Voters in Assembly District 70 have their pick of two well-meaning candidates to represent them in Sacramento.
The district, which centers around Westminster and Garden Grove but spans from Los Alamitos down to Huntington Beach, has been represented by former Westminster Mayor Tri Ta for the last four years.
Ta, a Republican, is a reliably conservative vote on matters of government spending, regulation and taxation. He has maintained an “A” or “A+” rating from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association over his years in the state Capitol.
We need to give opportunities for business
“We need to give opportunities for business to grow,” he told us, noting his skepticism of the relentless push by the Legislature for new and costly mandates. Ta also criticized the state’s opaque budget process, the lack of serious audits in state programs and the budget shell games which mask the severity of the state’s structural budget problems.
Ta is also appropriately proud of his 2024 legislation, introduced with Democratic Sen. Tom Umberg and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, promoting education about the groundbreaking decision in Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County. That’s the 1947 federal ruling declaring unconstitutional the segregation of Mexican Americans in California schools. He followed that up this year with legislation designating Sylvia Mendez Day, honoring the Westminster resident and civil rights activist at the center of the historic case.
As a member of the superminority, Ta is politically locked out of most of the decision-making in the Capitol, but is willing to ally with moderate Democrats if it means countering the far-left. “There are some moderate Democrats willing to work with us,” he told us. “There are some far-left Democrats who are loud and scare the moderate Democrats.”
In this political context, though he can only
In this political context, though he can only get so much done legislatively, Ta’s presence in the Legislature is mainly beneficial because he will normally be a “No” vote on the worst ideas of the supermajority.
For these reasons alone, we have been inclined to support him.
On housing policy, while Ta is in our view overly committed to “local control” narratives that privilege the ability of local governments to block housing, Ta has voted for his share of housing streamlining bills. This includes legislation fast-tracking townhome development and factory-built houses, as well as legislation aiding accessory dwelling units.
Ta also notably expressed opposition to mass surveillance, including But then when asked if the federal government should be allowed to access data from such surveillance systems in California, Ta said they should. We’ll judge that a wash on his civil liberties commitments, but his initial instincts seem right
Overall, Ta is a sensible conservative trying
Overall, Ta is a sensible conservative trying to do right by taxpayers in a one-party state.
Still, we also considered his challenger, Paula Swift, who initially ran in this cycle as a congressional candidate in the 40th District before switching to this race. Swift emphasized that, being in the superminority, Ta doesn’t have a seat at the table and that unlike Ta she is prepared to combat the Trump administration.
But the existence of the supermajority cuts both ways: the fact there’s already a supermajority means the Legislature doesn’t necessarily need another Democrat in the Legislature, or another person ready to fight Trump.
Most importantly, though, Swift does not seem particularly
Most importantly, though, Swift does not seem particularly well-versed on state policy. She was seemingly unaware of the debates around the California high-speed rail project or pension reform, for example. What policy views she did express either overlapped with Ta, including on housing, or veered far to the left as she argued “we have to move forward with the wealth tax.”
Ultimately, we don’t see the case for ousting a voice for taxpayers and business in exchange for reinforcing the left-flank of the supermajority. We only see a case for turning the incumbent to Sacramento, because he has a perspective sorely lacking in the Capitol.
Re-elect Tri Ta.
