Assembly Candidate’s Negative Mailer Misfires

An eleventh-hour negative mailer apparently backfired Friday on John Kellogg, a GOP candidate in the 68th Assembly District race, when two Assembly members withdrew their endorsements of him saying the attack was unfair.

In trying to gain an edge in Tuesday’s primary election, Kellogg mailed fliers to central Orange County homes assailing candidate Ken Maddox for his “ties to a convicted child molester.”

Maddox quickly complained to the county GOP ethics committee, which set a hearing for 3 p.m. today.

He charged in a letter to the committee that he was the target of “a libelous campaign hit piece” by Kellogg that contained “totally preposterous and offensive” allegations.

Kellogg’s mailer asserts that Maddox paid political consultant Tim Carey $2,800 to get on Carey’s slate mailer, which is called the California Voter Guide. It then points out that Carey was convicted of molesting a 12-year-old girl and contends that Maddox should not be doing business with him.

“But politician Ken Maddox is so desperate to hold political office that he just doesn’t care,” says the flier, which arrived at homes Friday.

The mailer caused a whirlwind of calls among GOP officials. Assemblymen Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) and Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) dropped their endorsements of Kellogg. Morrissey called it “unfair.” Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) called it “despicable.”

Baugh said he was “deeply disappointed in John” and switched his support to Maddox. “There is no room for character assassination in politics,” Baugh said. “It just adds to cynicism that people already have.”

Kellogg could not be reached for comment, but his consultant Chris Jones defended the move, saying: “We stand by the facts of the mailing.”

Jones also contended that Maddox ignited the attack by dumping on Kellogg first in a “phony comparison piece” that called Kellogg a “trial lawyer” and claimed he recently moved to the district.

Kellogg has lived in the district for 12 years and is a lawyer who works for trucking companies, Jones said.

Carey declined to speak to a reporter, but others said his record is known in political circles. Carey pleaded no contest to felony charges in 1992 and was sentenced to six months in jail and five years’ probation.

Maddox, a police officer and Garden Grove council member, pleaded ignorance. “I don’t know who carries the slates,” he said. “He could be my taxi driver for all I know.”