Rackauckas Lowers the Boom

A day after Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas handily won a bitter reelection showdown, he transferred or demoted some of his loudest critics amid calls for unity in the district attorney’s office.

The election fight between Rackauckas and Deputy Dist. Atty. Wally Wade was the most bitter district attorney race in recent memory, dividing many in the office. Wade focused his challenge by accusing his boss of interfering in several cases involving campaign contributors and friends--charges Rackauckas has denied.

In the end, the accusations appeared not to sway voters, who gave Rackauckas basically the same margin of victory--62% to 38%--that he had four years ago.

While many prosecutors hoped that election day would bring an end to the infighting that has plagued the office for more than a year, the rhetoric showed little signs of cooling Wednesday.

Rackauckas immediately transferred Wade, as well as some of his most outspoken supporters, to the office’s family-support division. On July 1, that division will be broken off from the district attorney’s office and become part of a state agency. Among those moved were veteran prosecutors Guy Ormes and Jane Shade.

“This must be his idea of good management,” Wade said.

Rackauckas did not respond to an interview request. His chief assistant, Chuck Middleton, issued a statement that said: “Reassignments in the office are always done in order to ensure that the best needs of the office are met.”

Additionally, Rackauckas sent two other prosecutors, including veteran Bob Gannon, to the family-support unit.

Gannon supervised a prosecutor who filed a consumer-protection lawsuit last year against a company owned by billionaire developer George Argyros, a Rackauckas contributor who is now ambassador to Spain. Rackauckas ordered the lawsuit retracted, saying he wanted to continue negotiations with Argyros’ firm. After his actions were criticized, Rackauckas withdrew from the case and handed it to the state attorney general.

Some Rackauckas supporters expressed hope that the transfers will begin a healing process at the office.

“It was a nasty campaign, with a lot of mudslinging by Mr. Wade’s supporters,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Flory said. “If the office is going to come together, it doesn’t do any good to have any malcontents. We need to act together as a team again.”

The job transfers came the day after Rackauckas cruised to reelection. Wade accused his boss of lacking integrity, saying the Argyros case was one of several in which Rackauckas used his influence to benefit political allies.

A union representing county prosecutors voted to endorse Wade, the first time in its history the union chose not to endorse an incumbent.

Rackauckas in turn accused Wade of incompetence, and his campaign suggested Wade wasn’t up to the job of district attorney. Rackauckas said turmoil in the office was caused by his critics who dredged up false accusations against him.

Wade’s criticism did not resonate with voters. A Times poll conducted two weeks before the election found that just 7% of likely voters felt Rackauckas had ethical problems.

In the days before the election, Wade’s former campaign manager held a news conference to accuse the candidate of campaign violations and announce her support for Rackauckas. And Rackauckas noted that crime had declined dramatically during his term, a drop he credited to his emphasis on gang prosecutions.

“Wade really thought Rackauckas would hang himself by his own rope, but he just didn’t do that,” said Christian Collet, a visiting professor at UC Irvine and an expert on public opinion polling. “It’s the challenger’s responsibility to bring the electorate’s attention to these issues. This was a systemic, top-to-bottom failure by the Wade campaign to make a strong case against the incumbent.”

Some prosecutors hoped the office politics would now end.