The California Republican Party has taken the unusual step of threatening legal action against one of its rising stars — Assembly Member Carl DeMaio — for his “brazen and unlawful campaign to deceive California voters.”
His offense, according to the state party: DeMaio, R-San Diego, distributed a voter guide mailer that appeared to be from the state party but was in fact touting endorsements from his group, Reform California. DeMaio, a former radio talk show host and San Diego City Council member, led the charge to place measure requiring voters to show identification at polling locations on the November ballot.
The mailer in question is headlined with the phrase “Democrats Are Mailing Out FAKE Voter Guides to Republicans.” A similarly worded text blast to Republican voters directs them to the Reform California website.
But it is DeMaio’s guide that is in fact misleading, according to a letter sent from an attorney for the party to DeMaio.
“Reform California Voter Guide is not a Republican Party committee,” according to a May 14 letter sent from Ashlee N. Titus, an attorney for the California Republican Party to DeMaio. “ It is not chartered by, affiliated with, or authorized by the California Republican Party, the Republican Party of San Diego County, or any other official Republican Party body. It is a privately controlled slate mailer organization operating for your personal political benefit. The Mailer and the Website are not ‘official.’ They are not the product of any ‘Republican Central Committee.’
The party demanded that DeMaio “immediately cease and desist from a coordinated, brazen, and unlawful campaign to deceive California voters into believing your privately controlled slate mailer is an official publication of the Republican Party. It is not.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, a San Diego Republican, applauded the party in a social media post for calling out what he called DeMaio’s “‘brazen and unlawful campaign to deceive California voters.’ Carl’s attempted to confuse voters that he speaks for the Republican Party. This action by the CRP makes it absolutely clear — he does not,” Issa wrote.
The party demanded that DeMaio must confirm in writing by Tuesday that he and Reform California’s Voter Guide have taken down their website and ceased sending the mailers. “If you fail to do so, the CRP is prepared to seek every available remedy,” the party warned. As of Monday, the website was still up.
California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin sent a note to party delegates Saturday saying that “As the party of law and order, and election integrity, we take these violations very seriously. … Our actions ensure Republican voters are not misled into believing a communication, endorsement, website, or fundraising effort is officially authorized by the California Republican Party or a Republican Central Committee when it is not.”
Reform California spokesman Dylan Martin accused the state party Monday of backing “sellout” candidates and Issa of having “a long-standing vendetta against DeMaio.”
“It comes as no surprise that the failed Establishment Republican Party insiders are attacking Carl DeMaio and his Reform California movement because we are doing the job that the party has failed to do for so many years — like leading the fight against the Democrats throughout our state and getting Voter ID on the ballot,” Martin said.