ARTICLES

Unbelievable

The Garcia Campaign Saga

By Anne Knight

The gerrymander of California's congressional districts in 2001 achieved its desired result: all House incumbents were re-elected in the November 5, 2002 election. The incumbent most bruised by a challenger was local Democratic congressman Bob Filner, who was opposed by Maria Guadalupe Garcia, a pro-life, Hispanic Republican and political newcomer. Filner ran in the newly created 51st Congressional District, which added all of Imperial County to the South Bay region that was included in Filner's old 50th district. The 51st has a 53% Hispanic voting population. Filner was elected to his sixth term with 58.1 percent of the vote, the lowest percentage won by any California incumbent Representative.

At 39.2 percent, Garcia garnered the highest percentage of any challenger in California's 2002 congressional races. Prior to the election, an independent poll had shown her at 35 percent. Garcia won 38.1 percent of the district's San Diego County portion and 44.1 percent of Imperial County, whereas Filner won 59.3 percent of San Diego County and 52.8 percent of Imperial County. Moreover, Garcia also received a higher vote percentage than any of the three Republicans who have challenged Filner since he became a Congressman in 1992. In 1994 Mary Alice Acevedo received 35.38 percent, in 1996 Jim Baize received 32.41 percent, Filner was unopposed in 1998, and in 2000 Bob Divine received 27.62 percent.

The next lowest winner's share in the state's 2002 congressional races, 59.1 percent, belongs to Democratic incumbent Lois Capps. The other 48 California House incumbents received at least 60 percent and most garnered substantially more. When handicapping November's political races, the California Political Review (November/December 2002) upgraded the 51st to "leans Democrat," from "safe Democrat," based on the primary results and asserted that it could be "an interesting campaign if -- and only if -- the national GOP makes an effort here." However, Garcia received scant support from national Republican campaign organizations. As in the 51st, Republican challengers in the Central Coast's 23rd and San Diego's 53rd Congressional districts faced ultra-liberal Democratic incumbents in races handicapped by the CPR as "leans Democrat." In the 53rd, Bill Van De Weghe's challenge to incumbent Susan Davis was viewed by the GOP as potentially very competitive. Beth Rogers' race against Capps in the 23rd was described by the CPR as "worth watching" and had been upgraded from "safe Democrat" to "leans Democrat." Unlike Garcia, both Van De Weghe and Rogers outspent the incumbents but nonetheless won a slightly lower percentage of votes than Garcia (37.8 and 38.5 percent, respectively). A Garcia campaign staffer opined that "in terms of dollars per vote, we garnered the best percentage of any challenger's campaign statewide, and I think we showed that this seat is winnable, but it would certainly take more money than we had.... We ran a very efficient and effective campaign; I think she [Garcia] performed extremely well" and characterized Garcia as "an ideal candidate and a very dynamic person."

Filner spent about twice the amount on the 2002 elections that he spent in each of the previous two elections. Garcia campaign sources report that Filner had spent approximately $800,000 in the 2001­02 election cycle, as of November 2002, as compared to Garcia's outlay of approximately $220,000. In the 2002 primary, Filner was challenged by pro-life Democrat Danny Ramirez, also a political newcomer. Ramirez won 60 percent of the Democratic vote in Imperial County. Garcia defeated Guillermo Durazo by 51.7 to 48.2 percent in the 2002 Republican primary.

Filner ignored Garcia's campaign until the third week of October, a Garcia campaign source reported. "Let's start off that week on Monday, the 21st.... At the first of that week, my understanding was that [Filner's] media buyer had commented that Filner's campaign wasn't going to buy any media in San Diego because they had no reason to and was instead going to focus on the Imperial Valley. And he turned around within three days and spent over $70,000 on media, starting, I think, as early as that Friday [October 25] and maybe going into that Monday, the 28th." On Wednesday of that week, October 23rd, a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial endorsed Garcia over Filner: "Although a Latina in a heavily Latino district that stretches along the border, Garcia is the underdog due to a 17-point registration advantage held by Democrats. But she is correct on the issues." Prior to receiving the newspaper's endorsement, Garcia was interviewed by several members of its editorial board.

Garcia's campaign apparently struck a nerve in the Filner camp with its broadcast and cable television commercial publicizing Filner's vote against a bill to outlaw flag burning. The ad started airing in mid-October and ran about three weeks. On October 26, the Union-Tribune published a pro-Filner article on it, authored by someone identified only as "staff writer." The piece nonetheless acknowledged that "Garcia's aggressive tactics have Filner on his toes, despite his financial advantage and the heavy Democratic voter registration in the district." KOGO talk radio host Stacy Taylor, known for his anti-family stance on most social issues, vilified Garcia for it in the week before the election. In her late October interview on KFMB radio, talk show host Ted Leitner politely but energetically attacked her traditional family values and continued fulminating against them in his monologue on the next day's show.

Most of Garcia's media appearances were on Spanish-language radio stations and a few television stations on both sides of the border, and the campaign advertised heavily on Spanish radio. A Spanish-language radio commercial recorded by Garcia herself on partial-birth abortion is viewed by a Garcia staffer as particularly effective: "Normally, in a political campaign, they say that you have to hear a message at least seven times before you start to remember it. We heard that people who heard it once remembered it." The ad's script: "Partial-birth abortion is a horrible procedure in which, during the last months of pregnancy, the baby is forced to be partially born and is then killed by the doctor in a very cruel way before being completely removed from the mother's womb. Bob Filner voted to allow partial-birth abortion. The American Medical Association said that partial-birth abortions are never necessary. Nevertheless, Filner supports allowing partial-birth abortion. He also voted to allow minors to receive abortions without parental consent." The spot aired on a few Spanish-language stations in Imperial County and a few others in San Diego County during the last week of the campaign. The Garcia campaign also ran English- and Spanish-language radio commercials publicizing Filner's vote against a bill to shield children from Internet pornography that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Garcia campaign sources reported that she was enthusiastically received by Spanish-language media south of the border. By contrast, Garcia's campaign was treated with "some skepticism" by some English-language news media outlets and its requests for interviews were frequently rejected. In addition to her interview on KFMB, Garcia was interviewed on Christian radio stations and received a strongly supportive interview from KOGO radio's Roger Hedgecock on October 31. Originally Hedgecock had invited Garcia and Filner to debate, but Filner rescheduled numerous times and finally cancelled altogether, leaving Hedgecock's staff two voice mail messages explaining that he was unable to appear due to campaign obligations in the Imperial Valley. On the air, Hedgecock expressed surprise at Filner's reluctance to debate, commenting that, during the many years he had known him, he had usually accepted Hedgecock's on-air debate invitations and displayed formidable debating skills. In response to Filner's cancellation, Hedgecock's show played one of Filner's messages on the air and then ran a parody of it which, among other things, portrayed Filner as being worried about Garcia's exposure of his pro-abortion stance.

The November 3 Imperial Valley Press reported that "Filner is not amused [by the Hedgecock parody] and he's thinking of filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission.... Filner said, '... They deserve to be thrown off the air....' Tony Ott, Garcia for Congress communications director, said... 'Filner's no-show on this debate was the 17th cancellation of a face-to-face confrontation between Filner and Garcia in a 20-day period.'" Subsequently Filner did show up for a joint appearance with Garcia on KUSI-TV on the day before the election; Garcia said that Filner had previously rescheduled that interview three times. His repeated rescheduling and cancellation of joint appearances "were a hurdle to getting the exposure that I wanted," she commented. The KUSI interview was the second of only two public appearances involving topical discussions with Garcia that Filner made throughout the entire campaign. Ott told the Imperial Valley Press that "Filner dodged no fewer than four opportunities to debate the issues of voters of the Imperial Valley." Garcia was also interviewed on the local FOX TV affiliate.

Democrats did not uniformly welcome Filner's heavy campaigning in Imperial County. Danny Ramirez, a Calexico entrepreneur, challenged Filner in the primary and subsequently formed Democrats for Garcia, an organization independent of Garcia's campaign itself. With the help of several other volunteers, Ramirez put up large signs for Garcia at high-traffic areas in Imperial County, confronted with Filner supporters on his voting record and distributed pro-life voter guides and campaign literature for both Maria and Bonnie Garcia, a strongly pro-family Republican candidate who ran successfully against left-wing Democrat Joey Acuna for an open seat in the newly created 80th state assembly district. Among the literature they distributed was a piece they produced themselves: their "three stooges" flyer, which exposed Democratic candidates Filner, Acuna and Denise Ducheny as supporters of partial-birth abortion on one side and illustrated the partial-birth abortion procedure on the reverse.

Democrats for Garcia had a dramatic effect on at least one Calexico resident, Isabella Tylenda, a practicing Catholic. Tylenda was leaning toward Filner because of his numerous campaign stops in the Valley and pledges to help with local issues such as river cleanup and air pollution. Shortly before the election she had a confrontation with Ramirez and his wife Lourdes at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, which prompted her to research Filner's record on moral issues herself. The same day, Tylenda explained, she experienced a complete change of heart and went to visit the Ramirezes that evening, seeking reconciliation and offering to help with the campaign. She then put in long hours helping Democrats for Garcia with its literature distribution until Election Day.

Like Ramirez, Tylenda estimates that most Imperial County voters were unaware of Filner's record. Some Filner supporters even denied Garcia supporters' explanations of Filner's record on moral issues, she reported. Similarly, Garcia related that when she publicly discussed Filner's positions, "Most were appalled, but some were skeptical. They didn't believe anyone would vote like that on pornography or on partial-birth abortion."

Democrats for Garcia's efforts did not go unnoticed by the Filner camp. On September 7, as he was putting up a Garcia sign in front of his house, Ramirez said that he was challenged to fight by a man who had been putting up a Filner sign on the other side of the road. According to Ramirez, on September 21, Filner himself and Frank Salazar, his Imperial County campaign coordinator, came to Ramirez's house. Filner asked him the meaning of his "Maria Guadalupe Garcia -- She is one of us" sign and ridiculed his "Democrat for Garcia" sign. Filner had Salazar photograph him standing in front of the signs giving a thumbs up. Finally, said Ramirez, "Filner approached me and said, "Come November, look me up for a job!'" Another anecdote related by Ramirez is that, on October 27, a rally for Filner was scheduled at Calexico's Hotel De Anza. Ramirez's group had leafleted cars in the parking lot with pro-life voter guides and flyers, and subsequently observed that the literature was being removed. One of the culprits was later caught and admitted that he was acting under orders from the rally organizer, said Ramirez.

Leonardo Borobia, a colleague of Ramirez, is the Grand Knight of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish's Knights of Columbus, which holds an annual Columbus Day barbecue in October. Borobia was busy running the barbecue when, he said, Filner unexpectedly showed up at this year's event. Borobia explained that he ignored Filner's presence, which he found galling, given that Filner's holds moral views opposed to those of the Church. Tylenda reported that, at the barbecue, Filner "shook hands and he took pictures with people from the church."

Garcia, a devout Catholic, wife, and mother of six, said she decided to run against Filner because "I couldn't stand his votes, especially on abortion" and wanted "to give him a run for his money and expose his voting record." Additionally, she was urged her to 'do it for Our Lady' by someone who pointed out that she is named for her. Garcia was aware that she faced an uphill battle and not merely because the 51st was created as a safe Democratic district and Filner is an experienced career politician with strong fundraising abilities and labor union support. Garcia was in her last weeks of pregnancy when she entered the race for the March primary and she gave birth to her son Matthew in late March. She was able to resume campaigning in May, but "no one would take the campaign seriously; I didn't have an office until August; most candidates have something going up by June." In August, Garcia acquired an experienced, professional campaign manager and began fund raising in earnest, "so actual campaigning was only a little over two months." Normally, said a Garcia campaign source, campaigning in earnest starts before the primary.

Garcia campaign sources indicated that they were very pleased that they had raised more than twice the amount originally anticipated and did so within a few months. Garcia received strong support from the off-road and pro-life communities. She said she wanted to convey special thanks to Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter for working on her behalf and raising about $30,000 for her from other members of Congress. Garcia was grateful for the help of Congressmen Duke Cunningham and Darrell Issa as well. Nonetheless, besides lack of time, Garcia campaign sources identified insufficient funds as having been a serious obstacle to the campaign reaching all of the voters.

"The National Republican Congressional Committee gave us $10,000 on the Friday before the election," Garcia responded when asked how much support her campaign had received from the Republican Party. "The Republican National Committee sent us $500 about three weeks before the election and about a week before the election, they said they had omitted a zero from the check, so they sent us the $4,500 balance about a week before."

According to George Neumayr, writing in the American Spectator ("A GOP Hispanic heroine to everyone, that is, except the Republican Party," September/October 2002), "Karl Rove, President Bush's chief political advisor, calls the Hispanic vote 'our mission and our goal.' When Neumayr asked her in early summer if Republican officials were pouring resources into her campaign, Garcia said no. "While not wanting to speak ill of them, she said that only a few party officials had contacted her.... I called a Party official and asked him if Republicans intended to make a special effort on behalf of Garcia, since, after all, she is one of the Party's few Hispanic candidates. He said that they didn't. Garcia, he said, probably can't defeat Democratic incumbent Bob Filner. 'Most incumbents win,' he said, so why 'target' that race?' Moreover, he said, she is 'a full-time mother,' with little training as a Republican candidate. She -- gasp! -- hadn't even been to 'candidate school.' Couldn't Republicans win long-term points with the Hispanic community if they made a high-profile effort on behalf of a Hispanic candidate, even a losing one? He didn't think the race was worth the trouble.... For pro-choice [Republican] plutocrats, someone like Garcia -- a pro-life Reagan Republican -- is more likely a cause for concern than celebration. She is not the right sort of Hispanic."

Prior to the election, the California Political Review made an assessment of the Filner-Garcia race similar to Neumayr's: "Seems ready-made for a major, national GOP effort, you say? Not so fast. The defining issue here could be one of those pesky 'social issues': abortion.... The 51st affords Republicans a chance to show their 'big tent' is more than rhetoric." Ironically, in her analysis of fall 2002 election results nationwide, Carol Tobias, National Right to Life Political Action Committee director, pointed out, "Two-thirds of the newly elected House members are pro-life. Once again, the pro-life issue has proved to be a winning issue for candidates."

In response to the Republican Party official quoted in The American Spectator, a local Republican source requesting anonymity commented that "he did not help Maria's cause." Garcia herself responded, "I will invoke Ronald Reagan's '11th commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican, even if he has spoken ill of me.'" Garcia also opined, "I think the Republicans missed an opportunity to engage the Hispanic voter."

In September Charles Moore volunteered as the Garcia campaign's liaison to the religious community. He served in the same role in Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign and has worked as a consultant in 37 political campaigns. "Every morning, before we would go out, she would get on her knees and kneel beside the table and would pray five to ten minutes with me in prayer," Moore commented. "Never had I seen that before, and I've seen a lot of strong 'Evangelicals' and men that are pastors of churches that had run [for office]." Out of the approximately 60 houses of worship he and Garcia visited, she was able to address the congregations of approximately 20 and, said Moore, "the Evangelical Christian community was behind her."

When asked about the response of the local Catholic diocese and parishes to her campaign, Garcia stated, "By and large, the Catholic churches were not as accommodating. I contacted the diocese [about speaking at Catholic parishes], and they said, 'We can't help you with that, because it's a violation of the law.' I explained to them what the law was. Then they said they would have someone contact me, but nobody ever called me back. Non-Catholic churches were very eager to help." Consequently, with the exception of one candidate's forum, Garcia did not speak at any Catholic churches. Moore also said that, out of 11 Catholic parishes, the campaign found only one pro-life coordinator "that had a name, nobody else. That was a disappointment to us."

The Garcia campaign reported the following incidents at Catholic churches when its volunteers attempted to leaflet cars with California Pro-Life Council voter guides on the weekend before the election: a Knight of Columbus with Filner signs in his car ordered a leafleter to leave the parking lot of St. Anthony's in National City; a priest at St. Rose of Lima in Chula Vista told her volunteers they could only stand at the parking lot entrance; Corpus Christi Church in Bonita issued the same order; two priests called the campaign office to complain about volunteers leafleting at their parishes; one of these identified himself as being at St. Jerome's, but provided no name; the campaign was unable to recall the name and parish of the other priest. The priest at St. Jerome's also stated, in a hostile voice, "Just to let you know, we'll be announcing at all the Masses on Sunday that your campaign neither respects our church nor federal law."

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