CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS : Parties and Positions Can Blur in Slate Mailers

The official-looking voters’ guide from the California Democratic Alliance may seem as if it came straight to your mailbox from the state Democratic Party.

But if so, what is Wilbert Smith, a conservative Republican running for state superintendent of public instruction, doing on it? Or Stuart Hirsh, a candidate for judge who faces suspension by the State Bar for multiple acts of misconduct and describes his politics as “just to the right of Genghis Khan”?

Welcome to the world of slate mailers, where, like Alice’s Wonderland, things are not always what they seem.

While critics contend that slate cards are inherently deceptive--they look like official endorsements but actually are paid political ads--millions are being mailed statewide in the final days before Tuesday’s California primary election.

And this year, with no incumbents running in six of the nine statewide races, the tricky missives are playing a particularly significant role, especially in the “down-ticket” races below those for governor and U.S. senator.

Candidates in these contests, as well as in hundreds of local races, rely heavily on slate mailers, which provide a relatively cheap way--and for some the only way--to get their names before voters. Their names typically appear next to those of candidates in the big races for governor and U.S. Senate in a format festooned in red, white and blue and bearing icons of donkeys or elephants, depending on the “endorsing” party.

Virtually every major candidate for statewide office below that of governor has bought space on one or more slate cards. Struggling for name recognition, treasurer candidate Phil Angelides and insurance commissioner candidate Burt Margolin have each plunked down more than $300,000 to appear in the “Voters Guide”--one of the granddaddies of slate cards, which will reach about 2 million Democratic households.

And there are the lesser-known mailers, such as the California Democratic Alliance, produced by political consultant Fred Huebscher, who covers all the political bases by selling space on slate cards titled “Citizens for Republican Values” and the “Independent Voters League.”

Often employing sophisticated technology, the slate card operators target their mailings to carefully defined groups of voters. There are law-and-order cards aimed at senior citizens, and pro-abortion rights cards aimed at Democratic women. Most slate mailer entrepreneurs boast of the ability to identify and reach “high propensity” voters--those who year after year show up at the polls for primaries and special elections.

Critics say the people behind the commercial slate cards are callous profit seekers, with no qualms about deceiving voters while selling space to the highest bidder. Often, well-known candidates appear at the top of the card without their knowledge and without paying a dime, just to add luster to the slate.

“I have been concerned for a long time by the deception practiced by the slate mailers,” said Assemblyman Byron D. Sher (D-Palo Alto). Although disclosure requirements have gradually been tightened over the years--requiring the mailers to say that they are not prepared by official party organizations and to identify which candidates paid for the mailing with an asterisk--Sher believes that the current rules are inadequate.

Four years ago, a “Democratic” slate card urged votes for Democratic candidates Dianne Feinstein and Kathleen Brown, along with Dan Lungren and Matt Fong. The mailer neglected to mention that Lungren and Fong, who helped pay for the mailing, are Republicans. Feinstein and Brown, both Democrats, did not pay.

The same people who collected $219,000 this year for slots on “Your Pro-Choice Voter Guide” also collected $241,000 for “Your Law and Order Voter Guide.”

Some political consultants complain of implicit blackmail in the selling of the cards--the threat that if one candidate or ballot measure committee is unwilling to pay the asked-for price, an opponent could be included instead.

The people behind the slate mailers defend their business, saying it differs little from selling newspaper or television ads. Yet the slate cards are different because they imply a thoughtful review of candidates and propositions, even though the decisions are often simply a matter of commerce.

One of the pioneers in the business is Democratic political consultant Larry Levine.

Two years ago, Levine and his then-partner, Jill Barad, issued a general election slate card called “Your Ballot Guide.” The version sent to Democrats featured a prominent donkey symbol. It gave space at no cost to national candidates such as Bill Clinton and Al Gore. The version sent to Republicans, featuring an elephant logo, omitted Clinton and Gore.

But common to both was a prominent endorsement for Deane Dana, a Republican running for the nonpartisan post of Los Angeles County supervisor, who paid to be there.

This year, Levine’s “Voter Guide” includes Kathleen Brown at no cost as part of a “Democratic Team to Beat Pete Wilson.” State superintendent of public instruction candidate Maureen DiMarco paid $42,000 to be on the same card. DiMarco is a Democrat, but hardly a member of a team to beat Wilson. Rather, she is a member of his Cabinet, as secretary of child development and education.

“Most of us in the business have some ideological thread woven through what we’re doing,” Levine said. “It may get stretched. Sometimes it may be snapped.”

The slate cards, he said, probably have little impact on the well-funded major campaigns, such as those for governor and U.S. Senate. Those campaigns rely on broadcast advertising and receive abundant coverage in the press, Levine said. It’s the down-ticket races and the local candidates who depend on slates. “It’s an effective means . . . at a low unit cost. It’s another form of advertising for candidates asking, ‘How many times can I get my message to how many people for a buck?’ ”

Not all slate operations are commercial enterprises. Labor unions, trade groups and other organizations pick slates of their own and distribute them to members--often at no cost to the candidates.

This year, the California Democratic Party decided to send out a slate card for the primary, creating friction within Democratic ranks because party Chairman Bill Press had been telling candidates that there would be no mailing.

“Most of these (commercial) consultant slates are purely for-profit, mercenary operations, and the (group) behind them has no standing other than salesmanship, an ability to get candidates to pay,” Press said. “It’s outrageous. I’d much rather see one slate put out by the party and no other slates.”

On the official Democratic slate are Assemblywoman Gwen Moore of Los Angeles for secretary of state, Assemblyman Rusty Areias of San Jose for controller and state Sen. Art Torres of Los Angeles for insurance commissioner, all candidates in partisan races who were formally endorsed at the state party’s April convention.

Press also included Assemblywoman Delaine Eastin (D-Fremont), who is running for the nonpartisan office of state superintendent of public instruction and was endorsed at the convention by acclamation.

However, a 1986 voter-approved initiative bars political parties from endorsing candidates in nonpartisan races. Arguing that it was the party’s 1st Amendment right to inform party members of the convention action, Press included Eastin, who is featured prominently at the top of the card.

The California Republican Party won a state court order temporarily halting the distribution of the final 250,000 of 1 million slate cards with the Eastin endorsement. But on Wednesday, a federal court judge sided with the Democrats--agreeing that the state initiative was invalid and allowing the party to put the remaining cards in the mail.

Last month, the public got a rare look at the inner workings of the commercial side of the slate mailer business, when secretary of state candidate Michael Woo sued Democratic political consultant Clint Reilly for breach of contract. Woo said he was dumped from the Reilly-operated “California Democratic Voter Checklist” after agreeing to pay $90,000 for a place on two mailings to be sent to more than 1 million households.

However, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), a close ally of Moore, phoned Kathleen Brown to complain about Reilly’s decision to sell space to Woo. Reilly is Kathleen Brown’s campaign chairman. After the call, Reilly returned Woo’s $60,000 down payment and agreed to put Moore on the card.

In a court statement, Reilly contended that Woo should have been aware “that I reserve the right to change endorsements and make any changes I see fit in the brochures or cards up to the moment printing starts.”

Woo failed to persuade a San Francisco Superior Court judge to stop the mailing.