Andrea McElroy Takes an Early Lead in Newport-Mesa Special Election
After the first 24 hours of results, Andrea McElroy appears to be the likely winner of the Newport-Mesa Area 5 Trustee Special Election.
The early results are in, and Andrea McElroy has taken the lead in the race to be Newport-Mesa’s next Area 5 Trustee. Given the lower turnout in special elections, McElroy’s lead appears safe—her opponent would need to win something like over 70% of the likely remaining votes to overtake her. Not impossible, but not likely. With the next batch of results dropping tonight at 5 p.m., we will have more clarity this evening.
Regardless, congratulations are in order for McElroy and her team. She ran a hard fought race against an organized opponent. Rather than engage on the issues, the other side simply threw mud on McElroy and attempted to confuse voters by hijacking her messaging. McElroy didn’t take the bait: she remained focused on the issues impacting our students and reaching voters, and her discipline appears to have paid off with an early lead!
Although McElroy’s opponents often complained about the cost of the special election, they brought this on themselves. In particular, Newport-Mesa’s Democratic board member majority of Ashley Anderson, Carol Crane, Michelle Murphy, and Leah Ursoylu crafted a process destined to lead us to this point.
First, when considering appointments, they developed a candidate questionnaire focused on progressive social issues. Did they ask the candidates’ thoughts on how to reverse declining test scores? Trimming unnecessary spending from the budget? Their position on a potential bond measure? NO!
Instead, they focused on two of the left’s pet causes: policies providing medical/mental health treatment to students without parental knowledge or consent and “book bans.” The Democratic board members prioritized candidates who agreed with them on social issues over practical candidates focused on the issues impacting our students.
Next, the Democratic board members had a chance to appoint McElroy in the first place. Instead, they went with someone who believes it would be “a detriment to a child” for schools to tell parents about their children’s gender identities. They only have themselves to blame.
If McElroy wins this race, which seems to be the most likely scenario, this special election will be memorable for the tone-deaf actions of Democratic board members Anderson, Crane, Murphy, and Ursoylu. These four progressives, who collectively represent most of the Costa-Mesa part of Newport-Mesa, attempted to install a likeminded progressive in a conservative, Newport Beach-only trustee area. What did they think was going to happen? Compounding their error, they blamed the electorate for seeking a vote to choose their own candidate. Anderson, Crane, Murphy, and Ursoylu are to blame for the extra time and expense of the special election, not the voters.
The Democratic board members’ ill-conceived candidate questionnaire was not all bad, though—it provided McElroy with some great campaign material! Before political consultants got ahold of her, McElroy’s opponent made her support for withholding student health information from parents well known:
At least she was honest! On the campaign trail, she ran away from this position. Indeed, McElroy’s opponent claimed on a mailer to support “Empowering Parents”:
There is nothing empowering about withholding student health information from parents.
Additionally, McElroy’s opponent falsely claimed to be nonpartisan to the end. Yet, all of her endorsements came from Democratic politicians, her funding came from Democratic sources, and her policies aligned with Democratic positions. She was a partisan candidate from the beginning.
Why would McElroy’s opponent attempt to hide her support for progressive policies and backing from the Democratic party? The answer is simple: she knew these facts would sink her in Newport-Mesa Trustee Area 5.
And this point brings us back to Newport-Mesa’s Democratic board members. Their candidate had to pretend to be someone else in order to have a chance to win this special election. They are to blame for attempting to install a board member that would not have been a fit in Area 5.