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Mother’s drunk of politics

Ben Hueso mugshot photo (background added)
Ben Hueso mugshot photo (background added)

Democratic state senator Ben Hueso, busted for drunk driving after a well-publicized bender on a capitol balcony during which he was photographed by fellow Latino Caucus legislator Lorena Gonzalez, is perhaps not a surprising magnet for booze-business money. His most recent alcohol-industry-related campaign contribution came from Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc., of Miami Florida, which kicked in $2000 on September 8. “As the country’s largest wine and spirits distributor, Southern is nationally recognized by its supplier partners as well as by its customers for its state-of-the-art distribution capabilities and its leading-edge information technology,” says the company website. Founded in 1968 in Florida by Jay W. Weiss, Harvey R. Chaplin, and Howard Preuss, the company has since moved into California in a big way. An October 1999 story in the Wall Street Journal raised questions about the firm’s possible past links to mob figures and Miami lawyer and alleged Meyer Lansky intimate Alvin I. Malnik. Noted the Journal, “In written responses to questions, Southern says that it has ‘never benefited nor knowingly had a business relationship with any official who has or had ties to organized crime.’”

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Southern has employed the Sacramento-based Flanigan Law firm as its lobbyist, paying a total of $93,491 through this year’s legislative session as of June 30. Long familiar with high times, Hueso has many other liquor-related donors, including Anheuser-Busch Companies ($1100), the American Beverage Association PAC ($4100), the California Association of Winegrape Growers State PAC ($2250), the California Beer and Beverage Distributors Community Affairs PAC ($1000), E&J Gallo Winery ($2500), and San Diego’s Karl Strauss Brewing Company ($149).

Another infamous law-making drinker is GOP assemblyman Martin Garrick, who was busted in June 2011 after a frantic pursuit by Sacramento cops that didn’t end until the legislator reached the state capitol garage. Garrick, who has set up a committee to run for state senate in 2018, has collected $1500 each from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and Anheuser-Busch. Southern Wine and Spirits gave $3900 and the California Beer and Beverage Distributors donated $1500. … Fallen San Diego GOP mayor Roger Hedgecock, who no longer has his cable talk-show gig at Douglas Manchester’s U-T San Diego, still managed to come up with a $2500 contribution to the local Republican Party on September 6.

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Ben Hueso mugshot photo (background added)
Ben Hueso mugshot photo (background added)

Democratic state senator Ben Hueso, busted for drunk driving after a well-publicized bender on a capitol balcony during which he was photographed by fellow Latino Caucus legislator Lorena Gonzalez, is perhaps not a surprising magnet for booze-business money. His most recent alcohol-industry-related campaign contribution came from Southern Wine and Spirits of America, Inc., of Miami Florida, which kicked in $2000 on September 8. “As the country’s largest wine and spirits distributor, Southern is nationally recognized by its supplier partners as well as by its customers for its state-of-the-art distribution capabilities and its leading-edge information technology,” says the company website. Founded in 1968 in Florida by Jay W. Weiss, Harvey R. Chaplin, and Howard Preuss, the company has since moved into California in a big way. An October 1999 story in the Wall Street Journal raised questions about the firm’s possible past links to mob figures and Miami lawyer and alleged Meyer Lansky intimate Alvin I. Malnik. Noted the Journal, “In written responses to questions, Southern says that it has ‘never benefited nor knowingly had a business relationship with any official who has or had ties to organized crime.’”

Sponsored
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Southern has employed the Sacramento-based Flanigan Law firm as its lobbyist, paying a total of $93,491 through this year’s legislative session as of June 30. Long familiar with high times, Hueso has many other liquor-related donors, including Anheuser-Busch Companies ($1100), the American Beverage Association PAC ($4100), the California Association of Winegrape Growers State PAC ($2250), the California Beer and Beverage Distributors Community Affairs PAC ($1000), E&J Gallo Winery ($2500), and San Diego’s Karl Strauss Brewing Company ($149).

Another infamous law-making drinker is GOP assemblyman Martin Garrick, who was busted in June 2011 after a frantic pursuit by Sacramento cops that didn’t end until the legislator reached the state capitol garage. Garrick, who has set up a committee to run for state senate in 2018, has collected $1500 each from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and Anheuser-Busch. Southern Wine and Spirits gave $3900 and the California Beer and Beverage Distributors donated $1500. … Fallen San Diego GOP mayor Roger Hedgecock, who no longer has his cable talk-show gig at Douglas Manchester’s U-T San Diego, still managed to come up with a $2500 contribution to the local Republican Party on September 6.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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