Perennial Candidate Chahe Keuroghelian Clamors To Spoil The Election
For Viable Candidate Nayiri Nahabedian
By Appo Jabarian
Executive Publisher / Managing Editor
USA Armenian Life Magazine
Issue #1202 April 10, 2010
A special primary election will take place on Tuesday April 13, to
fill the Assembly seat vacated by two-term California Assembly Member
Paul Krekorian of the 43rd District. The district includes Burbank,
Glendale and parts of Los Angeles.
In the 2006 election when then outgoing Assembly Member Dario Frommer,
a Democrat, could not run for re-election because of the term limit
law, the seat was up for grabs. Now in 2010, the current Assemblyman
Krekorian, also a Democrat, has vacated his seat because he was
elected to the Los Angeles City Council.
The current pre-primary political landscape is such that, on the
Republican side, the lone candidate Sunder Ramani, has virtually
locked the nomination of his party because of the fact that he is
running unopposed. However, the Democrats have their field crowded by
three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination – Mike Gatto,
Nayiri Nahabedian, and Chahe Keuroghelian.
The make-up of the voters in this district is such that the Democrats
outnumber the Republicans by nearly 2 to 1 margin. So the Democratic
nominee almost always has very high chances for being elected or
re-elected.
As a strong contender for the Democratic nomination, Nahabedian has
become a primary target by Mike Gatto and his supporters. A recent
campaign mailer by Gatto campaign featured all four candidates from
both parties. At this stage of the campaign and because of the urgent
objective in the primary election, the Democratic candidate Gatto has
chosen to take limited jabs at his Republican opponent. Instead, he
has chosen Nahabedian as the main target of his attacks. On the other
hand, he has gone out of his way to present Keuroghelian in positive
light. One may question, why Gatto has engaged in this discriminatory
practice? Gatto feels very threatened by Nahabedian. And surely, he
has cleverly adopted the "divide and conquer" policy aiming to
dismantle the local Armenian-American voting block.
Apparently, Gatto is well-aware that because of the fact that the 40%
of the total voters are Armenian-American, any viable mainstream
candidate in the Democratic primary race is certain to register an
impressive victory provided that he/she garners the huge majority of
the Armenian-American votes. Nahabedian is one such candidate.
So what Gatto needs is a "Trojan Horse" like Chahe Keuroghelian who
can steal votes from Nahabedian and ultimately rob the entire
mainstream community of its democratic right to quality representation
in the state government. Many individuals question whether
Keuroghelian is "recruited . . . for the sole purpose of dividing"
Nahabedian’s ethnic base.
Nahabedian has an impressive record in public service; whereas,
neither Keuroghelian, nor Gatto have such notable record.
If both Nahabedian and Keuroghelian are put to the test of
qualifications and ‘electability’ factors, Nahabedian passes the test
with flying colors. Keuroghelian would miserably fail.
To top it all, Keuroghelian not only is a weak candidate, but also is
an unelectable candidate for two major reasons:
1. According to reliable sources, because of his 2001 criminal
conviction for exhibiting a firearm after arguing with his then-wife,
he served 30 days under house arrest;
2. In the 2006 Democratic primary election for the California State
Assembly, Keuroghelian treacherously sided with a campaign which
enjoyed the support of elements that slandered a very popular
Armenian-American community-based organization (ANC) and
then-candidate Paul Krekorian as "terrorists."
In a June 6 article in Burbank Leader, titled "Calls, Mailer Bring
Anger," Fred Ortega reported that the "campaign mailing and phone
calls linking Assembly candidate Paul Krekorian and the Armenian
National Committee to a terrorism suspect convicted of weapons charges
has many community leaders outraged and some crying racism."
The hate mail pieces’ printing and mailing cost was underwritten by
the California Latino Leadership Fund. According to
, the Latino Leadership Fund spent over
$50,000 on behalf of Councilmember Quintero’s campaign. $18,433 was
spent on "Mail Piece Including Production & Postage to Oppose Paul
Krekorian For Assembly." According to various sources, over $500,000
were spent by various special interest groups in Sacramento in order
to defeat Krekorian.
Both the mailer and the phone calls also targeted the curricular books
on the Armenian Genocide, being circulated in public schools –
something that the Turkish government could not do on its own to this
day.
In the days leading to the June 2006 primary election and after the
infamous hate-mail by Quintero’s supporters, I contacted Keuroghelian
and asked if he would withdraw his support of Quintero or at least
condemn the anti-Armenian hate mail. He remained unresponsive.
When others blasted the anti-Armenian hate mail, Keuroghelian chose to
remain silent. His utter failure to condemn that vicious act was
widely attributed to his obsession with his political self interests.
Apparently, Keuro-ghelian was positioning himself as the
self-proclaimed "lieutenant" of Quintero, so that in case of the
latter’s election to the State Assembly Member, he would succeed
Quintero. Keuroghelian was adamant to pursue his own political
fortunes at the expense of his own community. And now he should be
held accountable for his misdeeds as a self-centered political
careerist.
On Saturday, April 3, during a live televised panel discussion on AMGA
TV with host Araksia Varteressian, I disclosed the above mentioned
facts: 1) Keuroghelian’s criminal record in a 2001 domestic violence
case; and 2) His treacherous silence on Quintero’s supporters’
anti-Armenian hate mail. After the TV program was over at 10 PM,
Keuroghelian went on the air sidestepping the issues raised by me.
During a April 5 live televised debate with Hovik Zirakyan, and later
joined by Steve Hovaguimian, some of Keuroghelian’s supporters called
and attacked me for having bringing up Keuroghelian’s criminal record
and his silence on the anti-Armenian hate-mail.
In my response, I underlined the fact that the political process of
these great United States allows media members and voters to bring up
various issues, including the personal record of each candidate. I
also elaborated that I’ve been an active observer/participant of the
American political scene for many years and that, unlike some other
countries, the United States constitution and the legal system
encourage open political debate. It is that openness that keeps this
country politically, morally, and economically healthy.
In a March 29, Los Angeles Times article by Jean Merl, Keuroghelian,
52, of Glendale, lamented that the campaign has been "a very
troublesome journey for me," unlike anything he experienced during his
three unsuccessful runs for the Glendale City Council.
If Keuroghelian is that much troubled, he can remedy his situation by
making a graceful exit and keep his troubling personal information
private. Doesn’t he know that when one runs for political office, he
leaves himself open to being scrutinized by the public?
Under normal circumstances, the unelectable candidate, in this case
Keuroghelian, would lucidly step aside and let the viable candidate
Nahabedian have a fair fight in the election arena. But can we expect
such an act of wisdom by Keuroghelian? We seriously doubt it. In the
meantime, I’d like to encourage readers of USA Armenian Life Magazine
to take into consideration the facts raised in this article, and vote
in favor Nahabedian. I have absolutely no doubt that she’ll do a great
job in representing the interests of the constituents of the 43rd
CA-Assembly District.