3 Challengers Fight to Face Royce in Fall

U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), 47, is a popular congressman in a heavily Republican district. He has no GOP challengers in the primary.

Two Democrats from Cerritos are challenging each other for the right to run against Royce in the fall. They are A. “Cecy” R. Groom, 50, a certified public accountant, and Charlie Ara, 67, a family counselor.

Running unopposed on the Libertarian ticket is Jack Dean, 50, a small business owner from Fullerton.

The district includes a portion of southeastern Los Angeles County, but most of it is in Orange County, stretching from Seal Beach to La Habra and Placentia.

Groom has been a trustee of the ABC Unified School District since 1988, winning election three times. She wants stricter gun control, protection of Social Security without higher taxes and changes in managed health care regulations to ensure that patients don’t come second to profits.

She says her public service experience as a school trustee sets her apart from her opponent.

Ara teaches at Cerritos College and has been a marriage and family counselor for 27 years. He ran unsuccessfully for the ABC board in 1997. A former Catholic priest, he left the priesthood in 1956 when he was married.

He criticized Royce for being too conservative, especially in voting against the assault weapon ban. He says he is the best choice to defeat Royce because he has “a broad range of experience” working with government agencies. He has run anti-poverty programs and helped create an outreach agency to Asian immigrants in Long Beach in the 1970s.