Ruling Lets Candidate’s Words Win

A GOP Assembly candidate on Tuesday won the right to keep a ballot statement that derides “good old boys” in Orange County’s Republican establishment -- who, she says, are trying to derail her campaign.

Scott Moody, an activist aligned with county Republican Chairman Tom Fuentes, petitioned as a citizen for a court order to change Marianne Zippi’s statement in a pamphlet that will go to voters for the March primary in the 70th Assembly District. Moody’s petition was rejected not on the merits but because of a filing deadline.

Moody contended that Zippi’s statement illegally referred to her opponents rather than discussing only her qualifications for office. A California political reform law enacted in 1996 said “candidate statements shall not include any references to a candidate’s opponent or opponents.”

Zippi’s statement begins: “If you are tired of the ‘good old boys’ and ‘insiders’ choosing who runs for State Assembly (they tried to stop me) or think it’s wrong for the wealthy person to buy the office, or think there are already too many lawyers in politics, then vote for me.”

Moody’s lawyer, Bruce Peotter, contends that those comments refer directly to two of the other candidates: Chuck DeVore, a member of the county’s Republican Central Committee, and Don Wagner, the only lawyer in the race.

Superior Court Commissioner Eleanor M. Falk on Tuesday ruled that Moody’s petition came too late, rejecting Peotter’s argument that the 10 calendar days allotted for the public to review and file court challenges should have taken into account weekend days that the county registrar’s office was closed.

Peotter said he will appeal Tuesday’s ruling. The plaintiffs say they believe they would win the case if it were decided on the merits.

“Clearly, the statement referred to me,” Wagner said Tuesday. “If the judge had ruled based on the substance of the petition, I think she would have said the same thing.”

A statement is meant to present a candidate’s qualifications and platform, but Zippi seemed to use hers to say, “ ‘Elect me because I’m not the anointed, hand-picked Republican candidate like DeVore, or the lawyer,’ which is me,” said Wagner, who is also president of the South Orange County Community College District board.

The case is not the first time candidates have squabbled over perceived indirect attacks contained in ballot statements. In August 2000, a Ventura County judge ordered a candidate for county supervisor to eliminate a paragraph that disparaged a vote by the incumbent that, the candidate alleged, cost the county $35 million. And in September 2002, a judge in San Diego who pleaded guilty to beating his wife threatened to sue an opponent whose statement appeared to refer indirectly to the judge being on criminal probation.

Zippi, a business owner, said her statement was meant as a generic attack on a political system that she says allows people to be elected based on wealth and connections rather than substance.

“This petition was designed to make me lose focus on my campaign,” Zippi said. “To me, that’s harassment.”

The primary in the heavily Republican district, which includes Tustin, Irvine and Laguna Beach, is likely to decide the successor to Assemblyman John Campbell, who is running for the state Senate. The other candidates in the race are businesswoman Cristi Cristich, engineer Long K. Pham and Chonchol D. Gupta.

DeVore said Tuesday that he didn’t feel Zippi’s challenged words referred to him.

“I certainly didn’t feel personally threatened by them,” he said.

Implying that Fuentes is pulling strings to elect a favorite -- either DeVore or Wagner -- doesn’t make sense because the two have similar political philosophies and are fighting for the same voters, said DeVore, who is also an Irvine aerospace executive.

“How does that show the conspiracy is somehow running the show?” he said. “Not once have I heard that theory from anyone, other than the people in Zippi’s camp.”

Fuentes said he knows nothing about the petition or Zippi’s statement but said Zippi is taking advantage of the case.

“This is her effort to stir the pot and get press,” Fuentes said.

Zippi said she plans to rely on volunteers and the backing of her campaign strategist, former state Assemblyman Gil Ferguson. An assemblyman for a decade, ending in 1994, Ferguson helped create the law governing candidate-statement wording.

“My understanding of the law ... was that it would prohibit a candidate naming another candidate(s) and slandering or speaking ill of them,” Ferguson wrote in a declaration against the petition. “There was never any intent to hinder candidates from identifying themselves by describing the kind of person or politician they were or were not.”

Zippi’s statement, he continued, “does not abuse the rules.”