STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL : Smith Calls Lungren Hypocritical on Mailer

The battle of the misleading slate mailers heated up another notch Saturday with Democratic state attorney general candidate Arlo Smith accusing Republican opponent Dan Lungren of trying to deceive Democratic voters through his appearance on a mass mailing to Los Angeles-area Democrats.

“Dan Lungren is duplicitous and hypocritical,” Smith said, citing a slate mailer distributed over the weekend titled “Attention Democrats: Election Day Voting Guide.”

The mailer, festooned with an American flag, endorses Democratic state candidates, including Dianne Feinstein for governor, Leo T. McCarthy for lieutenant governor and March Fong Eu for secretary of state. However, for attorney general, the mailer endorses Lungren, who paid for his name to be included.

Lungren on Friday held a press conference in Los Angeles to criticize the inclusion of Smith’s name on a mailer called the Republican Vote by Mail Project. In addition, the state Republican Party filed an official complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

In a letter to Smith, Lungren wrote that the mailer “interfere(d) in the democratic process by falsely suggesting that I am not supported by my party, or worse, that you are the Republican endorsed candidate.”

Said Smith: “First he was criticizing the fact I was on one of these mailers--now he’s on one. . . . He’s got a double standard.”

Lungren spokesman Dave Puglia defended the former five-term congressman’s inclusion on the earlier mailer, saying the new mailer “makes absolutely no pretenses about being an official party mailer.” Moreover, Puglia said, the mailer clearly indicates with an asterisk that Lungren paid to be included, whereas the Republican Vote mailer endorsing Smith contained no similar indication.

“What’s misleading about it when it says, ‘Attention Democrats’?” Puglia asked. “Does it say anywhere that Democrats can’t vote for Dan Lungren? We think many Democrats will.”

Tim Carey of Republic Communications, which published the mailer, said Saturday that he took an extra step to avoid deception by including, in small print, the statement, “Candidates selected independent of party affiliation.” The mailer, however, does not identify Lungren as a Republican.

The mailer sent to Democratic voters also includes paid endorsements of Republican State Board of Equalization candidates Claude W. Parrish and Joe Adams.