O.C.’s unreal voting issue

Judging by the anti-illegal immigrant campaign rhetoric, voters in Orange County might think they’re going to the polls Tuesday to elect a new chief of the Border Patrol instead of a member of the Board of Supervisors, a job that has almost no authority over the immigration issues the candidates are raising.

Tom Umberg, the leading Democrat in the nonpartisan race, has touted his prosecution of traffickers of illegal immigrants as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Janet Nguyen, a Republican contender, sent out a campaign mailer highlighting the “right way” to immigrate -- illustrated with a photo of people taking the oath of citizenship -- and the “wrong way,” with a picture of people climbing over a fence.

Fellow Republican Trung Nguyen said in his mailer that he opposes amnesty, driver’s licenses and taxpayer-funded college tuition for illegal immigrants, ignoring the fact that policies on those matters are set at the federal and state level.

Illegal immigration played a prominent role in the supervisor’s race last year between Cathryn DeYoung and winner Patricia Bates. But that race took place in South County, where the voting population is richer, whiter and more conservative than in the 1st District, which has a large Latino population and where voter registration is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

Emphasizing a tough-on-illegal-immigration stance there might seem risky. But with low voter turnout expected, candidates are gambling that such a polarizing issue can drive conservatives to the polls, because they tend to vote more in special elections such as this one.

“This issue, in effect, becomes a kind of proxy to mobilize people,” said Mark Petracca, chairman of the political science department at UC Irvine. “The reality is, is it better public policy to run an election on immigration issues rather than bread-and-butter issues? Obviously it isn’t. Is it better strategic politics? Absolutely.”

The emphasis on illegal immigration has been just one twist in the race to replace Lou Correa, whose election to the state Senate in November set off a six-week sprint to fill his seat.

At the outset, prognosticators viewed the race as a battle between Umberg, who represented the area in the Assembly, and Carlos Bustamante, a Latino Republican Santa Ana city councilman born and raised in that city.

But most of the controversy in the race has been generated by the two Vietnamese American candidates from Garden Grove, the unrelated Janet Nguyen and Trung Nguyen, with each accusing the other of playing dirty.

As the number of absentee ballots cast in recent days has made clear, Vietnamese Americans and Republican voters are turning out in greater force than anyone expected.

As a result, political observers say the numbers could foreshadow bad news for Bustamante, because of a comparatively low number of Latino ballots returned, and for Umberg, because of lower Democratic numbers.

The eight candidates have had little interaction. Two candidate forums were sparsely attended, even by the candidates. At one sponsored by AARP, Bustamante and Umberg were the only candidates who showed; at another, which the League of Women Voters sponsored, only Bustamante, Garden Grove City Councilman Mark Rosen and Democratic Party activist Benny Diaz were present.

Orange County’s 1st District has long been regarded as the most neglected of the five, and each candidate has tried to become positioned as the one who will finally bring home the resources the district needs. The district has a crime rate among the highest in the county. Voters want more public safety services and better education and worry about access to healthcare. Santa Ana, within the district, also has the least amount of park space per capita in the state, according to Umberg.

Still, illegal immigration has taken on the high-profile role.

“The fact is, illegal immigration is still a very important issue. It’s topical. Voters in the district care about the issue,” said Adam Probolsky, a Republican pollster who has worked for Janet Nguyen. “And the fact that local government more and more is engaging in the business of fighting illegal immigration because the state and federal government aren’t picking up the slack, it’s very relevant for a county supervisor candidate to weigh in on the issue.”

In an interview, Trung Nguyen said he emphasized anti-illegal immigration policies in his campaign because it came down to safeguarding taxpayer funds, but acknowledged his role in setting policy on the subject was limited to mere advocacy.

“Illegal immigration hurts every single one of us, no matter what ethnic group they come from,” he said.

christian.berthelsen@

latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Orange County 1st District supervisorial race

Eight candidates are running in Tuesday’s election to represent the 1st District on the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Their names are listed here in the order in which they appear on the ballot. Kermit March and Lupe Moreno are also listed on the ballot but have dropped out of the race.

Larry Phan

Democrat

Age: 70

Residence: Westminster

Education: National Motion Picture School, Vietnam; Western University, masters in social science, doctorate in counseling

Occupation: Television producer

Family: Married

Political experience: 25 years as a county employee in Los Angeles County; 10 years as a social service worker in Vietnam

Brett Elliott Franklin

Republican

Age: 45

Residence: Santa Ana

Education: Westmont Christian College, bachelor’s in business and economics

Occupation: Real estate broker

Family: Married with two children

Political experience: Santa Ana City Council (1996-2004); Transportation Corridor Agency Board (1999-2004); Orange County Water District Board (2000-04)

Carlos Bustamante

Republican

Age: 41

Residence: Santa Ana

Education: Santa Ana College, associate degree; Cal State Fullerton, bachelor’s in business administration; Chapman University, masters in organizational leadership

Occupation: Assistant director of Planning and Development Services, county of Orange

Family: Married with two children

Political experience: Santa Ana City Council (2004-present); Santa Ana Community Redevelopment and Housing Commission (1998-2004); California Council on Criminal Justice (2006-present)

Tom Umberg

Democrat

Age: 51

Residence: Santa Ana

Education: UCLA, bachelor’s in political science; University of California, Hastings School of Law, law degree; U.S. Army War College, masters in strategic studies

Occupation: Attorney

Family: Married with three children

Political experience: California Assembly (1990-94, 2004-06); deputy director, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (1997-2000)

Benny Diaz

Democrat

Age: 49

Residence: Garden Grove

Education: UC Irvine, bachelor’s in political science

Occupation: Compliance officer, state of California

Family: Married

Political experience: Orange County Democratic Central Committee member (2003-present); Orange County Democratic Executive Board member (2004-present); Garden Grove Neighborhood Improvement & Conservation Commissioner (2004-present); director, League of United Latin American Citizens, Orange County

Mark Rosen

Democrat

Age: 55

Residence: Garden Grove

Education: UC Berkeley, bachelor’s in political science; UCLA, law degree

Occupation: Attorney

Family: Married with three children

Political experience: Garden Grove City Council (1998-present); Orange County Transportation Authority Board of Directors (2005-present); Garden Grove Planning Commission (1995-98); Garden Grove Neighborhood Improvement and Conservation Commission (1993-95)

Janet Nguyen

Republican

Age: 30

Residence: Garden Grove

Education: UC Irvine, bachelor’s in political science

Occupation: City councilwoman

Family: Married

Political experience: Garden Grove City Council (2004-present); Garden Grove Hospital Board (2004-06); Garden Grove Traffic Commission (2000-02); Garden Grove Planning Commission (2002-04); Orange County Board of Supervisors staff assistant (1997-99); district director for Assemblyman Ken Maddox (1999-2004)

Trung Nguyen

Republican

Age: 49

Residence: Garden Grove

Education: UCLA, bachelor’s in electrical engineering; Cal State Los Angeles, masters in electrical engineering; Western State University, law degree

Occupation: Lawyer and engineer

Family: Married with two children Political experience: Garden Grove Unified School District board member (2004-present)

Los Angeles Times