Convention wisdom dictates that it is nearly impossible to unseat incumbent office holders, but Westminster is an unconventional place.  In the 2006 election cycle, two incumbent school trustees on the Westminster School District was voted out of office and the third did not file for re-election.  The top three vote-getter in that election all had the financial support of the Westminster Teachers Association.

Moving forward to the '08 cycle where trustees Jo-Ann Purcell and Sergio Contreras are up for re-election, I wonder who the teachers will support this time.  According to a reliable source, the WTA is backing Purcell but it is yet to be known what they will do with Contreras, an up and coming Democrat in Central Orange County, if he survives in November.  He is also a staffer for Assemblyman Tony Mendoza in Buena Parks.

Contreras is the more prepared out of the two incumbents.  He's been raising money for the last year and a half and is probably sitting on $25,000, if not more.  However, he's going to need all that money if the WTA decides to target Contreras.  Yes, the teacher union does not get along with a Democratic school board member.  Go figure...

So far the only challenger to pull paper is Frank Tran, a civil engineer working for the City of Newport Beach.  Tran ran as a write-in candidate in '06 and of course placed last.  He's hoping to do better this time around by having his name actually printed on the ballot.

Three more days until filing deadline closes.  Stay tuned...