Jones Takes Aim at Riordan’s Wife

Secretary of State Bill Jones stepped up his attacks on the front-runner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination Tuesday, releasing a letter in which the chairman of the Maryland Republican Party complains that the wife of former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has raised money for the Democrat running for governor in Maryland.

Campaign records show that Nancy Daly Riordan has contributed $3,000 since 2000 to Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, including $2,000 in October, when Riordan was assembling his team to run for governor.

Riordan campaign officials said Tuesday evening that they did not believe that Daly Riordan held any fund-raisers. One event she planned to co-sponsor in October was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“The fact that Mr. Riordan’s wife, whose politics I do not know, is aggressively and successfully raising money for Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, at best, sends a poor message to California and Maryland Republicans,” Maryland GOP Chairman Michael S. Steele wrote to his California counterpart, Shawn Steel, on Jan. 2. “At its worst, it suggests that Mr. Riordan and his supporters back the campaign of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.”

Riordan has been criticized by his two rivals in the March 5 primary for giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates over the years, including former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, state Sen. John Burton of San Francisco and Gov. Gray Davis, the man Riordan now hopes to unseat. But the contributions of Riordan’s wife, a children’s advocate who has helped raise money for some Democrats, have rarely been cited by the former mayor’s foes.

Riordan campaign officials said Daly Riordan, a registered Democrat, has stopped giving money to Democratic candidates.

On Tuesday, as Jones continued a bus tour through Southern California, he said Daly Riordan’s actions meant her husband should not be the Republican Party’s nominee. “They both represent our party,” Jones said. If Riordan becomes governor, Jones said, his wife “will be called upon to help raise money for our party.”

Riordan campaign manager Ron Hartwig stressed that Riordan’s wife had ceased any Democratic fund-raising by the time the Maryland official wrote his letter. “This should not be an issue in a campaign,” he said. “Mrs. Riordan has indicated her political affiliation, and as an individual she has a right to her political affiliation. Mr. Jones should be focused on the issues, as Dick Riordan is.”

The back-and-forth over Riordan’s wife opened a new front in the continuing assaults from the underfunded Jones. Before an Orange County stop to tout his education plan, the secretary of state started his day outside a downtown high-rise that the Los Angeles Unified School District is buying for $74 million. The building is partly owned by billionaire Eli Broad, who with Riordan helped lead a successful campaign to replace school board members and the district superintendent.

“Mayor Riordan’s real record on education is one of failure and favoritism, with the kids coming in dead last,” Jones declared.

The Riordan campaign dismissed Jones’ education criticism, noting that test scores are up in L.A. Unified since the board members the former mayor backed were elected. “While Bill Jones is focusing on trivial issues, trying to spin his way out of third place and being an armchair quarterback, Richard Riordan is focusing on what’s in the best interests of children,” Riordan spokeswoman Kim Serafin said.