Santa Ana : Activist Reid Switches to Robinson From Carter

Five months after she endorsed Superior Court Judge David O. Carter for Congress, Democratic activist Sadie Reid switched her allegiance this week to his opponent in the Democratic primary, Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove).

Reid, president of the Santa Ana Unified School District board and a former vice president of the Orange County Democratic Party, said she still thought Carter was “a fine gentleman.” Reid had appeared at a December gathering for Carter supporters and in February had helped circulate petitions for his candidacy.

But in the last week or two, Reid said she had been “looking back” at Robinson’s 12-year record in the Legislature, including his work on liability insurance and day-care licensing. Early this week, Reid said, she had decided that Carter, who is making his first bid for partisan political office, was “very new.” Robinson, she said, would be the more effective campaigner against the incumbent, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), a hawkish, pro-life conservative.

Reid pointed out that Robinson, who has often been called “arrogant,” was “not a people person,” but “he’s very effective at getting things to move” in the Legislature.