Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : COUNTY : Sumner Wins Latest Round
It has been four months since the primary election, but Democrats Bruce W. Sumner and Art Hoffmann still are fighting over who will challenge incumbent Congressman Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) in November.
Sumner, a write-in candidate, was declared the winner after a recount in June. Again last week he won the latest round when a state appellate court rejected Hoffmann’s effort to have the case reviewed. Hoffmann, a follower of political extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr., claimed the recount was fraudulent.
But justices of the 4th District Court of Appeal said only Congress can decide whether a member has been fairly elected. So Hoffmann can either appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court or go directly to the U.S. House of Representatives.
However, attorneys for both sides noted that Congress has never ruled on a challenge to a primary election result. Sumner’s attorney, Frank P. Barbaro, said he would “love to go back and take on Mr. LaRouche in front of Congress.”
County Democrats convinced Sumner to campaign as a write-in candidate when Hoffmann materialized as the only name on the Democratic slate in the 40th Congressional District.
Sumner said he is “delighted that we can put aside the question of who won the primary election and concentrate on the general election.”
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