The Union from Placer County reads….
(Dan Logue shown on left) “A longstanding political feud, conflicts of interest and some “good old boys” issues within the Yuba and Butte GOP central committees have fueled the no-holds-barred campaign for the 3rd District Assembly nomination, according to candidate Sue Horne.
Horne’s opponent, Yuba County Supervisor Dan Logue, denies the charges. Some of his supporters contend the Nevada County supervisor will wilt under pressure in Sacramento.
The mudslinging campaign for Assemblyman Rick Keene’s seat illustrates what has become all too common in politics nowadays – focusing on political infighting and mailers instead of the issues, at least in some voters’ minds.
Horne said Keene (R-Chico) and state Sen. Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) have endorsed Logue because of her former affiliation with deceased Assemblyman Bernie Richter (R-Chico).
“It goes back to the war between Rick Keene, Sam Aanestad and Bernie Richter when I worked for him,” Horne said.
Aanestad lost to Richter in a close Assembly election in 1992 and beat Richter’s son-in-law, David Reade, in 1998.
“I wasn’t part of the war,” Horne said. “I’m my own person, but they want to continue that war and that’s how this has played out.”
Aanestad and Keene denied Horne’s accusations, saying they endorsed Logue because they think Horne cannot handle the pressure in Sacramento.
“When people get to Sacramento and have pressure put on them, they can change and their votes can change. I believe the person who will change least is Dan Logue,” Aanestad said. The senator said he was not aware that Horne worked for Richter.
Three years ago, when Horne started thinking about running for Keene’s spot because he was facing term limits, Horne said she went to him for backing.
Keene wouldn’t endorse her because she was a friend of Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, (R-Redding ), who Keene could run against for Aanestad’s Senate spot in 2010, Horne said.
“That’s not exactly the case,” said Keene, who is vacating the post because of term limits. “I told her I couldn’t endorse her, because she hadn’t been consistent on the Board of Supervisors.”
The assemblyman said Horne’s handling of the replacement of Nevada County Clerk-Recorder Lorraine Jewett-Burdick four years ago is what bothered him most.
After considering Republican Fran Freedle, the board wound up appointing Kathleen Smith. In an embarrassing episode, Smith later was forced to resign because she was “moonlighting” as a clerk in Rio Vista.
Horne said she can handle the pressure in Sacramento. She cites her efforts to defeat the National Heritage 2020 land-use debate six years ago, a hot issue.
Instead, Horne said she faces political obstacles with the Republican Central Committees in Butte and Yuba counties.
“I think there’s a good-old- boy issue and everything that’s contained in that,” she said.
To Horne and her supporters, this has been illustrated by two uncommon censure actions against her in both counties.
Republic central committees can’t endorse in primaries. But central committee members who support Logue also have voted for the committee censures against Horne.
The committee’s action has the same practical effect of endorsing her opponent, Horne said. Logue is using the censures in political mailers, accusing her of an “underhanded and dishonest” campaign.
The censures stem from a mailer that Horne sent out about a Yuba County couple accusing Logue of helping to “steal” their land by eminent domain for a levee. Logue had been a member of a valley levee board.
Soon after the mailer came out outlining Tom and Jeanette Rice’s blasting of Logue’s action, both county GOP parties issued censure notices of Horne.
Rice said neither county party spoke with him and that he learned of the censures in newspapers.
“I was rather surprised they didn’t call me or try to contact me in any way,” Rice said last week from his south Yuba County home. Rice told The Union that he approved the mailers Horne sent out about Logue and thoroughly checked them for accuracy.
Yuba County Republican Party Vice Chairman Paul Myers said no bylaws existed to issue the censure of Horne, but some members at a recent GOP meeting felt compelled to do it.
“The mailer said ‘Dan Logue stole our land.’ How did they steal the land?” Myers asked. “It sounded to us like they had negotiated.
“The minutes of the (levee board) meeting show a compromise, and they were offered 2 1/2 times market value,” Myers said. “We said this just isn’t right.”
“Sue printed the Rice’s own words, which Dan Logue does not refute,” said Tim Clark, a Horne campaign spokesman.
He said the Republican Party Central Committee in Yuba County is “four or five members all owned by Dan Logue.”
There are no provisions within the Republican Party to censure a fellow member, Clark said.
The GOP members who censured Horne in Butte County “is a small band of Dan Logue supporters,” Clark said.
Butte County Republican Party Chairman Steve Thompson denied the accusations, adding that seven of the county party’s 12 sitting board members voted for the censure “after we reviewed the facts.”
Ax to grind
The Rices have a political ax to grind with Logue and that’s why they endorsed Horne’s mailer, Thompson said. If the Rice’s had come out with the information independently, the party faithful would have done nothing, he added.
“When Sue Horne issued the mailer, it was out of bounds,” Thompson said.
The Butte County GOP’s bylaws do not cover censure, but “nothing stops it either,” Thompson said.
Thompson also works for Assemblyman Keene, a relationship that creates a conflict of interest, according to Horne’s supporters.
“The insinuation I did this for Rick Keene is wrong,” Thompson said. “He doesn’t tell me how to make my decisions in the committee.”
Former Butte GOP Chairman Jack Lee disagrees. Lee said Thompson and Keene brought Logue into the race, which “gives rise to the question of bias and prejudice leading to a highly selective action,” he wrote on a political blog site called “Red County.”
In a letter to Thomspon, Lee said he should be careful about how he handles his power as county GOP chairman.
“The damage that could be done to one’s reputation under such circumstances can last a very long time and have far-reaching consequences,” the letter said.
Logue also has been criticized for own his campaign mailers.