Don’t Endorse in Race, Carpenter Urges

Saying he is “disappointed and hurt” that some opponents have made a campaign issue of his recent indictment, Board of Equalization member Paul Carpenter has urged delegates to the Democratic state convention not to make an endorsement in his race.

While assuring delegates that he would remain a candidate for reelection, Carpenter said he has withdrawn his name from consideration for a party endorsement and suggested it would be in the “best interest” of Democrats if none of his opponents were endorsed either.

Carpenter, a former state senator, was indicted by a federal grand jury in March on four counts of extortion, racketeering and conspiracy. The indictments, which stemmed from an FBI investigation of political corruption in Sacramento, accused him of using his position as a legislator to illegally solicit campaign contributions from special-interest groups.

“Because of my indictment, I believe it would be unfair to place you and the other Democratic officeholders and candidates in the awkward position of having to support me for convention endorsement,” he wrote in a letter to each delegate.

Calling the charges against him spurious, Carpenter wrote the delegates to this weekend’s convention in Los Angeles that he would have withdrawn from the campaign had he not been confident that he would be exonerated.

Then in a postscript he added: “I am disappointed and hurt by the attacks being made against me by fellow Democrats. I sincerely hope that you will reserve judgment of me until after the trial is over.”

One supporter said that by sending the letter Carpenter hoped to avoid an embarrassing floor fight with the indictment as the focus of discussion.

Indeed, Torrance City Councilman Tim Mock, one of Carpenter’s five opponents in the race for the District 4 seat on the tax authority board, said he had intended to make an issue of the indictment during the one minute that candidates are allotted to speak to the convention. He said he had also sent letters to delegates suggesting that the election of Carpenter would pave the way for a Republican victory in the November general election.

Long Beach City Councilman Warren Harwood, another candidate in the race, said it would be a political victory for Carpenter if the convention makes no endorsement. “He knows he has the cards to win if none of the rest of us can get our message across,” Harwood said.

Carpenter represents southern and central Los Angeles County on the five-member board, which administers state sales, liquor, cigarette and fuel taxes and acts as an appellate body on income tax matters.