Environmental leaders issued a letter to Congressional Candidate Janice Hahn today urging her to stop her negative and misleading smear campaign against her fellow Democrat Debra Bowen.

With just days before the May 17 Special Election, the Janice Hahn Campaign has resorted to smearing Secretary of State Bowen in a campaign mailer sent to CD 36 voters questioning her commitment to the environment, healthcare and the Democratic Party.

The environmental leaders want Hahn to stop her "deceptive and hypocritical campaign tactics".

The letter to Hahn is below:

May 13, 2011

Los Angeles City Councilmember Janice Hahn
Los Angeles City Hall
200 North Spring St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Dear Councilmember Hahn:

We are truly disappointed by your deceptive and hypocritical campaign tactics and ask that you stop your misleading and untruthful attacks on Secretary of State Debra Bowen in the Special Election for the 36th Congressional seat.

The fact of the matter is that Debra is the only candidate endorsed by the Sierra Club and the California League of Conservation Voters, and they do so based on her consistently strong leadership in protecting our environment and standing up to the special interests, including oil companies.

It is astonishing that you would attack Debra for accepting oil company contributions when over the years you have accepted, and continue to accept, tens of thousands of dollars from oil company CEO's, CFO's, Presidents, and other officers for your Congressional campaign.

It seems particularly hypocritical when, in your attack mailer, the oil-related contributors you cite includes some of the same donors from whom you have accepted thousands of dollars for your Congressional campaign.

We recall that you introduced Measure O establishing an oil extraction tax; after that, you received $24,000 from oil and gas companies, including Chevron, Occidental Petroleum, Conoco Phillips, Tesoro and Warren E & P. Was that the reason you ultimately changed your mind and voted against placing the measure on the ballot? Perhaps because, as the Los Angeles Times has reported, about half of your money comes from "lobbyists, developers, and others doing business with the city", the person that “we can’t trust” to do the right thing, isn't Debra Bowen, but Janice Hahn?

We urge you to stop your deception immediately as a matter of principle.

Signed,

Betsy Butler, Assemblymember (D-Marina del Rey)
Martin Byhower, Past-President Palos Verdes/South Bay Audubon Society
Fran Diamond, California League of Conservation Voters Board Member*
Ruth Galanter, former LA City Councilmember
Sheila Kuehl, State Senator (Ret.)
Dency Nelson, Co-founder of PlugInAmerica.org
Fran Pavley, State Senator (D-23)

*For Identification purposes only