In the past few days, Rancho Palos Verdes residents have received some unusual election mailers that seem to suggest City Council candidate Anthony Misetich -- and in some cases, candidate Brian Campbell -- are Democrats.
The two men are registered Republicans.
Two of the top spenders in the seven-candidate, nonpartisan race for two seats on the council, Misetich and Campbell have received endorsements and support from conservative groups on the Hill. One flyer sent to Republicans calls Misetich a "proven Republican leader."
Now, their names are on a mailer that urges Democrats to "exorcise" their right to vote -- and promotes the legalization of marijuana.
That mailer -- along with another one that more explicitly seeks to link Misetich and other local candidates to Democratic leaders -- has prompted a flurry of e-mails and accusations between the candidates, current council members and local party leaders.
On the first mailer, the statement describing Misetich notes he's endorsed by L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn and former state Sen. Betty Karnette and "local Democrat leaders."
Palos Verdes Peninsula school board candidates Anthony Collatos, Heather Haddon Matson and Greg Royston are on the mailer too. (Matson is a decline-to-state voter and the other two are Democrats, though all three have backing from some staunch PV conservatives. More on that in tomorrow's paper.)
See below for a version sent to me by to a voter in the Eastview area (which is outside of PVPUSD, so it doesn't include school board candidates).
(I'm sorry if you have to squint to read these things. I'm having trouble with our blogging software and can't seem to make them bigger.)
Anyway, these are done by an outfit called Voter Information Guide, out of Sherman Oaks. The mailers are a product of Levine and Associates, run by political consultant Larry Levine. (You'll see his food-related Web site is -- somewhat oddly -- promoted on the mailer.)
Some of the mailers do not include Campbell, who told me he had tried to back out of the mailer once he realized it would include candidates in the school board race, which he described as ugly. The statement about him in the mailer, he said, was pulled directly from his Web site without his permission.
Campbell said he stopped payment on a check to Levine, but the check was cashed anyway. When Campbell realized the check had cleared, he said, his campaign called Levine's office and was told his name was already on some mailers, but he would be removed from the remaining unprinted mailers.
Misetich told me Friday that the mailers were simply part of a slate that he bought onto, and that different messages on similar mailers were targeted at Republican, Democratic and independent voters. He said he didn't think they were deceptive, noting that the mailers never overtly stated he was a Democrat. He also said he had not seen the mailer until Friday morning, when we spoke on the phone.
A consultant to Misetich's campaign, Tom Shortridge (who works for former L.A. Councilman Rudy Svorinich's
firm), noted in turn that a mailer from candidates Jeff Lewis and Paul Tetreault failed to include a name and address for Lewis' campaign committee. Tetreault's was included. Shortridge also suggested that by including a Daily Breeze editorial board statement endorsing Tetreault, the mailer implied the paper had also endorsed Lewis. (The board chose Misetich.)
OK. Are you keeping up?
This morning, I got an email with a new, much nicer-looking mailer from Covina-based "Democratic Voters Choice" that seeks to place Misetich alongside icons of the Democratic Party, with pictures of JFK, FDR, Harry Truman and Barack Obama. Campbell's not on this one, but the three school board candidates mentioned above are, as is PV Library District candidate Barry Yudess.
"This November we can continue to move forward by electing good progressive candidates who share our values," the mailer states. See:
Both of these slate mailer organizations are apparently known for sending out this kind of campaign material. I'm also told that deceptive Republicans-as-Democrats mailers have been sent out in past RPV council elections.
Whew. Happy Halloween!
