Following his dad’s lead

Running his campaign out of his Newport Beach home, Republican 70th District Assembly candidate Jay Ferguson hopes to win the seat his father held for 10 years.

“I’m totally an outsider,” Jay Ferguson said. “I’m not a lawyer or a career politician, but I did kind of want to do this for a long time.”

Jay Ferguson, 51, works as a general contractor and real estate agent in Newport.

His dad is the late Gil Ferguson, who held the 70th District Assembly seat from 1984 to 1994.

The Ferguson family has lived in Newport Beach since 1970. Jay Ferguson and his two daughters are all graduates of Corona del Mar High School. He and his wife, Sheila, have been married for 23 years.

As a college student, Jay Ferguson helped out with his father’s assembly campaigns, and his unsuccessful 1994 state Senate bid.

A retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Colonel, Gil Ferguson served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

As an assemblyman, Gil Ferguson was known as a firebrand conservative. He unsuccessfully tried to ban the sale of sexually explicit magazines from sidewalk newsstands and handing out free condoms to teenagers.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar ordered flags to be flown at half-staff after the 84-year-old former assemblyman’s death in 2007.

One of Jay Ferguson’s biggest supporters is his mom, Anita Ferguson.

“I’m very excited for him,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful. He really believes in the Republican party and is a true conservative.”

Jay Ferguson faces a four-way Republican primary in June, when he will face off with Tustin Councilman Jerry Amante, Irvine attorney Don Wagner and Irvine Councilman Steven Choi.

Jay Ferguson said he plans to do his campaigning the old fashioned way, going door to door in Newport Beach in the weeks ahead.

“I’m just going to be going door to door, seeing what’s important to people and how I can represent the city,” he said.

On The Web

For more information on Newport Beachr resident Jay Ferguson’s Assembly campaign, visit www.fergusonforassembly.com.