Graham Complaint Says GOP Meddled in Primary

The state Fair Political Practices Commission said Tuesday that it is reviewing a complaint by Democratic state Senate candidate Janice Graham alleging that Republicans meddled with her primary campaign earlier this month.

Graham of Laguna Hills said a Republican political action committee in Sacramento was responsible for spending $17,000 to mail copies of a letter in support of her campaign for the special primary for the 31st State Senate District seat held Feb. 6.

Graham won the Democratic primary and will face Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier) in an April 10 runoff election. Hill narrowly defeated Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach).

Political officials speculated that the letter was intended to strengthen Graham’s campaign so that Democratic voters would not defect to Ron Isles, a pro-choice Republican who was appealing to Democrats for support. They also speculated privately that Hill was the intended benefactor of the letter. Hill’s campaign has said it had no knowledge of the mailing.

Officials for the Voter Information League, the source of the letter, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The special primary was held to replace former state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights), who resigned in December. The district straddles the border between Los Angeles and Orange counties, stretching from Whittier and West Covina in the north to Laguna Beach in the south.

Sandra Nichioku, an FPPC spokeswoman in Sacramento, said that Graham’s complaint had been received Tuesday and that there would be no comment until the panel examines the issue.

Graham said the letter may have helped her campaign, but she complained that it was unauthorized and contained inaccurate information that caused some recipients to complain to her office.

She also said that some of the letters were delivered after the primary, “making her campaign look incompetent,” and that the letter led some people to believe she had an alliance with Hill to defeat Isles.

“Frank Hill is the last person that I want to be allied with,” said a Graham statement, which added that Hill is a subject in the FBI’s influence-peddling investigation at the Capitol.