Indians’ Help for Candidate Draws Fire

Indian gaming backers have spent nearly $150,000 on behalf of Republican Ken LaCorte, more than doubling his campaign’s resources and prompting criticism from his opponent, Assemblyman Jack Scott.

Surrounded by supporters at his Pasadena election headquarters Friday, Scott (D-Pasadena), criticized help LaCorte has received from Native American Tribes for Truth in Government. The group is made up of at least six tribes that back Proposition 5, the ballot measure that would allow tribes to run casinos as they see fit.

Scott said he thinks the group has targeted the 44th Assembly District because of his vote in August supporting Gov. Pete Wilson’s plan to permit gambling on 11 Indian reservations--a pact that other tribes opposed, saying it infringed on their sovereignty.

Barbara Gonzales-Lyons, vice chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, denied Scott’s charge.

“We are tribal governments and we need to support people who support us,” Gonzales-Lyons said.

LaCorte attributed the newfound support to displeasure with Scott.

“What is happening is that a number of Indian tribes have decided they’ve had enough of Jack Scott,” LaCorte added.

The Native American Tribes group has contributed $149,000 to LaCorte’s campaign, according to state records. The group, which includes the Morongo Band of Mission Indians, has sent three political mailers out in support of LaCorte that Scott describes as being filled with distortions.

Gonzales-Lyons would neither confirm nor deny how much the Native American Tribes for Truth in Government have spent on LaCorte. But she did say that the group is helping LaCorte due to his understanding of tribal sovereignty.

“We talked to [LaCorte],” Gonzales-Lyons said. “He’s willing to come out to our reservations and see how we work as a government and see our facilities and how we regulate gaming.”

For his part, LaCorte described the group’s help as legal, independent expenditures that he was unaware were being made on his behalf until he was notified by a reporter. LaCorte added that he does not even see the mailers until they show up in his mailbox.

LaCorte added that he believes it is “ludicrous” for Scott to try to portray himself as the victim of special interest money.

Scott’s campaign contributions as of Oct. 17 totaled $455,914, compared to the $119,222 that LaCorte reported, according to county records.

LaCorte also criticized Scott for a mailer he sent out that described LaCorte as being a tobacco lobbyist. LaCorte said Scott’s campaign based the characterization on work he did a decade ago for a political consulting firm.

“There was a picture of a kid smoking a cigarette next to my face,” said LaCorte, who added that he has refused money from tobacco companies. “If he were in the room when I got that piece I would have been very, very upset.”

Times staff writer Dan Morain contributed to this story.