Yes, this 2010 slate mailer suggested voting for Jerry Brown and Abel Maldonado, Tony Strickland and Bill Lockyer, Kamala Harris and Larry Aceves. Now that’s what we call “Independent Voting”! Note whose names are biggest, though. Want to guess who might have paid to be on the mailer?
(Part one of an occasional series. Because I am a candidate for the State Legislature, a race about which I do not currently plan to post anything substantive, I’m probably going to be receiving all sorts of e-mail that will be completely foreign to people not involved in politics. I’m going to amuse myself by reposting on this blog some of the e-mails that show you what sorts of solicitations candidates receive. If you find these boring, skip them.)
Dear OJB Readers: I just sent this reply to the e-mail solicitation below . I have changed the name of the business, as I will change all such names in this series, to “ACME.” Will it surprise you if I get a price to be on the Republican Slate vs. Republican Senate Minority Leader Bob Huff? I’ll let you know what reply I get.
In reply to the e-mail below, I wrote:
ACME Slate Cards again will produce three slates for the June 2012 Open Primary Election: the Democratic Voter Guide, the Republican Voter Guide and the Independent Voter Guide (which will be sent to mixed party households and decline to state voters).
With the NEW Open Primary rules, slate cards will have even more influence as voters make up their minds.
ACME Slate Cards are a first-rate guide recommending the most qualified candidates for non-partisan and partisan offices, including a full listing in ballot-order of all races with individual ads for slogans and personal messages.
We use the most sophisticated proprietary software program available to target frequent voters.
Many voters have recognized our familiar graphic design for more than 20 years and trust our recommendations. Visit our website for more information and recent samples. [omitted]
NOW that filing has CLOSED, reservations will quickly fill. Please call us ASAP if you would like to reserve one or more of our slates for the June election. We look forward to assisting you.
Ginny ACME
ACME Slate Cards
Desolation Row, Suite 61
Storm Shelter CA 9xxxx
(###) ppp-ssss
email: ginny@ACMESlateCards.com
How much would it cost for me, as a Democrat, to be listed on the Republican Voter Guide Slate Card? Thanks.
Greg Diamond
Candidate, SD-29
About Greg Diamond
Somewhat verbose attorney, semi-disabled and semi-retired, residing in northwest Brea. Occasionally ran for office against jerks who otherwise would have gonr unopposed. Got 45% of the vote against Bob Huff for State Senate in 2012; Josh Newman then won the seat in 2016. In 2014 became the first attorney to challenge OCDA Tony Rackauckas since 2002; Todd Spitzer then won that seat in 2018. Every time he's run against some rotten incumbent, the *next* person to challenge them wins! He's OK with that.
Corrupt party hacks hate him. He's OK with that too.
He does advise some local campaigns informally and (so far) without compensation. (If that last bit changes, he will declare the interest.)
His daughter is a professional campaign treasurer. He doesn't usually know whom she and her firm represent. Whether they do so never influences his endorsements or coverage. (He does have his own strong opinions.) But when he does check campaign finance forms, he is often happily surprised to learn that good candidates he respects often DO hire her firm. (Maybe bad ones are scared off by his relationship with her, but they needn't be.)
Do it! I’d love to see you on a Republican slate mailer. I’ll pay for you to advertise on Art’s blog too by the way.
As the 2008 and 2010 elections went by and I found myself to be a blogger at the Juice, I pretty much started a series on “deceptive slate mailers.” Too much work to find them now, but now I’ve made it into a category. Readers would send me PDFs. They’ll do it again this spring and this fall.