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Matthew Truxaw’s sudden switch from Democrat to Republican right before challenging the incumbent Fred Jung for Fullerton City Council District 1 has sparked considerable skepticism.
With one Republican and one Democrat in the running, one could be forgiven for thinking the Fullerton City Council District 1 race would be an uncomplicated, politics-as-usual affair. In truth, it’s anything but typical. Voters may be alarmed to discover that there’s something far more sinister at play.
The incumbent is Fred Jung, a moderate Democrat who has frequently found himself at odds with the more progressive players in his own party. His somewhat frequent clashes with progressive Councilman Ahmad Zahra have elicited ire from the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC) and many of its allies. As such, he’s left to run without the DPOC’s backing. By the same token, he’s positioned himself as something of a centrist who is willing to break with party orthodoxy when he believes it’s in constituents’ best interests.
“Long before I was a Democrat or Republican, I was a Korean-American. Long before I was a conservative or progressive, I was a Fullertonian. And I expect to govern that way,” said Jung shortly after being elected to Fullerton City Council in 2020. “I hope I can build a broad coalition to respond and move our city forward on behalf of all residents.” For this, he was called a “shitty Democrat” by The Liberal Orange County.
Jung’s independent streak, however, has made him a target for staunch leftists looking to consolidate power on the council.
Enter Matthew “Matt” Truxaw, a challenger who recently switched Party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. Despite supposedly reinventing himself as a conservative, Truxaw’s campaign lacks any meaningful support from key Republican figures and organizations. Understandably, that has led many to question the authenticity of his candidacy.
The situation becomes even more suspicious with the involvement of Councilman Ahmad Zahra, who has recently reached out to several prominent conservative organizations. Allegedly, Zahra has advised, via email, that Republican groups look into the prospect of aiding Truxaw’s campaign. When we reached out to the Orange County Republican Party and the Orange County Young Republicans, both confirmed that they had never received a formal endorsement application request from Truxaw or anyone associated with his campaign.
This unexpected alliance between Zahra and Truxaw raises an important question: why would a progressive Democrat want to help a supposed Republican candidate curry favor with conservative donor groups?
The answer seems to lie in a strategic effort to tip the scales against Jung in District 1.
This tactic is not new to Democrats or to Fullerton politics. In 2022, DPOC Executive Director Ajay Mohan recruited Tony Castro, a non-viable candidate and digital media artist with no real prior political experience to split the Hispanic vote against Oscar Valadez and benefit Ahmad Zahra. Valadez was endorsed by Jung and seemed to hail from that same part of the Democratic Party which the Party itself struggles to control. The ploy worked—in fact, it worked so well that they’re trying it again right now in the District 4 race with another spoiler candidate: the alleged “America First” challenger Scott Markowitz, who was a registered Democrat until several days before filing campaign paperwork.
There are numerous parallels between Markowitz and Truxaw—namely, that they are both complete political outsiders who claim to be conservatives but whose only support seems to come from progressive Democrats.
To his credit, doesn’t seem as uninitiated to political arena, at least if his general sociopolitical activism online is anything to go by. On his Facebook account, he somewhat frequently shares posts that are critical of former President Donald Trump and celebratory of Vice President Kamala Harris. On July 4th, he shared a fundraising link for Turnout PAC, a wing of the Progressive Turnout Project which has “played a role in electing 793 Democrats up and down the ballot, expanding our U.S. Senate majority and building in-state power to cement progressive priorities.”
He’s also attended a few political events, such as Fullerton’s March for Science—which he attended in an inflatable dinosaur costume—or the Women’s March, to which he wore a knitted pink “pussy hat.”
Beyond that, search queries will primarily direct you to his abundant reviews of science fiction media. He’s even authored a sci-fi novel of his own.
But little else is known about the supposed Republican, whose sparse campaign website lacks an endorsement page. His platform includes a befuddling mix of milquetoast right-of-center talking points and left-wing platitudes about community policing and affordable housing projects—an unusual juxtaposition.
“I think it’s a fair assumption that [Truxaw] has been recruited by the far left in Fullerton to challenge Jung, who, as a Democrat hasn’t always pleased them,” opines one writer on the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog. “Ahmad Zahra can certainly be considered the prime mover of this rather hopeless campaign... At last count Jung was nearing $200,000 in his campaign account, a rather breathtaking amount. The goal here is probably to make him spend down his account.”
“Man, Zahra got desperate,” replies one commenter.
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