Cedillo Assails Torres for Taking NRA Campaign Aid

On the eve of the election to replace Assemblyman Louis Caldera, candidate Gil Cedillo criticized challenger Ricardo Torres Saturday for accepting $12,000 worth of campaign brochures paid for by the National Rifle Assn.

“The NRA is not welcome in our community,” Cedillo said during a news conference outside his campaign headquarters in Boyle Heights. “Gangs and guns have created a critical situation here. I denounce the NRA’s intervention, and I will encourage other leaders to do the same.”

According to state records, the NRA disclosed Thursday that it had spent $12,000 on behalf of Torres. The organization, which is known for its staunch opposition to gun control, made the expenditure under Proposition 208.

The law allows individuals, organizations and businesses to independently spend money in support of a candidate as long as the candidate is not informed of the expenditure until after it is made.

Instead of accepting political support from gun control opponents, Cedillo said he would duplicate the efforts of Caldera, who worked on legislation to stop the spread of assault rifles and so-called Saturday night specials, cheap handguns often linked to crime.

Larry Levine, Torres’ campaign manager, defended Torres, saying that under Proposition 208 candidates have lost control over who spends money on their behalf. He said Torres only found out about the NRA mailers Friday evening.

“We have always taken strong anti-gang, anti-drug and anti-crime positions. We do not agree with the NRA on assault rifles, for example,” Levine said. “But somehow the NRA found him less objectionable than the other candidates.”

Levine also said that Cedillo has been the benefactor of almost $100,000 in independent expenditures from a variety of interest groups--more money than any candidate has received in campaign contributions so far.

Joining Cedillo on Saturday were U.S. Rep. Esteban Torres (D-Pico Rivera); Assembly Majority Leader Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles); former Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Woo; Juana Gutierrez, a founder of Mothers of East Los Angeles; and Martin Flores, whose 17-year-old brother was killed in a drive-by shooting in April 1994.