OC GOP Sends Out Mailer Condemning Katherine Daigle for Use of Party Logo
Posted by Chris Nguyen on October 30, 2014
For years, candidates who did not have the Republican Party endorsement have used creative ways of implying that they’re endorsed by the party, sometimes through creative wording, other times with creative logos.
This year, the Republican Party of Orange County has been more aggressive in trying to curb these inaccurate implied endorsements and has been sending cease-and-desist letters to various candidates who have attempted to imply endorsements from the Republican Party despite not actually being endorsed.
It seems Irvine Mayoral Candidate Katherine Daigle went too far this time. She has been using the official Republican Party logo for her campaign. She too received a cease-and-desist letter.
Among the items mentioned in the cease-and-desist letter sent to several candidates is a threat that the party will “communicate this information to the citizens” of the area where the candidate is running.
The warning to Daigle reads in full: “Any further unauthorized use of our logo, including any further use of the mailers or signs in question, or any other attempt to falsely imply that you have been endorsed by the Republican Party will cause us to seek legal remedies and communicate this information to the citizens of Irvine to expose this deception.”
Apparently, Daigle didn’t heed the warning, and so today, a mailer landed in the mailboxes of Irvine Republicans blasting Daigle for “attempting to fool Republican voters” and blasting her using terms like “deceit,” “dishonest,” “trademark infringement,” “unethical,” and “illegal.”
The mailer even noted, “In Irvine’s last city election, Daigle tried to play the role of spoiler to get Larry Agran elected. She was exposed as a plant candidate and both she and her friend Agran were thoroughly rejected at the polls.”
The OC GOP showed the threat has bite, and by making an example out of Katherine Daigle, other OC candidates may think twice before attempting to falsely imply a Republican Party endorsement in the future. (Granted Irvine is a high priority for the OC GOP, so Daigle was a more tempting-than-average target, but what future candidate wants to gamble that they won’t get hit?)
Here’s the mailer for those interested in seeing it in its full glory, including a copy of the cease-and-desist letter from OC GOP Chairman Scott Baugh:
OC Political 
Dan Chmielewski said
The OC GOP complaining about something unethical! Hysterical. Hypocritical. People in glass houses…….
Greg Diamond said
What a load of elephant dung — compounded by no similar flyer going out against Gail Eastman in Anaheim, who used the ACTUAL logo of the RNC in a way that WAS intended to imply endorsement. Daigle’s use of an elephant on her signs was simply to identify her to voters as a Republican, not to claim party endorsement.
Here’s what RNC’s then-chief counsel Sean Cairncross said about use of their logo at the time of a previous trademark dispute:
Daigle, as anyone can see from these photos, is not using the trademarked logo. They just want to attack her in political — not legal — terms to help bolster Steven Choi. What this tells me is that Stephen Choi may well be in trouble.
At any rate, there’s a good solution here: any Republican who thinks that no one but the party-endorsed candidate should be able to run for office in a non-partisan race will presumably want to vote for Choi. Anyone who thinks that a Republican of long standing should be able to run when the party’s endorsed candidate is wholly bought by developers, and who wants to resist this sort of heavy-handed sophistry, should vote for Daigle.
Meanwhile, I’ll wait for the attack mailer to come out against the unrepentant and actually guilty Gail Eastman. Not before next Wednesday, I presume.
Greg Diamond said
Forgot to mention: after receiving the letter, she actually went around and PAINTED OUT THE STARS on her sign to make it clear that she was not using the logo. That’s why what you see here is a political smear rather than a legal complaint!
Scott Baugh’s Attack Mailer Against Katherine Daigle is Full of His Trademarked Elephant Dung | Orange Juice Blog said
[…] Political reports that Baugh has sent out a political mailer purporting (and massively failing) to make a legal argument that Daigle has engaged in […]
Dan Chmielewski said
Chris, only Scott Moxley believes Daigle W’s a plant candidate. Daigle and Agran barely know are each and are not friends. Christina Shea had signed on to be Daigle’s campaign manager for a run for council until Shea was recruited. I have a copy of the check Shea cashed or deposited and an entire file of emails between the two. Shea charges $75 an hour for political consulting which is $75 too much if you ask me. So please let’s stop with this canard Daigle was an Agran plant. That’s about as true as Lalloway’s police endorsement.