Assembly race in court

Alicia Robinson

A ballot statement by 70th Assembly District candidate Marianne Zippi

that refers to Republican “good old boys” has become the subject of a

court battle that will resume next week.

Zippi says the challenge to her ballot statement is an affront to

her free-speech rights.

But attorney Bruce Peotter, representing plaintiff Scott Moody,

said his client challenged Zippi’s ballot statement because it

violates state elections law.

Candidates for the state Legislature who choose to observe

spending limits can purchase space to have their 250-word statements

included in sample ballots. By law, the statements may not refer to

the candidate’s 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.”

That statement violates the prohibition against mentioning other

candidates and the statement should be changed or the sections in

question should be removed, Peotter said.

“She’s referring to Chuck DeVore, Cristi Cristich and Don Wagner,”

Peotter said.

DeVore has been called a political insider because he’s a member

of the county’s Republican Central Committee, and Wagner is the only

attorney in the race, Peotter said.

“Those are direct references to each of her opponents, and that is

illegal,” he said.

But Zippi said she followed the rules for ballot statements and

didn’t mention any names.

“I’m just referring to the politicians who are out there making

choices about who’s going to run and throwing support one way or the

other,” she said.

The parties argued the issue before Commissioner Eleanor Palk in

Orange County Superior Court on Friday and again Monday, when a

further hearing was scheduled for Dec. 30.

The issue has another layer. The deadline to file the challenge to

the ballot statement was Dec. 16, but Moody’s challenge was filed

later than that, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

The Registrar of Voters opposed the challenge because it wasn’t

filed in a timely manner, Orange County Deputy Counsel Leon Page

said. Palk has not yet made a decision on that issue, Page said.

Peotter said the objection was filed Dec. 17, and he believes the

deadline to file it was the next day, Dec. 18.

Zippi said the situation is an example of how candidates such as

herself who aren’t anointed by Republican leadership have a hard time

running for office.

“It’s to diminish my candidacy,” she said of the challenge to her

ballot statement. “I consider it a continuing harassment by [Orange

County Republican Party Chairman] Tom Fuentes. ... His name is not on

anything, but all the people connected to him are part of this.”

Zippi said that Fuentes tried to discourage her from running for

the 70th district seat and that he said DeVore or Wagner should run

instead.

Fuentes denied knowing anything about the ballot statement

challenge and added that, as a Republican party official, he plays no

role in races before the primary.

“This is the first time I have heard of such a challenge, and I

have never heard of Mr. Moody,” Fuentes said Monday.

While he did talk to Zippi about her candidacy, Fuentes said, he

didn’t express support for DeVore or Wagner.

“I made no expression of preference whatsoever,” Fuentes said.

“When she asked my advice as to whether she should or should not run,

it was just after she had lost her bid for the Newport Beach City

Council by such a large margin and had run so unsuccessfully as a

candidate.”