Hammond

The narrow issue on which this case turns is the scope of the word “qualifications” as used in the Elections Code statute governing the content of candidates’ statements in voters’ pamphlets. (See Elec. Code, § 13307, formerly Elec. Code, § 10012.) It is now established that the word does not encompass attacks on one’s opponents. (See Clark v. Burleigh (1992) 4 Cal.4th 474, 488-489 [ 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 455 , 841 P.2d 975 ].) But does it encompass a candidate’s ideas or platform'?

The answer is yes: The Legislature envisioned that a candidate’s ideas and views (as distinct from attacks on opponents) could fairly constitute “qualifications” within the meaning of the statute. Indeed, common sense would lead to no other conclusion. It is hard to imagine, for example—if the candidate’s statement had been around in the Presidential Election of 1860— that Abraham Lincoln’s opinions about the expansion of slavery into the territories somehow didn’t qualify him to be President, but his work and background as a prominent railroad attorney (work for which in general Lincoln is not remembered) did.

Facts

Larry Agran, formerly a mayor and city council member of Irvine, ran again for…