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28th Assembly District (South County) Love Lie [March 3, 2000, 11:45am]    The farm-country contest between Reep attorney Laura Perry and agri-businessman Jeff Denham, is taking a turn for the nasty. Denham sent out a hit-piece this week that puffed up his conservative credentials, while portraying Perry as a closet liberal. One of the more tantalizing claims in Denham's piece is that while Denham is a lifelong GOP-phile, Perry has donated $3,000 to a Democrat who once took on Republican incumbent, capital-cowboy Pete Frusetta. Pure horse-pucky, insists Tab Berg, Perry's strategist from Sacramento-based McNally Temple Associates. Yes, Berg concedes, in 1994 Perry did donate some dough to Democratic Assembly candidate Dennis Kennedy, who is now the mayor of Morgan Hill. But at the time, he reveals, Perry was dating Kennedy. Furthermore, he says, Kennedy lost in the primary and thus never took on Republican Frusetta, who happens to be supporting Perry to replace him. "So [Perry] was just giving money to her boyfriend," Berg explains. "Clearly they're desperate and they're throwing anything they can out in the wind." [ San Jose | MetroActive Central | Archives ]