From my perspective, the upshot of this episode is the effectiveness of using the immigration card as misdirection in an issue involving illegal, alien activities.
Many on this forum were sucked in almost instantly and the subject of the letter was lost in the debate. I will promise that the Orange County Republican Party and the governor did not make their abrupt allegations because they were afraid of a few illegal voters. Their fear is that eligible, legitimate voters in the Hispanic community might be motivated to actually vote.
The head of the California Republican Party didn't accuse Nguyen, but said that if the candidate was involved he should get out of the race."The California Republican Party has zero tolerance for any attempt to disenfranchise voters. If it is proven that a candidate was responsible for this action, that candidate is clearly not fit to serve the people of California and should withdraw immediately from his or her race," Duf Sundheim, chair of the party, said in a statement.
Baugh said he didn't think the controversy would hurt the Republican Party. "There are bad actors in the Democratic Party, and in all parties there are individuals who cross the line," he said. "The important thing is that the Republican Party takes swift and thorough action once they become aware of the improper conduct."
This part went beyond jockeying on behalf of the party, IMO:
Scott Baugh said he believes the candidate, Tan D. Nguyen, personally urged printers to expedite the delivery of the flyer. He said the Orange County party will no longer support Nguyen's candidacy. "While it makes it difficult to win under these circumstances, when a campaign demonstrates inability to comply with the law, voters should not support that effort," Baugh said. He is urging voters in the 47th Congressional District to write in the name of Nguyen's primary opponent.
As I understand it, the OC party never supported his campaign anyway. I wonder what would happen if the Asian community was as vocal as the Latino community in this dust-up. I don't see any comments included in the media. The district is about 20% Asian, IIRC.