Huntington Beach Councilman Kim Carr Runs for State Senate Against Janet Nguyen – Orange County Register

Huntington Beach City Councilwoman Kim Carr has decided to pursue greater political territory – a belt that stretches about 50 miles from Bellfower in Los Angeles County all the way south to San Clemente.

Carr, 51, said Tuesday, January 18, that she will run as a Democrat for the California State Senate in the newly drawn 36th District. So far, the only other candidate in this remote district is Republican Representative Janet Nguyen, 45.

Both women live in Huntington Beach.

Carr, who served as mayor of Huntington Beach in 2021, said the new map presents a blank board devoid of incumbents and political history.

“I realized this was a good opportunity, so I jumped at it,” Carr said. “Dave Min and Tom Umberg are not from this county. As mayor last year, it was clear to me that I could do a lot more at the state level.”

Min, also a Democrat, represents the 37th district, which currently includes parts of Huntington Beach, Irvine and Tustin. Another Democrat, Tom Umberg, represents the Huntington Beach, Garden Grove and Santa Ana areas in the upcoming 34th District.

Based on demographic changes, county boundaries were revised following the 2020 federal census.

The new District 36 begins at Cerritos in Los Angeles County and moves southwest to include most of Little Saigon and all of coastal Orange County, from Seal Beach to San Clemente. Voter registration favors Republicans 2.2 points.

“I had to make a decision about whether to campaign for City Council or try something else,” Carr said. Elected to the council in 2018, Carr will serve a second term this November.

In Huntington Beach, the mayor position rotates annually among seven council members. Carr’s turn falls into a year that has seen colorful and controversial MMA celebrity Tito Ortiz garner national headlines as a novice councilor. With an anti-mask and anti-vaccination stance, news of Ortiz diverted attention from other city issues. Ortiz resigned in June after about six months in office.

Still, Carr has managed to make a mark of his own on many fronts, including as the face of the city in October, when a damaged offshore oil pipeline gushed out of the coast. of the city.

Also in 2021, the city created a mobile crisis response team to serve homeless people and other residents experiencing mental health emergencies.

“We are on the ground in Huntington Beach addressing some of the biggest problems facing our nation,” Carr said. “We needed someone to represent us in Sacramento who could not just talk about the problems but actually offer solutions.”

But Nguyen’s campaign adviser, David Gilliard, says female assemblers are better suited for District 36.

“Kim Carr will only be part of the supermajority in Sacramento that has created our crises of crime, homelessness and high gas prices,” Gilliard said. “The voters in the district wanted someone who would fight for the middle class and the taxpayers.”

Gilliard points out that District 36 includes Little Saigon. “It’s Nguyen’s backyard,” he said. “She has represented that area for many years. She feels very confident being able to contact that facility for support.”

Nguyen began her political career on the Garden Grove City Council in 2004, and later joined the Orange County Board of Supervisors before moving on to the state level.

Although the majority is White, Asian Americans make up about 21% in the new 36th district. Former District 37, which covers much of Huntington Beach, was 15% Asian.

Newport Beach political consultant Adam Probolsky said the new county map might be “crazy,” but “the map was drawn to keep communities of interest as intact as possible.”

Probolsky said: “Janet Nguyen will be a difficult candidate to confront. “Even though people don’t just vote by ethnicity, there’s a familiarity with her.”

Also, the new district is more Republican-leaning than District 37.

On the other hand, Probolsky said, candidates like Carr may require more experience in representing beach communities.

“District 36 runs all the way up and down the coast,” he said. “That might have been one of Kim Carr’s messages: ‘Look, I’m someone who understands beach communities. I am an oil spill handler. ‘ The threat of an oil spill is always present in the minds of people living along the coast.