Candidate for the California 72nd Assembly District, Travis Allen, announced last week that he had received the support of two former opponents from the June primary election. Allen is now challenging Los Alamitos Mayor Troy Edgar for the District that represents, Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, Seal Beach and parts of Garden Grove, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Santa Ana.
Allen has received the support of primary challengers, Joe Dovinh and Long Pham. The three held a joint press conference last week at a restaurant in the Little Saigon area of Westminster. Pham is a Republican, and Dovinh is a Democrat.
“I am supporting Travis Allen because he is the candidate that will work to bring everyone together for the betterment of our community and state,” Dovinh said.
Dovinh was the top vote getter among Democrats in the primary, but both Allen and Edgar are Republicans. Also putting his support behind Allen is former Assembly member Van Tran, who once represented much of what is now part of the new 72nd District. Allen said Tran has joined his campaign as a senior advisor and said his involvement constitutes a consolidation of the Vietnamese community behind Allen.
“I know that as a small business owner, Travis Allen knows the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs in our community,” Tran said.
Allen is a certified financial planner who has lived in Huntington Beach for about 20 years.
“I look forward to working with both Dr. Pham and Joe Dovinh when I am a member of the state assembly. Their advice and guidance will help me in making the right decisions for our community,” Allen said.
Allen also commented on reports last week of a misreporting on financial reports by the Troy Edgar campaign. The reports stated that Edgar had not properly disclosed the source of payment for campaign flyers that were distributed. Allen called the action potentially illegal.
“Troy Edgar should take responsibility for flagrantly and repeatedly having broken federal campaign finance, and possibly federal tax laws. The voters of the 72nd District deserve and expect the truth,” said Allen.
Edgar responded by saying that the financial form non-disclosure was a simple billing mistake that has been corrected.
“Why would I hide small items and pay for big ones? It’s clearly nonsense.” “It’s a disgruntled consultant, who no longer works for me, but went to work for my competitor after leaving my campaign. This is a whole lot of nothing,” Edgar said.
The 72nd Assembly District includes the cities of Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Westminster, Los Alamitos, and the unincorporated community of Rossmoor.