Local Elections : 35th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Firestone, Lorenz Use Vitriol in Mailers, Ads

Continuing a bitter battle of campaign mailers, state Assembly candidate Brooks Firestone on Friday characterized his Democratic opponent as a two-faced political extremist, while Mindy Lorenz accused Firestone of being involved in voter fraud.

The race to represent the 35th Assembly District, which includes western Ventura County, has turned even more vitriolic in recent days with both candidates trading blows in campaign mailers and on television and radio.

On Thursday, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury entered the fray by denouncing as false and misleading the Lorenz mailer that mentioned Firestone’s involvement in a voter fraud case.

The case involves two women arrested after submitting dead people’s names as newly registered Republican voters. Although Firestone’s campaign turned in the forms to county election officials, the candidate has maintained that neither he nor his campaign staff knew the registration cards were fakes.

Firestone said there is no way his campaign could have gained by registering dead people to vote, and that independent subcontractors submitted the names for $3 each.

“We got taken,” he said. “And we’ve done everything we can to help the district attorney clear this up.”

But Lorenz said she is not convinced.

“We know his organization employed the two workers, and we know his campaign workers submitted the campaign documents,” she said. “I think it’s important for voters to know what Brooks is involved in before the election.”

Lorenz’s Halloween-themed new flyer depicts a cat walking along a graveyard fence and states in capital letters: “Everyone has skeletons in their closet . . . only Brooks wants his to vote.”

The mailer also states: “Firestone’s campaign authorized paying two workers for submitting names they had taken off of tombstones from our local cemeteries . . . Firestone’s campaign then tried to pass them off as legitimate voters.”

In his statement denouncing the mailer, Bradbury said that the Firestone organization’s only involvement in the case was to assist in the identification and apprehension of the individuals involved.

“Mr. Firestone and his organization are as much victims of the fraud that allegedly occurred here as the general public,” Bradbury said.

Lorenz said she believed her campaign mailer was not misleading, and added that Bradbury has a potential conflict of interest because he has endorsed Firestone for the Assembly.

“We feel the information in the mailer is correct,” she said. “It seems as if Mr. Bradbury has come to conclusions about Brooks Firestone, while the matter is still under investigation.”

Bradbury could not be reached for comment Friday.

Firestone, who said Lorenz’s mailer “took the life out of me,” immediately began airing radio commercials Friday saying that Lorenz “had so misrepresented the truth that the district attorney had to step in to protect voters.”

“We would rather be talking about issues, but we’re forced to do this because of misrepresentation by my opponent,” Firestone says in the ad.

But Lorenz said that it is Firestone who started the mudslinging. Early in the race Firestone sent out mailers with a picture of a color-changing lizard, which was intended to draw attention to Lorenz’s history of switching political parties.

Firestone sent out a second mailer accusing Lorenz of wanting to legalize drugs like cocaine and heroin. And this week, he sent out the third mailer, titled “The Many Faces of Mindy Lorenz,” which accused her of being a political extremist who supports everything from legalizing drugs to illegal immigration.

“I think Firestone set the tone of the campaign with the attacks and lies early on,” Lorenz said. “What I’m trying to do is set the record straight.”