In race for state Assembly, Friedman questions delegate votes, endorsement for Kassakhian

The California Democratic Party on Wednesday will review the validity of contested delegate votes in favor of City Clerk Ardy Kassakhian to earn him the group’s endorsement in his bid for state Assembly.

The party held a caucus over the weekend to determine who would win the endorsement between Kassakhian and Councilwoman Laura Friedman in the race for the 43rd Assembly District seat currently held by Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Glendale).

Kassakhian reportedly received 49 delegate votes in his favor, compared to Friedman’s 20, giving the city clerk the required 60% threshold to clinch the endorsement.

However, Friedman’s camp claims 18 of those votes should be negated because they were made by individuals ineligible to vote.

Tossing out those votes would lower Kassakhian’s total below the threshold and leave the assembly race without an endorsement from the state’s Democratic Party.

Parke Skelton, a campaign consultant for Friedman, said Kassakhian’s 18 contested delegates were appointed by various elected officials in the 43rd district after the eligibility date.

He said that, as the party’s bylaws state, that date would be eight weeks before the first caucus, meaning last December.

“Kassakhian has had elected officials who have endorsed him force their appointed delegates from outside the district to ‘resign’ and then reappoint them with Kassakhian supporters,” Skelton said in a statement. “This is a clear violation of state Democratic Party rules, and the party has stated that all of these ballots will be challenged.”

The party’s Compliance Review Commission is expected to announce its ruling on Wednesday.

Larry Levine, a campaign consultant for Kassakhian, said all of the delegates that voted for the city clerk were residents of the 43rd Assembly District and that the selection of their appointment abides by the same section of the bylaws to which Skelton referred.

“In essence, what it boils down to is, we found out what the rules were, [Friedman’s campaign] knew what the rules were and we played by the rules,” Levine said in a phone interview. “[Friedman’s campaign] opted to not participate or they tried to participate and failed and now they’re asking the party to reverse its position to rescue them from their own negligence.”

Skelton said he also took issue with a press release Kassakhian’s camp issued, stating “Ardy Kassakhian wins solid victory in 43rd assembly district endorsement vote.”

However, in the body of the release the victory referred to receiving more votes than Friedman, but also acknowledged that he was shy of winning the endorsement.