KREKORIAN DENIES POLITICAL PRESSURE
By Zain Shauk

Burbank Leader
03/24/politics/blr-race032410.txt
March 24 2010
CA

He rebuts claim that he tried to goad candidate into dropping out
of race.

A spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian on Tuesday
denied claims that he offered Chahe Keuroghelian, a candidate for
his former Assembly seat, a later endorsement in exchange for him
dropping out of the race.

Keuroghelian, an Armenian-language-television host and former spokesman
for the Glendale Police Department, claimed in an election forum
Monday that Krekorian tried to pressure him to back out of contention
for the 43rd Assembly District.

Keuroghelian’s departure from the field of four candidates would
leave Krekorian’s endorsement, Glendale school board member Nayiri
Nahabedian, as the lone Armenian vying for the Assembly seat.

"Mr. Paul Krekorian himself has met with me, and the message was clear
that you will not get elected," Keuroghelian said during the forum.

"So instead of staying with this race and diluting the Armenian
votes and taking away Miss Nahabedian’s chances of getting elected,
you better pull out of the race. It is better for the community if
you pull out."

Representatives for Krekorian and Nahabedian denied the claims.

"Paul never once made any deal with Chahe," Krekorian spokesman Jeremy
Oberstein said.

Keuroghelian said representatives from Nahabedian’s campaign and from
the local chapter of the Armenian National Committee, whose political
action committee endorsed Nahabedian, were among those who pressured
him to drop out of the contest.

Nahabedian, along with other candidates in the district, which
includes most of Glendale, Burbank and parts of Los Angeles, has
actively campaigned to the large contingent of area Armenian voters
with targeted and translated campaign materials.

Keuroghelian, who has failed in his three election bids for Glendale
City Council, added after the forum that Krekorian offered to issue
that later endorsement for another council run.

"There were different types of approaches of making offers,"
Keuroghelian said. "One was if I decided to run for Glendale City
Council in 2011, I would be receiving an endorsement."

The issue was raised during a forum hosted by the Burbank Democratic
Club in which candidates were permitted to ask each other questions.

Democratic candidate Mike Gatto asked Keuroghelian if he had received
an offer to step out of the race.

"The accusation from Chahe and from Mike Gatto that there was some
sort of deal made is completely ridiculous," Oberstein said. "Paul is
supporting Nayiri because he believes that she can rise above these
gutter tactics that both of these campaigns are now employing."

The Armenian National Committee also rebutted the claims, although the
organization’s political action committee did meet with Keuroghelian
prior to making its endorsement.

The committee discussed "the relative strength of the two campaigns,
and that was the end of it," said Leonard Manoukian, co-chairman of
the Armenian National Committee’s Glendale chapter.