Coming soon to a precint near you, The Rove-DeLay Subterfuge - i.e. if you can't win by the rules, subvert the rules, redistrict, recall and split-the-vote sham candidates. On the front page of my morning paper...
County Green Party candidate allegedly asked to run by GOP activist
Green Party officials on the Central Coast are fuming over what they believe is a stealth candidate placed on the state Senate ballot in a ploy to take votes away from Democrats.
"It's unconscionable and it's despicable," said Tom Hutchings, a Green Party state Assembly candidate from San Luis Obispo. "This is simply an effort to undermine and sabotage the democratic process."
According to Green Party officials, Republican Party activist Paul Bruno of Monterey persuaded Brook Madsen of Carmel Valley to put his name on the ballot as a Green Party candidate in the 15th Senate District race.
Bruno is vice-chairman of the Monterey County Republican Central Committee, which is campaigning hard on behalf of Assemblyman Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria, who is campaigning for state Senate.
Madsen, a 32-year-old electrician, acknowledged that Bruno not only encouraged him to run, but financed his candidacy by giving him a couple of cashiers' checks to pay the $950 filing fee.
"It turns out he's a Republican," Madsen said. "After I found out, I decided to do what I was doing anyway. I'm OK with it and I appreciate the opportunity. It was dishonest on their part, but I'm OK with it."
Monterey County's chief election officer, Tony Anchundo, says it appears no laws were broken. Bruno did not return repeated telephone calls.
Peter Newman, chairman of the Monterey County Republican Central Committee, said he was not aware of the situation and doesn't know who Madsen is.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Newman told The Herald. "It's all news to me."
Some local Green Party officials say they suspect Bruno's activity is evidence of an organized effort to siphon votes away from Democrats.
When asked if the Green Party's allegations are true, Newman responded tersely: "Hell no."
Hutchings said he was also approached by Bruno, who suggested in November that Hutchings abandon his Assembly campaign and instead put himself on the ballot as a Senate candidate.
Hutchings said he would not run for the 15th District Senate seat because he supports Peg Pinard, a county supervisor in San Luis Obispo County who will be the Democratic candidate against Maldonado in November. Pinard, Maldonado and Madsen are all running unopposed in their respective party primary elections in March.
The 15th Senate District, redrawn during reapportionment two years ago, extends from Santa Cruz County to the Santa Barbara County city of Santa Maria and includes the coastal half of Monterey County. It is now represented by Santa Cruz Republican Bruce McPherson, who is stepping down because of term limits.
Hutchings and other Green Party officials say they are worried that liberal voters will cast their vote for Madsen in the November election, diminishing Pinard's chances against Maldonado.
Because the two major-party candidates are from distant communities, Hutchings said he is concerned that some Monterey County residents may vote for Madsen, at the expense of Pinard, thinking that Madsen is a local candidate with solid liberal credentials.
"Peg Pinard has a good reputation on the environment and I'm not going up against her," Hutchings said. "We Greens aren't trying to intentionally screw up other people's candidacies. We just don't do that."
Green Party officials in Monterey County say they invited Madsen to a meeting in November to explain his candidacy, since none of the party's executive council had ever heard of him before.
George Riley, a Green Party official from Monterey County, said Madsen told them that he put his name on the ballot after Bruno convinced him to run for the state Senate. He told them that Bruno identified himself as a "fertilizer salesman" and a Green Party member, then gave him a couple of cashiers' checks to pay his registration fees at the Elections Office.
After hearing his explanation, the Green Party executive council refused to endorse Madsen.
Monterey County elections officials say that Madsen paid his registration fees with cashiers' checks with no name.
Technically, Bruno did not violate elections laws, according to Anchundo, the Monterey County registrar of voters.
"There's nothing in the law that says someone else can't pay your filing fees," Anchundo said.
In fact, Madsen is not legally required to report the filing fee as a contribution in his campaign disclosure statements, Anchundo said. "Filing fees are not technically an expenditure for a campaign, unless the campaign itself paid the filing fee," he said.
Madsen, according to local Green Party official Gabe Kish, is a "stealth candidate coming in from the cold. It is obvious that the Republicans see us Greens as the perfect patsies to divide the opposition to Republican candidates."
Kish said he is concerned that Republican operatives throughout the country are trying to encourage naive Green Party candidates to seek office as a strategy to boost Republican chances in elections.
Hutchings said he is trying to find a legal way to keep Madsen's name off the November ballot.
"I'm a Vietnam veteran who saw friends die fighting to protect democracy," he said. "It drives me crazy when people intentionally manipulate the voting process."
For his part, Madsen said he considers himself a "free agent" and he insists he is not in the Senate race to take liberal votes away from Pinard.
"I'd actually like to get a lot of Republican votes," he said. "I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm not sure I'm actually a Green. I hope to do something good in the election."
montereyherald.com
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