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Prominent progressives rally behind an unknown, non-viable “Republican” candidate—actually a registered Democrat—whose only goal is to spoil the District 4 race.
From dummy candidates to potential perjury, there’s something highly disturbing taking place on the eve of Fullerton’s upcoming City Council races. Perhaps the clearest example can be seen in District 4, where one group’s dirty tactics may have taken a turn from underhanded to outright illegal.
Initially, the battle for District 4 was shaping up to be a straightforward contest between Democrat Vivian “Kitty” Jaramillo and Republican Linda Whitaker—the latter of whom is the wife of outgoing Council Member Bruce Whitaker, who has served on the City Council since 2010.
That changed when one Scott Markowitz pulled papers and entered the race at the eleventh hour. Curiously, his ballot statement reads like that of a MAGA Republican; it calls upon “America First patriots” to vote for a candidate with “real conservative values,” one who will “fight for our individual liberties, for strong law enforcement, and for our local businesses.”
Markowitz, however, was a registered Democrat—right up until he filed to run for office.
A seat on Fullerton City Council’s is a non-partisan office. As such, Markowitz had the option of selecting “non-partisan office” on his Candidate Intention Statement (California Form 501). Instead, Markowitz deliberately wrote “Republican,” lending credence to the idea that he very much wants to be seen as such.
It’s not a new tactic: operatives recruit a “dummy candidate” to run solely for the purpose of diverting votes away from their real opponent. In this case, a split Republican ticket (in a City where Democrats already enjoy about a nearly 10% voter registration advantage) would hurt Whitaker and aid Jaramillo. It’s not a particularly difficult strategy to run, either, because the “dummy candidate” does not need to create legitimate campaign infrastructure, social media, purchase yard signs, run mailers, pursue endorsements, or any of the things that are fundamental to running a serious campaign. As far as can be told, Markowitz does not have even the most basic campaign infrastructure such as a campaign website, donation link, or a list of endorsements.
It wouldn’t be the first time the DPOC (Democratic Party of Orange County) has used this tactic in Fullerton either. In 2022, DPOC Executive Director Ajay Mohan helped recruit a completely unknown and non-viable candidate to split the Latino vote against Oscar Valadez and ensure victory for progressive Councilman Ahmad Zahra. It worked, but even ardent Democrats found it extremely distasteful.
“Why would Mr. Mohan recruit an unknown, broke, Tony Castro to run against the incumbent who has the endorsement of Party Central? The answer is, unfortunately, crystal clear: to take votes away from Oscar Valadez,” wrote one contributor on the left-leaning Orange Juice Blog. “This dirty little trick is as old as elections themselves, of course, but to see the Dems do it to working class Latinos betrays a special sort of cynical mindset.”
Mohan appears to be consulting Markowitz and even facilitated his filing appointment, as evidenced by an email to Fullerton City Clerk Lucina Williams unearthed by the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog.
Why would the Executive Director for the Democratic Party of OC go out of his way to help an “America First” Republican register to run against his own Party’s endorsed candidate? “It’s corruption pure and simple,” according to FFFF. “It’s election fraud.”
But Mohan’s not the only Democrat behind the Markowitz gambit. One of Markowitz’s initial signatories is Diane Vena, who has already publicly endorsed Jaramillo and whose name is prominently listed on the Democrat candidate’s campaign website. Among other signatories are Karlo Marcelo, a member of the Democrats of North OC, and Dan Cash, both of whom have made publicly-visible contributions to progressive causes.
It’s highly unusual that a candidate running on an "America First" platform would have no visible support from "America First" candidates and coalitions—only progressive Democrats. As it turns out, Markowitz doesn’t even appear to be soliciting support from the right.
We reached out to the Republican Party of Orange County (OCGOP) and the Orange County Young Republicans (OCYR) and each organization confirmed that Markowitz had not applied for endorsement.
The same can also be said for Matthew Truxaw—another potential Republican “dummy candidate” running in the District 1 race—who has not received or even sought support from notable conservative groups.
We also reached out to Markowitz himself to ask why he has not applied for these endorsements, as well as what he would say to assure voters that he is a legitimate candidate; why he is working with DPOC operatives; and where prospective donors can go to access his platform or make a campaign contribution.
We received no response.
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