Liberal blogger Diamond says he is running against OCDA Rackauckas

The at times argumentative, and almost always long-winded liberal Democrat Greg Diamond, who is also a blogger at the Orange Juice, has announced that he is challenging Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas this year.  Diamond is an attorney, which may be the only prerequisite for this office, although he appears to specialize in “plaintiff’s side employment law” cases, not criminal matters.

According to Diamond’s Linkedin page, he is the head of a solo law practice and that he is a graduate of the Columbia University School of Law and the University of Michigan.  The California State Bar Association reports that Diamond’s full name is Gregory Avergon Diamond and that he was accepted into the California State Bar Association in June of 2008.

Diamond’s political experience includes serving as the North Area Vice Chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.  He also was the Orange County Co-Coordinator for the Jerry Brown gubernatorial campaign, in Orange County, in 2010.  He has been a campaign manager for a couple of Democratic legislative candidates and he ran for the California State Senate in 2012 against the leader of the Republican delegation in the California State Senate, Bob Huff.  Diamond got 44% of the vote as compared to Huff who got over 55%, according to Smart Voter.

Diamond got into it with the award-winning investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley in October of 2012, and Moxley had this to report about Diamond:

Diamond, who had been looking for a cause to give his life meaning, joined the Occupy ranks in 2011. The anti-establishment protests energized him. Not everybody can afford to protest 24 hours per day, but the attorney (who has taken piecemeal work from a firm that is the Kinko’s of the legal community) had no daily job responsibilities.

For months, Diamond protested, but he also held a secret goal: to become a player in local politics. He kept a precise log of the amount of time—allegedly 3,773 hours—he volunteered. Though it was forbidden for anyone in Occupy to grab leadership titles, he named himself “Primary Civic Liaison” and often nestled himself between reporters seeking quotes and other protesters.

Last spring, from his Brea rental, Diamond—whose solo law practice made him less than $1,999 in 2011—announced his campaign for a $100,000-per-year seat in the California state senate, representing the 29th District. He isn’t running for himself, of course. He claimed, “I’m doing it because tying my political fate closely to Occupy and fighting like hell is the best way I can think of to advance the Occupy critique.”

While I agree with Diamond that someone should run against Rackauckas, who has not had a challenger since 2002, it is hard to imagine that Diamond will be able to mount much of a campaign.  It is highly unlikely that he will raise the $30K he will need to evey buy a ballot statement.

Here is Diamond’s campaign announcement, courtesy of the Orange Juice Blog:

I just made my announcement this morning to Los Amigos and have now been interviewed by Martin Wisckol of the Orange County Register, so the cat is apparently out of the bag: I will be running against Tony Rackauckas — who hasn’t had a challenger since 2002 — for Orange County District Attorney. I’m prompted to do so in part because apparently not one other attorney in our county of over 3,000,000 Californians is willing to take him on — or, if they are, they’ve waited too long to stave off my campaign. And DA Rackauckas desperately needs an opponent. I deeply want to vote against him myself — but that requires that another name be on the ballot!

Someone needs to make the case for better government. I’m qualified, and I’m humble enough NOT to take on a high-profile murder/manslaughter trial myself when I’m supervising an office full of highly qualified Deputy DAs are available to do it, so it turns out that it will have to be me.

Fair notice to all of my wealthy attorney (and in some cases academic or other) friends: I’m going to be hitting you up for donations this week and next. By March 7, I’ll need $30,000 in hand if I am to file a ballot statement in the Voter Guide, in which I’ll make a pitch for a smart and principled and scientifically validated approach to prosecution and punishment. I would be honored to give you the chance to live through me vicariously for the next few months, so look for my e-mails and reply quicky. (As I just made this decision last Friday, a website and a PayPal link are … let’s say “still under development.”) Until then, I’m not soliciting donations wholesale — though, if you just can’t wait to donate, you’re welcome to contact me first!