Hearing Today on Letter Attacking Lewis : Politics: The assemblyman says opponent Reed’s mailer ‘has blatantly defied the (party’s) ethics statement.’

The Orange County Republican Party’s ethics committee has scheduled a hearing today regarding charges that GOP state Senate candidate Dana Reed should be censured for a letter he sent to voters this week attacking one of his opponents, Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange).

The complaint--filed Wednesday by Lewis--alleges that Reed violated the party’s code of conduct by printing false information in a letter sent to prospective voters in next Tuesday’s special election to replace former state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) in the 35th District.

“Mr. Reed has blatantly defied the (party’s) ethics statement,” Lewis wrote in the complaint. “. . . He mailed a ‘hit piece’ slandering me.”

Reed’s letter raised several controversies that have surrounded Lewis’ political career, including: his indictment in 1989 for allegedly forging former President Ronald Reagan’s signature on campaign literature; a reprimand he received in 1980 from the county’s Republican Party, and his alleged role in a controversial decision in 1988 to hire uniformed guards at polling places in largely Latino precincts in Santa Ana.

Lewis’ forgery indictment was later overturned by an appeals court, and he denies that he ever played a role in the so-called poll guards case. His campaign acknowledged that Lewis was reprimanded by the county Republican Party for giving the misleading impression that he had been endorsed by Reagan, but it took issue with Reed’s use of the term “censure.”

“I think it’s a disgusting mailer put out by a desperate candidate and a desperate campaign,” Lewis said Wednesday. “I think this has really offended a lot of people.”

In a letter to the Republican Party’s Central Committee, Reed said he would participate in the hearing today under two conditions--that an impartial arbiter preside over the inquiry and that he have the right to cross-examine his accuser, Lewis.

“Please be assured that any deprivation of my rights will be vigorously prosecuted to the full extent provided by law,” Reed wrote Wednesday to the party’s executive director, Greg Haskin.

Harvey Englander, Reed’s campaign manager, said his candidate also plans to file a separate complaint against Lewis on another issue if Reed considers the forum to be proper and impartial. Englander would not identify the subject of that complaint.

“Dana stands behind everything in his mailer, but there is a bigger issue here, and that’s the Constitution,” Englander said. “We will not participate in anything where there is not due process.”

County Republican Party Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes said the ethics committee is empowered by a code of conduct that all but one of the Republican candidates in the Senate race have signed. The code of conduct was adopted by the county GOP in order to prevent disputes among Republican candidates.

“Usually, when that commitment is made we do not expect problems, and it is very unfortunate that a week away from the election such problems arise,” Fuentes said. “. . . This is a very intense time in any campaign.”

Tuesday’s election is expected to be close, with at least four of the Republican candidates still considered front-runners--Reed, Lewis and Assembly members Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley). The other candidates are: Republicans William A. Dougherty, John S. Parise, Charles V. Smith and Jim Wronski; Democrat Francis X. Hoffman, and Libertarian Eric Sprik.

If none of the candidates receive more than 50% of the vote--as is expected--a runoff between the top vote-getters of each party will be held May 14.

It has also been a surprisingly low-key race. Reed’s attack on Lewis was one of the only negative letters mailed in the campaign so far. But because the field of candidates is still so tightly bunched, several insiders said they believe that this final week of campaigning could see a number of attacks.

However, Lewis said he was not planning to attack any other candidate. And an independent expenditure committee from Sacramento that is campaigning on Lewis’ behalf said it also will not engage in any attacks.

The race has also been characterized by a severe money shortage that has affected all of the campaigns.

Tony Marsh, a campaign strategist for Frizzelle, said that his candidate has enough money for only one piece of mail and that the subject will be a biographical and political profile.

Still, Marsh said he believes that Reed’s letter “hurts (Lewis) terribly” and that more attacks are likely.

“If John does not respond, he loses,” Marsh said.