at his nearby church) to watch Jets-Packers on a Thursday night. It’s the people who know TRUMP, VANCE, NEWSOM, and maybe PRATT (from old reality TV). Those folks fill out a ballot either based on gut, party ID or a friend’s suggestion. They’re the vast majority.

   And while it’s dispiriting, very few of those folks know Lisa Ramirez exists.

   They just don’t. Sigh.

•••

In conclusion: Who the hell knows? If Esther somehow makes the general, she’d be wise to stop responding to every negative Instagram post. If Calvert and Young Kim make the general, we can all take a nap and watch this lovely scene from the “Happy Days” finale. And if Joe or Lisa make the general, they can drive by my house, blasting a track off of “Marigold Sky” while flashing the middle finger toward my bedroom window.

It’d be appropriate.