Suddenly, Gloves Come Off in Some O.C. Campaigns

The polite veneer of what had been the Orange County political scene seemed in collapse Friday as candidates and supporters--in races big and small--hurled charges and countercharges in the final frenzied days of campaigning.

In one city, a candidate was furious about campaign literature aimed at his bankruptcy. In another, a minister complained that he’d been targeted for taking a position on a controversial ballot measure. And in another, someone who spoke out against a slow-growth measure received a threatening phone call.

Last-minute attempts to gain campaign traction--usually squarely atop another candidate--have become a political fact of life, particularly in more obscure races that get little attention.

“In a low-profile race, people have only one or two pieces of information about a candidate, and if one of them is negative, that could be decisive,” said John J. Pitney, an associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College who lives in Anaheim.

“And when you attack at the last minute,” said Pitney, “you deprive your opponent of an opportunity to respond.” In many local elections, many voters still haven’t made up their minds as election day nears. That makes eleventh-hour mailings enticing, political consultants said.

“If it’s based in fact and it’s substantiated, then a late hit on your opponent can have an impact,” said consultant Adam Probolsky, who is mailing a piece this weekend urging defeat of a council candidate in Irvine.

Such hardball tactics are standard fare. In 1998, an unsuccessful Orange County Assembly candidate was reprimanded by the county Republican Party for sending a mailer tying his rival to a convicted child molester.

In Tustin, council candidate Ken Morrison said Friday that he plans to sue a group that sent out a four-page mailer accusing him of defaulting on $155,000 in loans and credit card debt through a 1996 bankruptcy.

Morrison acknowledged that he filed for bankruptcy, but said many of the mailer’s charges were “so false that I don’t want to dignify them with a response.” Many of the debts listed in the flier were fully paid, he said.

“I’m sickened and disgusted, and I think Tustin voters resent these last-minute, dirty smear campaigns,” Morrison said.

Representatives of the group that sent the mailer, the Orange County Leadership Council, did not return calls for comment.

The group’s treasurer, Corliss Delameter, is campaign treasurer for two other Tustin council candidates, Doug Davert and Ken Eckman.

Elsewhere in Orange County, police were investigating a threatening phone call Friday to someone who has spoken out against Measure U. The measure would stop the city from issuing most building permits until a key roadway segment is built.

In Brea, the Rev. Sam Scheibler, rector of the Brea Church of the Resurrection, turned off his phone in October because of angry calls challenging his opposition to Measure N, which would make development in some areas more difficult.

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Times staff writer Seema Mehta and correspondent Louise Roug contributed to this report.