Antelope Valley Press By: Andrew Clark PALMDALE - State Sen. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, is again facing criticism, this time for an erroneous endorsement in a campaign mailer that claimed support from a Hispanic political group. Representatives from the California chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly issued a statement after a mailer sent to Simi Valley residents claimed Knight had received the groups endorsement. This claim is erroneous and the organization is calling for an explanation, an apology and a retraction of the misleading mailer, the assembly said in a press release. Republican Hispanic Assembly state chairman Errol Valladares elaborated that the group has instead endorsed Knights opponent, Tony Strickland. The California Republican National Hispanic Assembly wants to set the record straight, Valladares said in a release. We fully support and have officially endorsed Tony Strickland for Congress. Knight apologized for the mistake. That was an error I take full responsibility for, he said. We didnt catch it. There was no deceit there, just an oversight. The group notified Knight and Strickland of their endorsement stance prior to the June primary election. The assemblys board met in May to endorse Strickland. According to the group, they were notified of the erroneous mailer Sept. 24. Valladares said Thursday that he left a message for Knight prior to releasing the groups press statement and has been attempting to call the state senator. Ive been playing phone tag with Steve. I know him to be a good guy, Valladares said. Likewise, Knight also said he had been trying to reach out to Valladares and sent him an apology. Valladares also said the mailer claims Knight has the endorsement of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, the overarching national association, but that the groups bylaws prohibit such an endorsement. The CA-RHNA has not endorsed Steve Knight for Congress, and my recent correspondence with RHNAs board confirmed that the endorsement was not granted, he said. Given the fact that the RHNA bylaws do not allow them to endorse any particular candidate, I can only assume that Knight mistakenly omitted the California in Republican National Hispanic Assembly. The bottom line is that neither organization endorsed Steve Knight for Congress, Valladares added. We have sent Senator Knight a letter asking him to refrain from using our name, logo and to respect the integrity of CA-RHNAs endorsements. Despite the mailer, Valladares said he respects Knight and thinks the district will benefit from either candidate. I like Steven and I respect our elected officials, Valladares said. Weve got two really good guys and theyre both friends of mine. Either one, were certainly going to embrace. The mailer is the third in a series of missteps by the Knight campaign. Last month, outspoken conservative Tim Donnelly announced in an email blast to supporters that he would walk with Knights campaign in Santa Clarita, a move quickly denied by Knight. There are no plans for Tim to be part of the campaign, Knight said in mid-September. He knows that. Tim is not walking on my campaign, Knight reiterated in a telephone interview. In the past month, Knight also alienated potential voters by not supporting a bill that would prohibit the sale of Confederate flags or items bearing its image. He met with community leaders at a Palmdale restaurant to address concerns. Knight related that his vote was in support of the Constitution and the issue of free expression, not support for a symbol of the vanquished Confederacy that is often seen as symbolic hate language. aclark@avpress
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 18:41:11 +0000