CATHY WHO? MAILER FLUBS WRIGHT ENDORSEMENT.

Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer

Candidate Steve Frank admits he was wrong about Wright.

Frank is running in the Republican primary for the 38th Assembly District and got an endorsement from State Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley. He decided to mail out a flier touting the endorsement.

The result has left Frank red-faced.

The flier that appeared in mailboxes of registered Republicans, a letter from Wright praising Frank, has Wright's first name misspelled as "Cathy" in the type and in the signature.

It turns out Wright's signature that appears at the bottom of the letter was misspelled by a campaign worker, and the mistake was not corrected in time before the mass mailing began.

"I looked at it and said, oops, we made a mistake," Frank said. "We did catch it on the draft, but for some reason, between catching it on the draft and the typographer who finalized it, it didn't get changed."

Wright was not pleased.

"I was disappointed to see it that way because it wasn't anywhere near my signature," said Wright, who added she never gave her personal approval of the letter.

"And I didn't recall signing any letter," she added. "They should have gotten my approval then they should have gotten my name right."

Frank, a political consultant by profession, says it is standard policy for political candidates to sign the names of political endorsers in campaign letters. In this case, Frank said his campaign received permission from Wright's staff to use her name.

At least one of his challengers for the Republican nomination on Tuesday thought the error was worth a chortle.

"I found it amusing, but I'm sure Cathie didn't," said Bob Larkin of Simi Valley, a former chairman of the Ventura County Republican Assembly. "You don't need that kind of publicity in the campaign."

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Photo (1--color) Steve Frank Red-faced GOP hopeful (2--color) Cathie Wright State senator not amused