ELECTION FRAUD: Democrat Tammy Kim Charged with 11 Felonies, Faces Decade in Prison if Guilty on All Charges

Will Tammy Kim be the first to face real consequences in Orange County’s recent wave of fraudulent campaigns?

Former Irvine City Councilmember Tammy Kim, a Democrat, has been charged with multiple felonies, including falsifying her address to run in the city’s District 5 special election. If found guilty on all 11 charges, she could face over ten ten years in prison.

And, if she is convicted for perjury, she would be banned from ever holding public office again in her life.

When SoCal Daily Pulse first reported on the investigation back in February, Kim called the ordeal a “baseless legal challenge” and attested “they are targeting me because I prioritized our community's needs over their profit-driven agenda.” Similarly, Democratic Party of Orange County Chair Florice Hoffman released a statement stating that it was “clear that the legal antics were driven by Sacramento Republican operatives working to boost big corporate players in a bid to supplant the will of Irvine voters.”

Both takes are, frankly, alarming.

In reality, regardless of what Hoffman or Kim would like to believe, it appears that Kim claimed in her campaign filings—under penalty of perjury—that she resided in a home occupied by a Korean family of four. Their address was used without the family’s knowledge, according to prosecutors’ reports. 

A statement from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer’s office reads that Kim is “accused of changing both her California driver’s license and voter registration to the address of a home on Alaris Aisle, an address at which she had never lived.” Additional charges include three felony counts of perjury by declaration, three felony counts of filing false documents, and one felony count for aiding the illegal casting of votes as a public official, as well as one felony count of submitting false nomination papers, one count of knowingly registering an ineligible voter, one count of voter registration fraud, and one misdemeanor count for making a false statement.

Prior to the felony charges, Kim told her supporters that she was “agreeing to be off the ballot.” Not as an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, but because she feared she would face “harassment.”

“I’m recentering my life, I’m tired of the constant harassment. It’ll be never-ending,” said Kim. 

In retrospect, it seems obvious that Kim may have seen the writing on the wall and may have sought to minimize punishment by bowing out from the race. But felonies are felonies—and if Kim is found guilty, not seeing the special election through will be the least of her concerns. 

As explored in our prior reporting, there is an alarming rise of fraudulent and deceptive campaigns in local Orange County races involving candidates falsifying paperwork or launching phony campaigns. Our team previously blew the whistle on Fullerton’s Scott Markowitz, who was arrested for election fraud and hit with two felony charges. There was also the case of Rancho Santa Margarita Mayor Carole Gamble, who pleaded guilty to falsifying nomination paperwork. Both candidates received paltry punishments of 160 hours of community service and just one year of probation each. 

Though the District Attorney’s office does not determine what an offender’s final sentence will be, many Orange County residents are voicing their frustrations on Spitzer's recent Twitter/X post on the case: “Lifetime ban is a slap on the wrist for undermining the democratic process,” comments one user.

Perhaps Kim’s case will buck the trend. If a disgraced elected official were convicted and sentenced to a decade in prison, it would undoubtedly serve as a grave warning to the public—whether in Southern California or across the country—that deliberately lying to voters is something law enforcement takes extremely seriously and will not be tolerated going forward.

Or, like all the others, she will get a slap on the wrist and be sent on her way.