VENTURA : County Democrats Seek to Oust Member

The Democratic Club of Ventura will ask one of its representatives on the county’s Democratic Central Committee to resign because he has publicly endorsed a Republican state Assembly candidate, officials said Monday.

Bennett Tremaine has endorsed Brooks Firestone instead of Democrat Mindy Lorenz in the 35th Assembly District race. The district covers Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula and most of Santa Barbara County.

Tremaine, 55, not only supports Firestone but has agreed to let the Republican candidate use his name and endorsement in campaign literature.

“Brooks Firestone is one of the best candidates for state Assembly I’ve ever met, regardless of party affiliation,” Tremaine is quoted as saying in one recent Firestone press release.

Tremaine said Monday that he believes Lorenz to be too liberal. He criticized her for opposing the death penalty and for her past affiliations with the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party.

“I do not believe she is a loyal Democrat,” said Tremaine, adding that he has been a registered Democrat for 25 years.

Meanwhile, Lorenz questioned Tremaine’s own party loyalty.

“I think he should resign” his membership to the Democratic club and the county central committee, she said. “He has no business being in a leadership position.” The central committee performs basic party functions such as recruiting candidates, registering voters and getting people to the polls on election day.

Darlene Mosser, acting president of the Democratic Club, said she will recommend that Tremaine resign from the club, of which he has been a member for about two years.

As of Monday, Tremaine said he had not been asked to step down. He did say, however, that he would probably fight any attempt to remove him from the club.