Retaliating, Tony Hope Says Gallegly Deserted GOP

Congressional candidate Tony Hope, who has been criticized for his poor voting record, turned the tables Tuesday on Simi Valley Mayor Elton Gallegly, his primary opponent and chief critic, by revealing that the mayor has not always been a registered Republican.

In 1974, during the Watergate Era, Gallegly canceled his Republican affiliation and became an unaffiliated voter, according to an affidavit that Hope obtained from the Ventura County registrar of voters.

Armed with the evidence, Hope held two press conferences Tuesday to chastise Gallegly for leaving the GOP when the party was at its nadir.

“How did Mr. Gallegly answer the crisis of our Republican Party and our nation?” Hope asked. “Mr. Gallegly went to the registrar of voters and, knowingly and deliberately, deserted the Republican Party.”

Gallegly, one of three Republican candidates in the 21st District congressional race, said he does not remember dropping his party registration. He could provide no reason for the switch.

‘Long Time Ago’

“I can’t say I did or I didn’t,” Gallegly said. “Twelve years is a long time ago.”

Later, his campaign consultant acknowledged that registration records show that Gallegly abandoned his GOP affiliation from May 2, 1974, until Nov. 2, 1976.

There was irony in Hope’s announcement, because it was Gallegly who in April initiated the investigations of voting backgrounds. He disclosed that records showed Hope had not registered to vote during his 10-year residence in Washington until shortly before returning to California this year to run for Congress.

Gallegly has questioned Hope’s patriotism and commitment to public service. The mayor has sought to make Hope’s voting record a central issue in the campaign.

Hope, an attorney and the son of entertainer Bob Hope, says he voted by California absentee ballot until 1978. After that, he has said, he registered before two presidential elections but was turned away at the polls, apparently because of an administrative foul-up.

Gallegly was not the only one of the pair to abandon the GOP temporarily. When Hope registered in Washington in January, just before returning to the San Fernando Valley, he did not affiliate himself with a party.

Hope’s Explanation

Hope has explained that he meant to declare himself a Republican but checked the “decline-to-state” box by mistake. He registered as a Republican when he moved to Northridge.

Tom La Porte, the third GOP candidate, asked his opponents Tuesday to stop bickering. La Porte, an executive in Thousand Oaks with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., the stock brokerage, said the two are giving the Democrats ammunition for the general election.

Hope and Gallegly should stop airing their “vicious” radio ads, La Porte said at a Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheon attended by all the 21st District candidates. “Talk about the positive things you have to offer and quit chewing each other up,” La Porte urged.

The other two candidates did not respond to his appeal.