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Jan Goldsmith, who has come under fire from opponent Brian Maienschein for his alleged weakness as a conservative and has been attacked by labor unions for alleged arch-conservatism, just left me a voicemail message. (I’ve been trying to get hold of him, but we’re both busy guys.)
Here’s what he said:
“This is ploy from labor unions on one side, on one perspective, and Brian Maienschein on the other perspective, one saying I’m a conservative Republican, the other saying I’m not a conservative Republican, all for the benefit of Scott Peters.”
As I wrote in this post yesterday, Goldsmith has been targeted in three different mailers sent out by the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council, which has so far spent tens of thousands of dollars attacking him.
Goldsmith has also been the subject of critical mailers sent out by Brian “I don’t grandstand” Maienschein and has also come under fire from incumbent Mike Aguirre, who has criticized Goldsmith for using his title of judge to lend legitimacy to his campaign, something Aguirre has called “the worst type of politicking.”
Goldsmith also sent me an e-mail this morning defending himself:
“The labor union bosses are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a desperate last minute attempt to defeat me and put their fellow — Scott Peters — in the seat negotiating for the city. They are trying to own both sides of the negotiating table. As a Councilman, Scott Peters did their bidding and bestowed special pension benefits for union bosses. He is by no means independent. The labor union bosses see an opportunity to take control of the legal arm of the city and they are going for it.
The city attorney’s office is not about policy but about enforcing the laws. I won’t be beholden to anybody — including the labor unions. I’m not anti-union. I’m pro-city.”