Estevez Denies Reports of Misleading Voters

(Editor's note: this story was updated at 1:11 p.m. on Monday, June 7.)

On the steps of the State House this morning, a defiant Eric Estevez denied recent reports that his campaign misled voters in his candidacy for the 32nd Middlesex District state representative's seat.

With regard to a March 7 press release in which Estevez claimed he received an endorsement from the Massachusetts Association of Italian American Police Officers (MAIAPO), which the MAIAPO president subsequently denied, Estevez said that his campaign sent a photograph of himself and others at a MAIAPO banquet "with no language that we were endorsed" to the website North Shore Tab, which then ran a story that stated Estevez had been endorsed by the MAIAPO.

"The facts are as follows: my campaign did not issue a press release about receiving an endorsement," he said. "It was the North Shore Tab that ran the photo and headline of 'Estevez has been endorsed by the Massachusetts Association of Italian American Police Officers.' Upon seeing the headline in the North Shore Tab that ran the story ... I say the following: it was news to me. And I figured that it came as a result of a general feeling of contentment. That is a quote by me after the North Shore Tab ran the story."

Estevez said that his campaign picked up on the story, posted a link on Estevez's campaign website and e-mailed it to other media outlets and to supporters. When it was pointed out that the document sent to media outlets containing the photograph and incorrect endorsement was dated March 7 — and that the North Shore Tab story appeared a day later on March 8 — Estevez responded, "Once again, to our knowledge the North Shore Tab went ahead and ran the story."

Asked if the endorsement document sent to other media outlets was the same one sent to the North Shore Tab on March 7, Estevez said "to my knowledge, no."

Richard Ireton, proprietor of the North Shore Tab, wrote in response to an e-mail from Melrose Patch that "I received the story directly from Eric.  He obviously has his timelines confused.  Eric hired me to create his website and advertisements and advertising space, which were billed to his committee and have not been paid as of yet.  Initially, Eric provided me a picture of him with Mrs. [Marianne] Long [human resources director] from the City of Melrose when he submitted his nomination papers, as well as the picture of him with Tisei and the other folks in the picture. His announcement ran and any other comments or releases he's given me."

Ireton also pointed to a 2005 article in the Pelham-Windham News that reported that Estevez, while running for New Hampshire's 27th District state representative seat, passed out business cards that read "Eric Estevez — State Representative" and were emblazoned with the New Hampshire State Seal. Estevez told the Pelham-Windham News at the time that he was unaware that it was illegal to have the State Seal on his business card and that he would remove it immediately.

"To that end, I stopped printing his information after it was learned that Eric had misrepresented his endorsements and experiences," Ireton wrote.

At the press conference, Estevez was asked why his campaign sent out the link to the North Shore Tab story without first clarifying that he had not been endorsed.

"At that particular time, we thought we were," Estevez said. "You (the media) brought it to our attention. We further went and looked at the issue. The North Shore Tab was the first media outlet to run that story. We took them at their word. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the media."

Estevez said that he should have viewed the endorsement story with "more of a critical eye; when you see a story about an organization endorsing you, your first reaction is to be pleased. I now realize that I should have pressed the group for physical documentation, confronted the outlet that ran the story first, and made a more concerted effort to dispel the endorsement story. I also take responsibility for posting the endorsement story on my website as well as e-mailing the story link by the North Shore Tab to my friends and campaign supporters."

The link to the story has since been removed from Estevez's campaign website, he said.

Estevez also handed out packets of documentation that included a photocopy of a certificate to show he served as freshmen representative in the fall of 2002 in the Student Government Association at Barry University. Estevez had previously listed his role as student body president.

"For reasons unbeknownst to me, the university records do not match mine and my other fellow classmates, including my campaign manager," he said. "As of right now, my campaign will refer to my service in the Barry University Student Government Association as 'representative.' I apologize for any confusion that I may have caused, but I did serve in the Student Government Association at Barry Unversity. That was an elected position and I have documentation."

Estevez also provided a letter from Northeastern University dated Friday, June 4 and signed by customer service assistant Gloria Thompson, according to the letter, "verifies that is not unusual for a senior lecturer to be referred to by students as a Professor at Northeastern University, therefore Mr. Eric Estevez is addressed at [sic] Professor Estevez." Estevez previously worked as a part-time lecturer at the university.

Estevez said, "Regarding all of these cases, in all these instances, my intent was not embellish my resume or make false claims. I do accept responsibility for these events and will be more vigilant in the future."

Also included in the document packet were photocopies of letters Estevez has received over the years, from grant awards and recommendations dating back to high school, to photocopies of brochures, flyers and invitations to events and conferences he has attended.

Estevez also took verbal shots at Michael Goldman of the Government Insight Group and Monica Medeiros, Melrose Ward 2 Alderman and also a Republican candidate for the same state representative seat that Estevez is seeking. In a recent a boston.com article about Estevez's campaign flaps, Medeiros called the Estevez campaign missteps "unfortunate" and said "certainly we want truthful legislators," while in the same article Goldman, a Democratic consultant, said the Estevez campaign problems are indicative of why Democrats dominate Massachusetts politics.

Estevez called Goldman and Medeiros "hyper-partisan politicos ... especially Monica Medeiros. Both of these individuals are prototypical political insiders and the voters are sick and tired of their old school tactics of ripping down others to make political gain."

The problems began when the Estevez campaign sent out a photograph that purported to show the candidate speaking at a rally for gubernatorial candidate Charles Baker — something that in fact did not happen, Estevez admitted last week to the Melrose Free Press, who first reported about the incident.

Estevez seeks to win the state representative seat currently held by Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Melrose —who is vacating the seat to run for state Senate — representing all of Melrose and four Wakefield precincts in the House. In the Republican primary scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 14, Estevez will face off against Medeiros and David Lucas, former Melrose city solicitor and current special counsel to the city. Alderman at-Large Paul Brodeur is currently the sole Democrat running for Clark's seat, which will be filled in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 2.