Van Tran

A Gay Republican Elected Official Finally Comes Out to OC!

One of the great parlour games in Orange County politico circles is trying to figure out which local Republican bigwigs are closeted homosexuals, which ones have a beard, which ones are brave enough to make appearances at the LA/OC Jacks, and which ones were arrested in a Laguna Beach bar raid durin ... More >>

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to Tie the Knot in Private Ceremony Tomorrow

​Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is getting' hitched in Santa Ana on Saturday.​Who's the lucky dude? Attorney, lobbyist and retired Army Col. Jack Einwechter.The OC Register's political reporter Martin Wisckol reports that the press was not invited. (Way to crush the dreams of every newspaperman i ... More >>

Little Saigon Might Be Lumped With, Dominated By Long Beach In New Congressional Redistricting Plan

​In the ongoing struggle over which congressional district to put Little Saigon in, the latest proposal may end up lumping it in with Long Beach. The OC Register's political reporter Martin Wisckol reports that the recently revealed map puts Little Saigon and other parts of Orange County in a ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Defends Obama Attack on GOP Budget Plan

Obama finally gets Sanchez backing​Appearing this afternoon on MSNBC, Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez defended President Barack Obama's morning speech declaring that he will not allow Republicans to continue to force the poor and middle class to pay for massive tax cuts for the rich.In ... More >>

Scott Baugh Gets Re-elected as Chair of OC Republican Party--Surprise, Surprise

​In the most anticlimactic vote in Orange County politics since Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez whupped challenger Van Tran, Scott Baugh easily beat opponent Tim Whitacre to retain his position as head of the Republican Party of Orange County.Much hay was made in the media--including in your humble ... More >>

The Top 2010 OC Story That Didn't Make the Register's Year-End List

​Veteran Orange County Register reporter Martin Wisckol has named his "Top 10" political events of 2010.It's a thorough list, except for one thing: it omitted arguably the top local political story of the year.Oops.

Loretta Sanchez Makes PR Blunder List in Sex Escort Case

​As Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez's Republican general election opponent, Van Tran repeatedly portrayed the veteran Anaheim Democrat as an odorous floozy.And sure enough: Fineman PR, a San Francisco-based public relations firm, has included Sanchez in its 16th annual Top 10 PR Blunders List.The bl ... More >>

Election 2010: Moxley Watches The OC Republicans

Jonathan Ho / OC WeeklyTran: Not time to concede. ​1:00 a.m.: Van Tran Remains HopefulInside the converted Garden Grove Blockbuster store, Van Tran continues to hold onto his dream of defeating Loretta Sanchez. Tran is trailing by more than 5,000 votes--and the gap seems to be getting larger. But ... More >>

Election 2010: Gustavo Drinks Through the Election, Or: Trashing the Dems and Bashing Whitman

​Updated throughout the day, with the freshest post on top. Click after the jump for vignettes on Barbara Coe, Loretta Sanchez, Meg Whitman, and Borat!Midnight. Drink of choice: Alka-Seltzer...my pockets hurt. Loretta Sanchez has pulled away by thousands of votes, but we'll wait until the official ... More >>

[UPDATED:] Election 2010: Coker is Spun, Polled, Teabagged

​1:28 p.m.: Orange County agreed with state voters on most ballot initiatives, although more of us did want to keep choking on polluted air until the unemployment rate drops and most like the state budget approval process to remain fucked-up, thank you very much (probably because many are philosop ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

New York Times Data: OC Elections Aren't Really Contests

Ed Royce: Shoo-in elections are fun.​Do we have real congressional election contests in the Orange County/Long Beach area or, despite all the hullabaloo, is the whole affair preordained?Data from The New York Times, based on FiveThirtyEight Forecasts, shows the answer isn't necessarily uplifting. ... More >>

Sarah Palin Excites Orange County Republicans For Van Tran

Palin visited OC on Saturday​Orange County has an endless supply of ironies.Friday, ex-President Bill Clinton held a pep rally for Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in Santa Ana.Yesterday, Sarah Palin--a Fox News contributor and likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate--participated in ... More >>

OC Register Botches Rudy Giuliani Appearance for Van Tran

Giuliani backs Van Tran​I'm one of the folks who thinks the Orange County Register has gotten better in recent years--more willing to go after once sacred cows. I especially like the work of the paper's OC Watchdog section. They've routinely done fantastic work.And then a Reg story pops up that re ... More >>

Scott Baugh's Big, No-Bid County Lobbying Deal

[Moxley Confidential] More than $1,000 per day? What?

Protest Planned For Candidate Excluded From Sanchez-Tran Debate

What's she trying to say?​Nowadays, even arranging a debate involving Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez is controversial.Orange Juice blog is reporting that "supporters of independent congressional candidate Cecilia Iglesias are up in arms" about KOCE-TV's decision to exclude Iglesias from next week's ... More >>

Five Things the National Media Should Note About Loretta Sanchez in their Parachute Profiles of the Sanchez-Tran Congressional Race

​The national media is starting to send its reporters to our sordid little burb, specifically the 47th Congressional District, where incumbent Loretta Sanchez is facing her first true challenger ever in State Assemblymember Van Tran. Politico did an okay job; the Los Angeles Times published a retr ... More >>

Sarah Palin, Mama Grizzlies to Infest Anaheim

​A day after surviving a swarm of Secret Service agents, central Orange County will withstand an infestation of mama grizzlies.Mox just told you about Bill Clinton attending a campaign rally for Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) in Santa Ana on Friday, Oct. 15. Sarah Pa ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Hits Hardball, Slams CA Insurance Companies

Tough luck, kid.​Despite President Barack Obama's heathcare reform laws, California insurance companies are balking about offering policies to children with pre-existing conditions.That obstinance today drove Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to Hardball on MSNBC where she said Democrats ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Loretta Sanchez and Hugh Hefner--Together, At Last. Again.

​U.S. News and World Report (they still exist) reported yesterday on a manufactured controversy by the Republican Party against their eternal llorona, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez. Seems Playboy founder and publisher Hugh Hefner tweeted earlier this week that he was having lunch with Loretta at t ... More >>

Barney Frank Rallies Dems for Loretta Sanchez

[Moxley Confidential] Does she really need his help?

Sunday News Notes: Todd Spitzer Out! Barney Frank In! Van Tran Confused!

Palace intrigue erupts in 401​Highlights from the local media today include: Susan Kang Schroeder Announces She'll Be DAOkay, okay. I'm kidding. So the real news isn't that dramatic, but there's nevertheless been a major development in Orange County's criminal justice system. Former state ass ... More >>

Governor Loretta Sanchez?

Is Sacramento ready for Loretta?​Never underestimate Loretta Sanchez.Yesterday, the Sacramento Bee reported that the veteran Orange County congresswoman opened a bank account for a 2014 campaign to become California's governor.But is Sanchez, OC's lone congressional Democrat, serious about a race ... More >>

Has Loretta Sanchez Created a "Big Bugaboo" in Vietnam?

Protected worker?​A highly successful American businessman who lives in Hanoi says that Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin have "overblown" the need for worker rights in Communist-run Vietnam, according to a July 13 Voice of American (VOA) article."From my ... More >>

Does Loretta Sanchez Have "Retaliatory Hands"?

Doesn't fear a tan​Poor Tan Nguyen. The only folks who pay attention to his perennial congressional campaigns are apparently in the local U.S. Attorney's office. Worse, nowadays Nguyen is proving better at collecting criminal charges than votes.According to Martin Wisckol at the OC Regis ... More >>

What's the Big Deal About Costa Mesa's "Rule of Law" Anti-Mexican, Grandstanding Resolution?

Van Tran, Tom Harman, Allan Mansoor: Dumb, dumber, and dumbest. Is Mansoor the Egyptian version of Alfred E. Neuman?​Okay, okay, okay: I'll bite. After constant requests yesterday by my jefe to, how shall we say, opine on the news that Costa Mesa passed a resolution this week deeming itself a "Rul ... More >>

John and Ken-Style Mexi-Bashing Spreading to Little Saigon Airwaves?

​The airwaves of Little Saigon's radio stations are legendary outposts of slander, lies, innuendo, political water-carrying, intimidation, Red-baiting--in short, no-holds-barred banter, the kind State Assemblymember and Congressional hopeful Van Tran loves unless the criticism is against him. Most ... More >>

Letters From OC Weekly Readers

Loretta Sanchez Says Vietnam's Rulers Are Pimps

[Moxley Confidential] The OC congresswoman's tough stance on human trafficking should play well in Little Saigon

Vietnam Shoots Down Loretta Sanchez's Travel Hopes

Vietnam has a Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy too​Saving itself a couple of news cycles of international embarrassment, Vietnam has denied a visa to Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who had been traveling in Asia and hoped to enter the country to meet with disgruntled citizens who say the ... More >>

Register: There's Finally A Candidate Who Can Beat Loretta Sanchez

Pham with Meg Whitman​Over at the Orange Punch blog for the OC Register opinion writers, columnist Brian Calle wonders aloud today if local Republicans are closer to "no more Loretta Sanchez" because of the emergence of Quang Pham.Pham is a Republican who is attempting to defeat Republican state A ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez: I'll Fight Obama Spending Cuts If Necessary

Sanchez: Not necessarily joining in Barry's party​Balancing the awkward stance that she craves fiscal responsibility from the wild-spending federal government and simultaneously demands no cuts to federal grants to Orange County, Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez announced today that she'll ... More >>

Loretta Sanchez Wants Fewer U.S. Soldiers Who Hate Women

Christopher VictorioSanchez addressed OC Dems at recent Pelosi party ​The new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has a little less unbridled testosterone in it than previous versions of the annual legislation thanks to Orange County Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who addressed two of her pe ... More >>

McCain Gets his Gooks

We like Arizona Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain much more than his automaton flip-flopper (and Hugh Hewitt favorite) main opponent, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. But we've never been able to understand why Little Saigon's power brokers never asked McCain to ap ... More >>

Nick Schou: Inspiration for Plagiarists

For the past month, OC Weekly staffer Nick Schou (with an assist from web editor Janine Kahn) has followed protests at Viet Weekly's Garden Grove offices by Vietnamese who accuse the paper of communist sympathies. Coverage of the protests by the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register has been ... More >>

Loretta Taking Her Act to HBO

It's true! According to Dan Chmielewski over at theliberaloc.com blog, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Anaheim), is scheduled to appear as a guest on "Real Time With Bill Maher" Friday at 11 p.m. on HBO. Chmielewski wonders how many "pet the cat" jokes humorist Maher will utter. Perhaps not many ... More >>

Down Goes Daucher

As of half-past seven Monday night, Lou Correa has over 50% of the vote, beating opponent Lynn Daucher by 1,302 votes and winning California's 34th Senate seat. He collected more votes than opponents Daucher and Otto Bade combined, ending speculation that Bade's last-minute write-in campaign is what ... More >>

The Party's Over

Our R. Scott Moxley reports that, by the end of the night at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, the older Republicans in the room showed on their faces exactly what they felt: worry, frustration, indignation. But the Young Republican types in their 20s and 30s were not missing a beat--or a drop of hooch--as ... More >>

Less than an hour until the polls close...

... and I'm soooooo confused. I was out of town last Thursday through Sunday, and when I returned there were 17 messages on my phone from the likes of Pete Wilson, Dick Ackerman, Hillary Clinton, someone yammering about Jessica's Law, the Nguyen running for an OC school board seat and his partner in ... More >>

Attention, Anaheim!

WEB EXCLUSIVE! Your guide to some of the locals in the Happiest City on Earth

Desiree Funsch

The activist shares some of her favorite things

Letters

'They tried to portray Ashley as some weird loner who somehow deserved to get shot. The two policemen who fired 18 bullets at this teenager need to be brought to justice'

Commie Girl

You Know Whos Not a Criminal? Paul Lucas is everywhere but jail

Diary of a Mad County

March 1 - March 7

Garden Grove

Losers Again

Communists, Bush defeat Little Saigon in human rights war

Diary of a Mad County

Pussies Galore!

What local candidates dont want voters to know

Just Declare Victory

Little Saigon embraces Vietnam trade