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LOCAL ELECTIONS / 44TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Hoge Assails Rival Campaign’s Use of Letter by Ex-Wife : Woman says Pasadena assemblyman’s gambling addiction contributed to their divorce in 1971. He calls the action a ‘desperate ploy’ and denies that he ever had a problem.

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

In campaign literature portrayed by the incumbent as a “Nixonian dirty trick,” the ex-wife of Assemblyman Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena) says that he suffered from a “serious gambling addiction” that helped destroy their marriage.

The eleventh-hour allegation comes as Hoge is seeking reelection Tuesday in the 44th Assembly District while facing charges from Democratic opponent Bruce Philpott that he 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 treasury since 1992, records show. As a freshman legislator, Hoge wrote six bills to benefit horse racing or card clubs, casting a number of votes in favor of those interests.

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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 in 1993 when there was no election to pay for.

The contributions also pegged Hoge as being vulnerable to a challenge by Democratic Party leaders who are 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).

A “Dear Friend” letter from Hoge’s former wife, which the Philpott campaign was preparing to mail to 60,000 households Friday, does not mention that the marriage ended in divorce in 1971, nearly a generation ago.

“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.”

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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.”

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In an interview, Flournoy said she recalled times when she and Hoge would spend weekends in Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe and he would remain 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 wanted to attend graduate school over Hoge’s objections, she said. He sought a more traditional relationship in which the wife remained 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.”

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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. Flournoy settled on writing a letter for the campaign to use, she said, in lieu of making a contribution to the effort to unseat her former husband.

Previously, she had been a financial contributor to EMILY’s List, a Democratic 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.

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Flournoy’s offer caught the attention of top party leaders who wanted 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 wrote 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 citizens could still persuade their city council to block such an annexation.

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He also defended the portion of the bill that would have allowed the state to enforce gambling debts. Opponents warned that 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 that pulling his ex-wife into the campaign amounted to a “Nixonian dirty trick,” Philpott said 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 political action committees that are recipients of special interest money.

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

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