Positive polling practice

Assemblyman Tran announces favorable results of a poll he commissioned; Costa Mesa voters may have an endless ballot. Recent polling data showed Costa Mesa Assemblyman Van Tran, a Republican who is making a hard run for the 34th District state Senate seat, is leading Republican opponent and Assembly colleague Lynn Daucher.

It’s a poll Tran commissioned, but that mainly means if the results had been unfavorable, people likely wouldn’t have heard about them. The survey said Tran is “polling 10 points ahead of Lynn Daucher and has substantially more name identification” in the district, according to a statement from Tran’s campaign.

“It’s great news,” Tran said. “It confirms our anecdotal suspicion that I have very high and favorable name ID in the district.”

The 34th Senate District seat is now held by termed-out Democrat Joe Dunn and represents Stanton and parts of six other Orange County cities.

There were 300 Republicans polled for the survey, but one thing it didn’t ask was how a third GOP candidate might change the dynamics of the primary race. Last week Lupe Moreno, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, began collecting signatures to run for the seat.

“I’m not sure how it’s going to change. I’m just going to focus on my campaign and run hard,” Tran said.

MORE VAN TRAN

In other Van Tran news, this week he announced endorsements from the Family Action Political Action Committee, an Orange County-based group that supports socially conservative candidates, and former Orange County Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes.

Fuentes also endorsed Diane Harkey, a Dana Point City Councilwoman who is running for the vacant 35th District state Senate seat.

BALLOT GETTING LONGER

Costa Mesa residents may be faced with a mile-long November ballot, with a county-wide transportation tax and the typical dozen or more council candidates. Now they can also start anticipating a utility tax.

Mayor Allan Mansoor this week expressed interest in the tax as a way to pay for burying the city’s utility lines, a project that could cost more than $850 million and take at least 20 years. If voters agreed, the tax would be charged to all users of whichever utilities the council chooses -- water, gas or cable TV, for example. Most such taxes are between 5% and 7%.

“We all use utilities, residents and businesses alike, so in my mind it’s a fair way to share the cost of something that’s going to be an improved benefit for all of us,” Mansoor said.

He said he keeps hearing that the community wants the utility lines put underground, but it’s not clear whether he’ll get the two other council votes needed to put a tax proposal on the ballot.

Because a utility tax would be a special tax, two-thirds of city voters need to approve it.

One vote he won’t get is from Councilwoman Katrina Foley, who said the project is so expensive and will take so long she can’t justify taxing elderly residents to pay for it.

The city is about to do a survey of residents’ opinions on burying utilities, but Foley said the city already did one. That survey in 2001 showed “everybody wants the utilities underground; nobody wants to pay for it,” she said.

So will Mansoor’s name be on the ballot, along with a possible utility tax? He still won’t give a definitive answer to whether he’s running for another term, but he says he’s heard a lot of encouragement.

There have been rumors that he’s looking at a higher office, but he denies those.

“My focus is on Costa Mesa right now. There’s a lot of things I still want to accomplish,” Mansoor said Wednesday. “I made a commitment to this and I want to follow through with it.”

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT

Foley will speak today at a 7 p.m. meeting of the 68th Assembly District Democratic Club at Carrows, 16931 Magnolia Ave., Huntington Beach.

With 68th District Assemblyman Van Tran running for a state Senate seat, Republicans have been jockeying to replace him, but Foley said no Democrats have said they’ll jump in the race.20060216ic17mmkfKENT TREPTOW / DAILY PILOT(LA)Van Tran, assemblyman for the 68th District, is running for state Senate. A recent poll puts him in the front of the primary race.