Contestants in 43rd Assembly District file dueling campaign complaints

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Two leading Democrats in the increasingly contentious battle for a vacant Los Angeles-area Assembly seat have filed complaints against each other with the state’s campaign watchdog. The latest complaint, sent Tuesday to the Fair Political Practices Commission, alleges that campaign officials for educator Nayiri Nahabedian and leaders of the California Faculty Assn. violated campaign laws that prohibit candidates from coordinating with so-called independent expenditure campaigns.

The complaint, filed by the campaign of Silver Lake attorney Mike Gatto, comes days after Nahabedian’s campaign filed one of its own against Gatto. Nahabedian’s campaign alleges that the Gatto campaign improperly mixed campaign accounts in violation of state campaign finance rules. Eric Hacopian, a Nahabedian campaign consultant, said the Gatto campaign committed violations amounting to $230,000 in ‘reporting, contribution and spending violations.’

College teacher Nahabedian, a member of the Glendale school board, and Gatto are among three Democrats and one Republican on the April 13 special election ballot in the 43rd Assembly District.

The seat was vacated early this year after Democrat Paul Krekorian resigned to join the Los Angeles City Council.

In the latest complaint letter, the writer, who described himself as a voter in the district, said he had received political mail from an independent expenditure committee sponsored by the California Faculty Assn. and advocating Nahabedian’s election. On the same day, he said, he also received a mailer from the Nahabedian campaign that extensively quoted Lillian Taiz, president of the faculty organization, as she attacked Gatto. Additionally, the faculty organization and the Nahabedian campaign had used the same printer to produce the mailers at about the same time, the complaint noted.

‘By approving quotes, [Taiz] clearly had knowledge of the campaign’s strategy,’ said Gatto strategist Mike Shimpock, who provided The Times with a copy of the complaint.

Hacopian dismissed the complaint as ‘a desperate attempt by a losing campaign caught red-handed violating campaign laws to muddle the issue.’ Shimpock last week called the Nahabedian complaint ‘a total red herring’ and said the Gatto campaign had done nothing wrong.

-- Jean Merl