Getting their mug out there is what politicians do come election season.
There are two mugs of Clarissa Cervantes that her opponents want voters to see — booking photos from her DUI arrests. And they’re prominent in mailers attacking the Assembly candidate.
Cervantes, a Riverside city councilmember, isn’t the only Riverside Democrat who’s become the focus of attack ads that have been stuffing voters’ mailboxes.
Her sister, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, D-Riverside, Riverside City Councilmember Ronaldo Fierro and Riverside school board member Angelo Farooq are all targets in what’s become a bitter and personal race for two state legislative seats representing the Inland Empire.
“Oftentimes, primary elections are where the competition is strongest,” UC Riverside political science professor Shaun Bowler said in an email.
“That can make politics very personal because if both candidates are from the same party, then it becomes harder to criticize the other candidate for policy reasons because there aren’t many policy differences.”
The negative ads in the state’s 58th Assembly District and 31st Senate District stem from a “convergence of factors,” including “rising incivility in campaigns,” spending by outside groups, “solid fundraising … competing endorsements and possible personal vulnerabilities of the candidates,” Marcia Godwin, a professor of public administration at the University of La Verne, said via email.
“Candidates are no longer held to a standard of civility and are more directly going after their opponents,” Godwin said. “It has long been known that negative ads are memorable and usually work. However, the dirty work would often be done by third parties. We no longer have that kind of shadow boxing.”
Clarissa Cervantes hopes to succeed her sister in the 58th, which includes parts of Riverside, Corona and Eastvale along with all of Jurupa Valley and Grand Terrace. Joining her on the Tuesday, March 5, primary ballot are Fierro and Republican Leticia Castillo.
Sabrina Cervantes, who currently represents the 58th, hopes voters promote her to the state Senate.
Farooq, a Democrat and Riverside Unified School District board member, and Republican/Romoland School District board member Cynthia Navarro also are on the primary ballot in the 31st, which covers Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Moreno Valley, Perris, San Jacinto and parts of Corona, Fontana, Menifee and Riverside.
The top two vote-getters in 58th and 31st, regardless of political party, will advance to the November ballot. With GOP votes likely to coalesce around Castillo and Navarro, it’s possible one of the Cervantes sisters, Fierro or Farooq gets shut out of the general election.
Clarissa Cervantes pleaded guilty in August to misdemeanor driving under the influence after being stopped in Banning a month earlier. According to police reports and court records, she was driving 101 mph when she was pulled over and had a blood alcohol level of 0.19, more than twice the legal limit.
It was her second DUI conviction since 2014. Forty-two days before her second arrest, she had her first DUI conviction dismissed after telling a judge: “Each day I carry remorse and promise to never repeat those actions.”
A blitz of anti-Cervantes mailers warn of what they call a reckless, dishonest candidate undeserving of the public’s trust. An online ad includes police camera footage of Cervantes’ arrest last summer. One mailer features Marc Bernardout, a Mothers Against Drunk Driving national board member, recounting the loss of his son — whose photo is on the mailer — to a drunk driver.
“Please don’t vote for Clarissa Cervantes,” Bernardout wrote. “She had two chances. Don’t give her a third.”
Keeping Californians Working, a Sacramento-based independent expenditure committee or super PAC, paid for that mailer and other anti-Cervantes ads. The PAC’s donors include Uber, kidney dialysis provider DaVita and the pharmaceutical and insurance industries.
Legally, super PACs can’t coordinate their activities with candidates. A committee representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Godwin said business PACs “are increasing primary spending and targeting candidates that they see as hostile to their interests. It is a whole lot less expensive to keep those candidates from advancing or damage their prospects enough that these interests can spend less in the general election.”
Clarissa Cervantes is trying to use the PACs’ involvement against them.
“It’s clear why corporate special interests are attacking Clarissa,” Natalie Reyes, a campaign spokesperson, said via email. “She has a record of standing up to them and putting people first, and they want a lackey in Sacramento who will do their bidding.”
Clarissa Cervantes, who went into rehab after her second arrest, accepts responsibility for her past DUIs.
“While we are not defined by our mistakes, I’ve come to terms with mine and am grateful they’ve led me to a path of personal recovery where I am 7+ months sober,” she says in a mailer.
Clarissa Cervantes’ ads accuse Fierro of voting to raise utility rates and being backed by the warehouse and “price-gouging pharmaceutical” industries.
Fierro said via email that Uber and insurance companies might be paying for anti-Cervantes ads because “(they) think candidates that have put Riverside families in danger by driving over 100 miles per hour with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit should not go to the State Assembly. I agree with them — and I suspect most voters do too.”
Farooq’s Sabrina Cervantes ads also mention her sister’s legal troubles.
“(Sabrina) Cervantes funneled $17,000 in campaign dollars to her sister, a Riverside councilmember convicted of multiple DUIs and wants to “hand her Assembly seat to her drunk-driving sister,” the voiceover in an online ad says.
The assemblymember also used campaign funds to take her family “on a luxury Paris vacation,” the ad alleges. Farooq cited pages from Sabrina Cervantes’ past campaign finance disclosure reports, which show travel expenses in 2022 for her and her spouse related to a “legislative event” in Paris.
In an emailed statement, Sabrina Cervantes said: “It’s easy to assail someone else’s record when you lack one of your own. I’m confident that Inland Empire voters know my accomplishments and will see Farooq’s campaign for what it is: A cynical attempt to confuse voters and suppress turnout among Democrats in our region.”
Derek Humphrey, a Sabrina Cervantes campaign spokesperson, said via email: “Our campaign has invested much of our resources on positive messages showcasing Sabrina’s record of delivering results for Riverside County and the positive change she can ignite as our state senator.”
“Some of our campaign materials feature comparative content to correct the record and give voters context about Angelo Farooq’s character and why he is choosing to run such a desperate and negative campaign,” Humphrey added.
Sabrina Cervantes has fired back with ads calling Farooq “desperate and dishonest” and citing public records to portray him as a failed businessman who changed his name while running for public office.
Farooq ran for the Riverside school board in 2015 as Angelov Farooq. He also used that name while running for the Riverside Community College District Board of Trustees in 2014.
Farooq said via email: “Voters are tired of the political deceptions and lies. We are shining a light on who Sabrina really is and encourage voters to go see for themselves.”
He cited media reports about Sabrina Cervantes’ campaign sending texts claiming to have a 100% voting record with the Sierra Club when, in fact, she scored 40% in 2023. She scored 100% on the club’s 2019 scorecard.
Farooq accused Sabrina Cervantes of “trying to distract voters over the issue of my name …”
“It’s frankly racist,” he said. “Traditional White candidates shorten their names all the time. Case in point, the president himself prefers being called Joe Biden.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a quotation. State Senate candidate Angelo Farooq accused opponent Sabrina Cervantes of “trying to distract voters over the issue of my name.”
