GOP Calls for Withdrawal of Candidate

Oct 19 9:54 PM US/Eastern
By PETER PRENGAMAN
Associated Press Writer

Orange County Republican leaders on Thursday called for the withdrawal of a GOP congressional candidate they believe sent a letter threatening Hispanic immigrant voters with arrest.

Tan D. Nguyen denied knowing anything about the letter in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press but said he fired a campaign staffer who may have been responsible for it. Nguyen's attorney said his client had no intention of quitting.

County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh said that after speaking with state investigators and the company that distributed the mailer, he believes Nguyen had direct knowledge of the "obnoxious and reprehensible" letter. He told the AP that the party's executive committee voted unanimously to urge Nguyen to drop out of the race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez.

"I learned information that allows me to draw the conclusion that not only was Mr. Nguyen's campaign involved in this, but that Mr. Nguyen was personally involved in expediting the mailer," Baugh said in a telephone interview.

State and federal officials were investigating the letter, which was written in Spanish and mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in central Orange County. It warns, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

Immigrants who are adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote.

Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant whose opposition to illegal immigration has figured heavily in his underdog campaign, was not immediately available to react to the committee's vote. His attorney, David Wiechert, said Thursday night that his client does not plan to quit.

So, if I understand this correctly, the letter states:

"You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."
How is the statement not factual? If a man is a naturalized citizen, he knows full well he CAN vote, but if that man is in the united States on a visa, he is an immigrant, or if he is an illegal he has then already committed a federal crime and (hence the word illegal) he cannot vote, so I must ask once again, how is the statement not factual, and further, how is it intimidation? Mexifornia has a large population from Mexico and many of it's so called citizens, whose allegiance is due to California and the united States, is obviously lacking, but then again, it is just one more nail in the lid...

WP