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Dante Acosta

Altered Photo Allegations Latest Charge In 38th District Fight

Santa Clarita Councilman Dante Acosta held a news conference Monday morning to discuss allegedly altered images used in mailers against him by fellow 38th Assembly District candidate and opponent Christy Smith’s campaign.


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Smith denied the photos were altered when reached for comment Monday after Acosta’s announcement.

“We are here today in mutual outrage over the blatant racism and bigoted messages of hate by my opponent Christy Smith,” said Acosta while surrounded by members of the community. “Though we are proud to be Latinos, it is not the only thing that should define us.”

Acosta held the conference in front of the Santa Clarita Democratic Party Headquarters in Newhall to speak out against the allegedly doctored images of Acosta used in Smith’s campaign mailers.

Acosta states that his photos were altered and used to portray him as a “Mexican two-bit thug”and that Smith would rather use these images to sway voters based on his ethnicity as opposed to policy and what is best for the district, according to Acosta.

Smith disagreed and said the photos were found on the internet, and approved by her campaign.

“Those images were publicly available on the internet and were approved before being used,” said Smith. Smith went on to state that the images were not altered, but that Acosta is holds the rights to his own statements and opinion.

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Acosta also blamed the Democratic Party for the tactics.

“The Democratic Party has given Christy Smith over a million dollars to spew this type of racist, indignant message of hate,” said Acosta. “Even more disturbing is Christy Smith’s blatant hypocrisy by pandering to Hispanics recently during Hispanic Heritage Month, and yet continuing to use negative racial stereotypes that hold back minority communities.Dante Acosta Conference

Smith denied the mailer had any intent to make a statement about Acosta’s “ethnicity.”

“I have been working with many different minority communities for over 20 years in my work,” said Smith. “He is entitled to hold a press conference, but I would never make a statement about an ethnicity for any reason.”

The campaigning has been accused of getting personal by both sides, with Smith taking a shot at Acosta’s business reputation at the end of a recent debate, and more recently, a complaint of a similar nature was charged against Smith’s husband about his business.

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Altered Photo Allegations Latest Charge In 38th District Fight

9 comments

  1. Dante Acosta and local Republicans sure are doing an awful lot of whining lately. Not used to competition, I guess. Christy Smith is the real deal, and if Dems turn-out to vote on Nov 8, Dems will win. Acosta knows this, and that’s why he staged this desperate stunt …

  2. Newhall School District is the most diverse in the valley with more Hispanics than any other district. I invite the public to look at their test scores. Christy is part of the team that has insured the achievement of all Hispanic students, including those who are impoverished. Can Dante make any kind of similar claim? Does he support tax dollars that support public education? Data and results -what a concept. This whole argument was ginned up to create a false narrative and cry ‘poor me.’

  3. Well, I am sorry that Mr. Acosta doesn’t like his picture. Usually its the Republican machine in this valley that uses unflattering photos on hit mailers. Guess they are getting a little of their own medicine and don’t like it.

    I think it would be more important for him to respond to the charge of sexual abuse that has just come out.

    • The picture thing isn’t as big of a deal to me as the outright LYING that the Christy Smith campaign is engaged in. I know the facts of what she accuses Acosta of and it’s absolutely false. Do some research on her and her husband and see where the facts lie.

      You’re grasping at straws dude. There is no sexual assault charge or allegation against Acosta. Just because you type it in a comment box doesn’t make it true. Whether you believe it or not, YOU and I (and Christy and Hillary) will stand before God and be accountable for our actions. Scripture says “Do not bear false witness”, it’s one of the 10 commandments. Oh, that’s right, Democrats don’t believe in the 10 commandments. I’ve never met a Democrat that believes in the whole Bible. Not ONE. They believe in only the parts that server them.

      • Wow talk about being offensive and stating an over generalized statement! How could you quote a bible verse and then follow it up with an ignorant statement that’s offensive?

        • What’s offensive Becky? Does the Bible verse offend you? Or that I called out Smith for lying and playing dirty politics? That’s usually the case, when people get caught in a lie, they get totally defensive and angry. God knows the truth, and so does Smith.

  4. Donte Acosta is saying that using an ugly picture of his face is racist? 99% of the time someone calls someone or something racist these days they are trying to manipulate us or are flat out lying. This is a common tactic of the left and its unfortunate a republican is using it. Inflammatory statements like this only divide our society and obscure actual acts of racism. Next time we hear something like this I suggest we take a step back and try to figure out what’s really going on.

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About Natalie Rocha