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Dianne Hardisty: By God, if Dems fail, it won't be her fault
| Thursday, Jun 26 2008 7:55 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 17 2008 11:39 AM
On a warm summer evening in 2004, three men huddled over a table on the patio of a trendy Sacramento restaurant.
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Then-Republican Assembly Leader Kevin McCarthy sat with his back against the wall. Across from him was Democratic political consultant Richie Ross. To McCarthy's side was Democratic state Sen. Dean Florez.
If the three were trying to be discreet, they failed miserably. The next day, Assemblywoman Nicole Parra confronted McCarthy on the Assembly floor, accusing him of scheming with Florez and Ross to block her re-election.
McCarthy recalls that he just looked up at her and smiled.
McCarthy heard the same accusation from Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and in e-mails from other Democrats. He jokingly recalled this week that it "kinda freaked me out; like someone was following me." Reportedly, Parra's friend and colleague, Assemblywoman Cindy Montañez, saw the trio and told Parra.
Who cares about a dinner four years ago? Democrats should, according to Parra, who contends Florez's behind-the-scenes mischief to derail Parra's 2004 re-election was much more egregious behavior than her kind words about Republican Danny Gilmore, who hopes to replace Democrat Parra when she terms out.
The Kern County Democratic Central Committee is attempting to punish Parra for saying Gilmore is a better fit for the 30th Assembly District than Shafter Councilwoman Fran Florez, the mother of Dean Florez, Parra's political nemesis.
Central Committee Chairwoman Candi Easter, who sent protest letters to Democratic legislative and party leaders, gets downright emotional when she calls Parra's support for Gilmore a slap in the face of local and state Democrats who raised tons of money and worked hard to get Parra elected and re-elected in three tough races.
Oh yeah? That was the essence of Parra's response last week during a "push back" news conference. If local Democrats are going to be so quick to condemn her for praising Gilmore, how about condemning Florez for working against her campaign in 2004? To back up her claim, she provided a statement from McCarthy that Florez met with him and worked to defeat Parra in 2004.
When I called McCarthy, who is now Bakersfield's Republican congressman, he confirmed his statement, but refused to get in the middle of the Democrats' fight.
Too late, I told him, you're already there.
Interestingly, McCarthy could tell me where he was sitting during his restaurant meeting and what he ate (something from the pizza oven). But he remained vague about what was discussed.
I wormed this much out of him: They wanted to know if Republicans were serious about supporting Dean Gardner, the Republican 30th District candidate. Two years earlier, Gardner ran against Parra with little support from his party -- and he nearly beat her. Republicans were stepping up their support in 2004. (He lost again.)
By 2004, the feud between Parra and Florez had intensified. Florez and his political consultant, Ross, had managed to boot Parra's father, Pete, from the Kern County Board of Supervisors, replacing him with Florez's political aide, Michael Rubio.
Ross also represents the United Farm Workers union, which had worked hard to get Parra elected in 2002, but was mightily disappointed by her lack of support for their legislation.
When I asked Florez this week about the meeting, he denied helping Gardner and gave this version of the dinner in an e-mail:
"First of all I ain't stupid enough to work with the Republicans. Second, it's never been in my interest to have a Republican take this seat.
"Richie Ross asked me to connect him with Kevin McCarthy because the UFW's headquarters is in McCarthy's district. ... We talked about a budget item for the UFW complex that needed bipartisan support.
"And if it drove Parra crazy to see us talking together, I really didn't care."
Who knows who did what to whom in 2004? Heck, who knows who's doing what to whom today? But Parra says she's done saying nice things about Gilmore.
"I'm staying out of it," she said, adding she won't endorse anyone. "If (the Democrats) lose this seat, by God, it won't be my fault."
E-mail Dianne Hardisty at dhardisty@bakersfield.com.