Paramount : D.A. Declines to Investigate Murray’s Election Mailers

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has rejected a request to investigate whether Assemblyman Willard H. Murray (D-Paramount) sent out unauthorized campaign mailers in his 1988 campaign.

The mailers contained endorsements of Murray from the National Rifle Assn. and such politicians as U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.).

James Hickey, deputy district attorney in the special investigations unit, said in a letter made public Wednesday that there are no state laws which apply to the circumstances alleged in a complaint lodged by former Assemblyman Paul E. Zeltner (R-Lakewood), whom Murray defeated in the 1988 election.

Murray’s 1988 campaign received a crucial last-minute boost when the NRA endorsed his candidacy. After the election, NRA officials blasted Murray for sending out an unauthorized endorsement letter and asked that the issue be investigated. But the group later withdrew the request.

In the meantime, Zeltner sought an investigation of the NRA endorsement, as well as the mailers in which Murray was endorsed by Cranston, then-Rep. Claude Pepper (D-Fla.), Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and former Assemblyman Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower).