ELECTIONS / STATE AND FEDERAL RACES : Charges and Countercharges as Vote Nears : Assembly: Ex-wife of incumbent claims he suffered from a ‘serious gambling addiction.’ He responds angrily.

In campaign literature that has been characterized by the incumbent as a “Nixonian dirty trick,” the ex-wife of Assemblyman Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena) claims that he suffered from a “serious gambling addiction” that contributed to the marriage’s failure.

The eleventh-hour allegation comes as Hoge is seeking reelection Tuesday while facing charges from Democratic opponent Bruce Philpott that the incumbent is a special friend of the gambling industry.

Horse racing interests, card clubs and a major Nevada casino have pumped $140,000 into Hoge’s campaign coffers since 1992, records show. As a freshman lawmaker, Hoge authored six bills to benefit horse racing or card clubs, casting a number of votes in favor of those interests.

Hoge’s receipt of gambling industry contributions helped earn him the No. 1 spot on California Common Cause’s list of first-term Assembly members who raised special interest money during the off-year of 1993, when there was no election to pay for.

It also pegged him as vulnerable to a challenge by Democratic Party leaders working to unseat as many Assembly Republicans as possible to ensure a Democratic majority and continued power base for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Unmentioned in the “Dear Friend” letters that the Philpott campaign is preparing to mail out is the fact that Hoge’s first marriage ended in divorce in 1971.

“At that point in my life I was 22 or 23 years old,” an angry Hoge, 48, said in an interview, denying that he ever had a gambling problem. “I didn’t have enough money to be addicted to anything. This is a desperate ploy by a desperate candidate.”

On stationery that appears to come from American University in Washington, where Hoge’s former wife, Nancy Flournoy, chairs the Department of Mathematics and Sciences, she writes: “My ex-husband, Assemblyman Bill Hoge, had a serious gambling addiction during our marriage. It contributed to the failure of that marriage.

“It is shameful that he would introduce legislation to allow card rooms to extend credit to others who have that same addiction. I am so sorry.”

In an interview, Flournoy said she recalled times when she and Hoge would weekend in Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe and he would spend all night at gaming tables. She said she also remembered occasions when he would wager on horse races at Santa Anita. The Los Angeles Turf Club, which operates the track there, is one of Hoge’s major contributors, giving him $31,500 since 1992.

“Bill would get to the blackjack tables and become so fixated on them that the rest of the world would disappear,” Flournoy said. “I was not happy with the prospects of that kind of activity.”

The couple, who met in high school and married in July, 1967, decided to break up after Flournoy chose to attend graduate school over Hoge’s objections, she said. He sought a more traditional relationship in which the wife remained at home, she said.

“It was for a combination of reasons,” she said of the divorce, which was finalized in 1971. “It was the whole lifestyle issue. And it was him wanting to spend his time doing something I was not interested in.” Both have remarried and have not spoken to each other since 1971, she said.

Flournoy said she placed a call to the Philpott campaign late last week to volunteer her support after her mother, who lives in the district, sent her some campaign literature. The 44th Assembly District stretches from Sunland-Tujunga to the San Gabriel Valley.

Previously, Flournoy had been a financial contributor to Emily’s List, a women’s political fund-raising group, and Republicans for Choice, which backs abortion rights. Flournoy said she was a registered Republican until her concern over abortion rights caused her to change her party affiliation to Democrat.

Her offer caught the attention of top party leaders who, fearing legal reprisals if Flournoy misrepresented herself, sought to verify her intentions and the validity of her letter before using it in the campaign. At Speaker Brown’s request, the dean of Howard University’s law school in Washington met with Flournoy.

“I determined that she is who she said, she wrote the letter and she stood by what it said,” Judge Henry Ramsey of Howard University said.

But Hoge flatly denied his former wife’s account that he gambled at casinos. “We’re not talking bets at all,” he said.

As for his interest in horse-racing legislation, Hoge said it dates back to when he and his late father, Ken, bred and raced horses at Santa Anita years ago. “My dad and I did this together as a father-son activity,” Hoge said.

The most controversial gambling bill Hoge authored would have expanded opportunities for card rooms and opened the door for gambling on credit. It was vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson at the urging of Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

Hoge defended a provision in the bill that would have enabled a city, without a vote of its residents, to annex an adjoining area with a card club. He said residents could still persuade their city council to block such an annexation.

He also defended the portion of the bill that would have allowed the state to enforce gambling debts. Opponents warned it would have encouraged gambling by credit card.

“By golly, if you have gambling debts then you ought to be responsible for them,’ Hoge said.

In response to Hoge’s charge Thursday that pulling his ex-wife into the campaign amounted to a “Nixonian dirty trick,” Philpott insisted that the disclosure is relevant because of Hoge’s legislative record.

“It speaks to the credibility and character of a candidate,” Philpott said.

But Hoge accused Philpott of being a hypocrite for criticizing him while accepting money from Democratic PACs that are themselves recipients of special-interest money.

“I am right up front telling the world where I got my campaign contributions from,” Hoge said.