CDP looks to take down both Stricklands with dual mailers

The California Democratic Party is hoping to take down a Central Coast husband-wife GOP legislative team with a series of attack mailers that question their ethics.

The mailers target Audra Strickland, who represents the 37th Assembly District, and husband Tony Strickland, who is vying to represent the 19th Senate District.

One of the Democratic mailers featured a game of Scrabble and used the words "power" and "corrupt," surrounded by the names of both husband and wife, to paint the couple as a “dangerous political machine.”

The same mailer also depicted numerous news clips with headlines such as "Couple Paid Each Other Campaign Funds."

A second mailer sent out this week claims that "tobacco, alcohol and oil companies” are financing the Strickland’s political careers. The hit piece again sites newspaper articles attacking the couple, including a Letter to the Editor in the Ventura County Star that claims the Stricklands "have to beg for money from tobacco companies."

Republican consultant Joe Justin, who works for both of the Strickland campaigns, said he was not surprised by the mailers.

"These guys are willing to do anything to pick up a two-thirds majority [in the state Senate and Assembly]," Justin said of the CDP.

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