Local News in Brief : Antonovich Fires Aide Over Letter

Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich has dismissed a campaign consultant for writing a fund-raising letter that called his political opponent, Baxter Ward, a “nitwit” and blasted his supporters as a bunch of “weirdos.”

“Mike Antonovich disavows the letter. The language is not the sort of language he uses,” said Roger Scott, Antonovich’s campaign spokesman who emphasized that his boss had never checked the letter’s final draft.

Ward said he was not mad after reading the letter, which was signed by Antonovich’s father, but did feel sorry for his long-time political nemesis. He announced Thursday that he will lend the supervisor’s campaign $250 because “I didn’t realize the campaign’s finances were that desperate.”

The three-page letter was mailed to 8,000 to 10,000 supporters earlier this month. Its author was Mike Thompson, a Washington-area consultant who could not be reached for comment.

The letter says Antonovich is “opposed by the same Baxter Ward who Mike defeated in 1980! Now this nitwit is back, and we have to stop him once again.” It also says, “The weirdos are out to get Mike--the Hollywood radical types, the local liberal activists, the extreme environmentalists, and the gay and lesbian activists as well.”