Senate candidates have bitter last-minute exchange Senate candidates have bitter last-minute exchange (March 05, 2004)

Diaz under fire for controversial mailers

By Grace Rauh

In the race's final week, the battle for the state Senate seat representing Mountain View suddenly turned nasty.

Elaine Alquist's campaign allegedly placed phone calls to voters accusing her opponent, Manny Diaz, of skipping out on parental responsibilities to children from his first marriage. In response, Diaz's ex-wife, Ofelia, drafted an open letter to Alquist, paid for by the Diaz campaign.

Alquist denies her campaign made such calls.

"The reality is that they had expected my campaign and me to hit him on his not having paid child support, but neither I nor my staff ever, ever, ever brought it up in the campaign, nor is there any campaign material stating that," Alquist said.

A few people contacted the Diaz headquarters to say they had received phone calls from the Alquist campaign regarding the state Assembly member's past, according to Robin Swanson, spokesperson for the Diaz campaign. Senate District 13 voters received the emotional letter from Ofelia just days before going to the polls.

"Your violating of our family's privacy is disgraceful," Ofelia Diaz wrote. "Manny and I have had our differences in the past, but let me assure you that he has met all his obligations and responsibilities to his children."

Diaz also came under fire in a San Jose Mercury News editorial Monday for misusing several sentences from the newspaper's endorsement of Alquist for his own campaign materials.

"One is neutral, about the standards we expect. The other sentence he prints is: 'Alquist just meets the minimum.' We said that. Here's what else we said: 'Alquist is the better choice.' ... 'She easily outshines Diaz,'" the editorial stated.

The Diaz campaign was trying to contrast the two candidates, Swanson said. "I think he knows this has been a tough fight."

Looking back on her campaign, Alquist said she was pleased with her approach to the race. "I feel really good about the campaign I've run based squarely on the issues and documented voting records and also documented campaign contributions."

E-mail Grace Rauh at grauh@mv-voice.com

E-mail a friend a link to this story.