Laurie Girand Suspends AD-74 Campaign After Dems Support Chris Duncan – Orange County Register

Activist Laurie Girand says she withdrew from race for 74th Assembly after Democratic leaders told her they plan to support San Clemente Pro Mayor Chris Duncan in the race with GOP incumbent Laurie Davies.

The news comes after the California Democratic Party held its Virtual Endorsement Conference on Saturday to vote on which candidate to back in the election. June Beginner. Duncan won 79.63% of the vote, essentially securing his full approval when the party meets again in March.

Such endorsements are not required for the candidates to win. For example, Democrats backed opponents of both Katie Porter and Harley Rouda when they changed House seats in 2018.

But party endorsement means more money and other resources for a candidate. And some local Democrats opposed the initial endorsement of AD 74, saying they did not understand why the party felt the need to put its thumbs on the scales in races where there was more than one strong candidate in the preliminary round.

“That means voters don’t really decide who the candidate is, who the party leader is,” said Sharon Williams, a delegate from San Clemente who is supporting Girand.

Asked about that concern, Ajay Mohan, executive director of the Orange County Democratic Party, said voters still have a “clear choice between Pro Tem Mayor Chris Duncan versus Laurie Davies,” said Duncan. “Focus on ensuring environmental protection, expanding access to healthcare, and creating affordable housing options. ”

Girand, 60, of San Juan Capistrano, has made a name for herself by campaigning for reform of addiction treatment centers, for safe products and victims of sexual harassment. In a Facebook post Wednesday night, Girand wrote that she was approached in 2021 “by many in our community, including leaders in the Democratic Party, asking me to consider run for the National Assembly.” She is officially launch her campaign on January 3 with $100,000 of her own in the treasury and is unofficially reported to have raised another $100,000 from individual donors within two weeks.

A few days later, Duncan confirmed that he had also entered the race. He’s officially reported a donation of $9,800, though he says he has “many more” of donations that haven’t met the reporting requirements. He did not have a silhouette to share Thursday.

Duncan, 46, is a private practice attorney who previously served as a consultant to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and has worked for both parties. He ran for the 73rd District seat in 2020 but failed to move beyond the March primaries. He ran for and won a seat on the San Clemente City Council that November, while Davies won the Council seat.

Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, now representing District 73, is located entirely in Southern Orange County. It’s the safest Republican seat in the county when Davies wins his first term in 2020. But after a state redistricting New political boundaries approved, Davies was incorporated into the new District 74, which stretches from Laguna Niguel south along the coast to Oceanside in San Diego County. And it was almost a voter registration craze, according to Political Data Inc.with Republicans at 35% and Democrats at 34.6%.

Girand said she polled showed her as the strongest contender in the race. But after learning she would have to run without Democratic support, she suspended her campaign.

“I have so many opportunities to make a difference outside of elected office,” she said.

Duncan said on Thursday that he was not aware of any votes.

The application period for candidates to enter state races ends on March 11.