Katz Drops 1 Lawsuit but Announces Another

Only two years ago, term limits forced Richard Katz out of office at the pinnacle of his power. Before he left the capital, he was a Democratic leader and an influential Sacramento pol who was credited with masterminding his party’s return to power in the Assembly.

On Thursday, Katz apparently closed the book on his storied 16-year political career when he withdrew a legal challenge to the state Senate primary he lost in June. It was a campaign that he had hoped would return him to leadership in the Legislature.

“It may be time for me to do something different,” he said somberly at a news conference.

But Katz refused to go quietly.

Although he withdrew one lawsuit, he announced another against the two men he blames for sullying his name in a campaign flier that he believes cost him the election.

“What they did in this mailing goes to the core of what I have done in my career,” Katz said.

The candidate lost the Democratic primary by 29 votes to City Councilman Richard Alarcon, a defeat Katz blames on the mailer issued by his foe’s biggest supporter, state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles).

The mailer--written by Alarcon’s campaign consultant, Richie Ross--falsely linked Katz to a 1988 incident in Orange County in which Republican candidates posted guards around voting booths to intimidate Latinos. In fact, Katz led a lawsuit against the Republicans involved in the case.

A clearly disappointed Katz said Thursday that he could not walk away from the campaign without first trying to clear his name. He also hopes the defamation suit will strike a blow against the kind of campaign tactics he blames for his loss.

“If I’m not going to be in politics in the future, then I’d at least like to think that I made a difference,” he said.

An aide to Polanco dismissed the defamation suit as frivolous and fired back, accusing Katz of being unable to accept defeat.

“It appears Katz is playing the blame game,” said Bill Mabie, Polanco’s chief aide. “First he said the votes were not counted right. Then he blamed Alarcon. Now he is suing Sen. Polanco and Richie Ross.”

Ross shrugged off the lawsuit, saying Katz should instead sue his own campaign consultant for failing to run a winning campaign.

“I think he is suing the wrong political consultant,” Ross said.

At a news conference Thursday morning, Alarcon declared his victory “fully and without hesitation.” He was on his way to Sacramento, he said, to meet with state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco).

“We are at the end of a long road, longer than we expected,” he said, with his wife, Corina; daughter, Claudia; and son, Armando, at his side.

The campaign was hard fought and bitter toward the end. Polanco’s mailer was blasted by the Anti-Defamation League and other groups. Under pressure from all sides, Ross and Alarcon apologized for the mailer after the election, admitting that it carried a false implication about Katz.

After the tally gave Alarcon the victory, Katz called for a recount, alleging voting irregularities. But he dropped his effort when it became clear that Alarcon’s lead was increasing.

On Thursday, he withdrew the lawsuit that challenged the election, even though he insisted that it would have succeeded had he pursued it.

“To win, we would have had to drag people into court, through the use of the subpoena process and other tactics, and it would be a long, expensive and divisive trial,” he said. “The race-baiting in this campaign has already caused enough damage, and I am not willing to aggravate the situation.”

On Thursday, Alarcon also dropped a cross-complaint he filed against Katz.

The two have not spoken since the campaign.

In his defamation lawsuit, Katz charged that the Polanco mailer was intended to “adversely affect Katz’s reputation, credibility and integrity and his ability to successfully campaign for the 20th Senate District seat.”

The suit alleges that Polanco and Ross “acted with reckless disregard” for the truth when they created and issued the campaign mailer. The suit does not ask for specific damages.

But Katz’s contentions may be difficult to prove.

Rex Heinke, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in 1st Amendment law, said Katz must show that Polanco and Ross knew that the tie between Katz and the poll guards was wrong but nonetheless tried to make the implication in the mailer.

“The fact that it’s false does not create liability,” he said. “You have to show that he understood what the implication was and he intended that implication.”

Two years ago, Republican congressional hopeful Richard Sybert filed a libel suit against his former Democratic foe, Rep. Anthony Beilenson, alleging that Beilenson besmirched Sybert’s reputation in campaign mailers.

An appeals court not only dismissed the suit, but it mocked Sybert for filing the case, calling it frivolous.

“Hyperbole, distortion, invective and tirades are as much a part of American politics as kissing babies and distributing bumper stickers and potholders,” wrote state appellate Justice Arthur Gilbert.

Still, an attorney for Katz, Tony Glassman, said he believes that he has a strong case against Polanco and Ross.

“It’s hard to imagine that anyone would not know that Katz was not involved with the poll guard incident,” Glassman said.

Regardless of what happens with the lawsuit, Katz said he had no immediate plans to run for another office. In fact, he believes his chances of winning a seat in the Valley have been ruined because of the Polanco mailer.

Katz is an appointed member of the California Medical Assistance Commission, a post that pays him $78,000 a year, with a $20,000 raise due in December.