Central County : Candidate Censured by GOP Ethics Committee

The ethics committee of Orange County’s Republican Central Committee has censured 40th Congressional District candidate Nathan Rosenberg for using a letterhead that allegedly misleads voters into believing he is already a congressman.

Since his campaign began in mid-March, Rosenberg has been using a letterhead on stationery and handouts that reads: “Nathan Owen Rosenberg U.S. Representative Republican.”

The ethics committee action, taken Thursday night, followed an unsuccessful attempt in court earlier that day by Rosenberg’s opponent, incumbent Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) to halt the use of all Rosenberg campaign material with that letterhead. Superior Court Commissioner Ronald Bauer on Thursday refused to issue a temporary restraining order, noting that if Badham supporters were concerned about the letterhead, they should have complained well before the last days of the campaign.

In its finding Thursday night, the ethics committee claimed, “the use of ‘U.S. Representative’ by Nathan Owen Rosenberg was meant to intentionally mislead the electorate into thinking that he is an incumbent member of the U.S. House of Representatives.”