VOEPEL-TEORA ASSEMBLY RACE HEATS UP
By Miriam Raftery
Photo from www.StopRandyVoepel.com, a site criticizing Voepel's "insurgent" remarks suggesting he would be a political hit man for the GOP in Sacramento
May 27, 2016 (San Diego’s East County) – Santee Mayor Randy Voepel is facing some formidable opposition in his run for the 71st Assembly seat. An anonymous hit site, www.StopRandyVoepel.com, has posted audio of inflammatory statements made by Voepel—along with past tax lien documents on the self-proclaimed fiscal conservative’s home.
Meanwhile his opponent, Tony Teora, a centrist Republican who leans Libertarian on some issues but green on climate change, has invested heavily in his campaign including freeway signs, newspaper ads and newsletters to voters. (Leo Hamel, a third candidate listed on the ballot, has withdrawn from the race.)
Teora has told ECM that he is not behind the Stop Randy Voepel website. Voepel has failed to respond to ECM requests for comment on the site and has not responded to multiple requests for an interview on his candidacy. You hear our interview with Teora on his candidacy and read highlights here.
“The big difference between Randy and I, is that Randy wants to go to Sacramento and just vote conservative; I want to go to Sacramento and fight to create smart legislation (or rescind laws) to change people’s lives for the better,” Teora told ECM in an email this week. “A lot of that will be Libertarian and Conservative based legislation, but a lot will be whatever is smart to help the people of this state.”
He adds, “ Also a BIG mistake of the party is lying to people about climate change. We need to be pro-active on that front, or millions will die,” says Teora, an electrical engineer, software company founder, data solutions manager for a bank and science fiction author. Teora’s goals if elected also include lowering taxes on businesses and families while supporting education; his endorsements include the California Faculty Association.
The StopRandyVoepel site includes audio of Voepel, a former Marine and Viet Nam Veteran, speaking to a conservative group locally in which he describes himself as an ”insurgent” running solely to identify the weakest Democrat in the Assembly and use his second year in office to work toward knocking out that official. “I’m talking sniper politics …the best hit is when they get killed and they don’t even know who did it. So in politics, I’m an insurgent,” Voepel stated.
The site’s operator has posted blog entires blasting Voepel for planning to “do nothing for the first year of his term” and not addressing needs of constituents in the district such as high taxes, unemployment, and drought impacts. “I want someone in the State Assembly who will represent the interests of me and my neighbors. Not play war games,” the blog states. The blogger also criticized Voepel’s punitive actions toward the homeless in Santee, stating,”We need a war on homelessness, not a war on the homeless.”
The anti-Voepel site also attacks Voepel for boasting about Santee getting an “F” grade from theAmerican Lung Association for its pro-smoking ordinances. “Our brave hero can now add the fight FOR lung cancer to his battles…” the site snipes.
The site also faults Voepel for responding to an autograph collector from China with a written rebuff that read in part, “I respectfully decline to cooperate in any way with what I consider to be an enemy of the United States. The People’s Republic of China is a repressive and evil communist regime,” he went on. The blog poster cited concerns over Voepel’s inability to separate individuals from their government.