Much has been whispered about and written about in passing about the fact that Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby had a sexual harassment complaint filed against him by a county employee. The matter went to court where a lot of — explicit — testimony was made on the record. The very abbreviated version is that a trial court judge found that there was some merit to the allegations however an appellate court disagreed. Ultimately the matter was settled, and as Norby is quick to point out, with no payments of taxpayer funds being paid out.
That said, expect to see a lot about this matter given the circumstances that led to the vacancy in this Assembly seat.
In what is a harbinger of what will be one of the most negative and entertaining special elections in recent memory, Linda Ackerman has dropped a mail piece that hit today hitting Norby on this issue.
In an earlier post I indicated that it was likely that the negative attacks on Norby would come from independent expenditures (rumors abound that Sacramento third-house folks are working on one). But I was wrong. This is probably an indicator that if such an independent effort is underway, it has not geared up quick enough for what will be a lightning fast primary (absentee ballots get mailed in just days) — so Ackerman’s campaign didn’t have the luxury of waiting.
Hitting Norby hard, now — before voting begins is going to be an essential component to Ackerman winning this seat. Linda has no choice but to try and bring down Norby’s "positives" in this district as he is a well known political commodity that voters are used to supporting, and she has never been on a ballot (though her husband served in legislature in this area from the early 90’s until last year).
Look for Norby to continue to pound away at Ackerman while simultaneously pushing out positive mail — with the prevailing thought that she not only needs to try and bring down his positives — but she needs to raise her own visibility and positive name ID.
This is all quite complicated stuff — which is why two really capable consultants are engaged — Matt Rexroad for Ackerman and former Senator John Lewis for Norby.
Oh yeah, below is the hard-hit piece on Norby that dropped today.
October 14th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Linda Linda Linda…..why one needs to be a sleezy politican makes one wonder….
Lets talk issues Linda….issues…. if your capable?
October 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Jon –
I think you posted only half of the mailer. I only get two pages when I click on it and I assume the sexually explicit language is on the other half?
October 15th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I am new to commenting here but I felt compelled in order to respond to the tactics Mrs. Ackerman has chosen to apply. I am so tired of politicians trying to hide truths in half lies through personal attacks. Originally, I was leaning toward supporting Mrs. Ackerman. I was willing to overlook the fact she does not live here but now I see she is just another political insider willing to use hateful negative incomplete mailers to advance her agenda.
When will we get an honest, qualified, gentleman(woman) conserviative politician who actually cares about his community?
At least I know where Mr. Norby stands on life, education, and small government through his tenure in government service. I understand he has issues that should be considered but I have lost all faith in Mrs. Ackerman’s integrity and question the reasons she is running.