Candidate Tells FBI of Threats in Letters

A Republican candidate in the 41st Congressional District has filed a complaint with the FBI after receiving two threatening letters, one of them expressing anger because of her decision to challenge incumbent Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar).

Candidate Valerie Romero, an Upland businesswoman and one of four Republicans challenging Kim in the June 7 primary, said she turned two letters over to the FBI--one received about three weeks ago that was postmarked in the City of Industry, and another that arrived this week with a Santa Ana postmark.

Both letters were similarly typed, short and filled with grammatical errors and obscenities.

Following the FBI’s usual policy, a spokesman would neither confirm nor deny that the agency is investigating the case.

“Unfortunately, I think that because I am a woman, maybe they are trying to scare me off,” Romero said from her campaign headquarters in Ontario, adding that she has no idea who is behind the letters.

“I’m not saying it’s one of my opponents,” she said. “It could be one of the crazies out there.”

Romero said she initially dismissed the first letter as a “typical” prank. It warned her not to run against Kim, whose district includes parts of Orange and Los Angeles counties.

But, she said, she decided to call police after the second letter because it threatened acts of violence against her. The police referred her to the FBI, she said.

Sandra Garner, a spokeswoman for Kim, said that, unfortunately, such letters “go with the territory” and are part of public life.

She said Kim’s office also receives threatening letters occasionally, when volatile issues are before Congress. Recently, she added, the congressman drew strong reaction to his stand against illegal immigration.

“We have had some very serious threats. We have had (to call) the police on a couple of them,” Garner said. “When you get your first one, you really react to it . . . and then you start to understand this goes with the territory.”

Two other candidates in the race, Bob Kerns of Ontario and Todd R. Thakar of Newport Beach, said they had not received threatening letters and had not heard of Romero’s complaint. The fifth Republican candidate, Ronald L. Curtis, could not be reached for comment.

Kerns agreed that “maybe because (Romero) is a young female, they think they can intimidate her.”