Dawn Crawford vs San Bernardino's Dirty County Politicians and  Officials

The campaign of Assembly candidate Neil Blais is crying foul over what it claims is an incorrect hit piece from opponent Jeff Miller.

Miller, of Corona, and Blais, of Rancho Santa Margarita, are running for the Republican nomination in the 71st Assembly District.

The district covers western Riverside County and part of Orange County. Whoever wins June 3 is a virtual lock to carry the Republican-leaning seat in November.

In a recent mailer to thousands of absentee voters, the Miller campaign links Blais' grant-writing business to a recent claim by LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich that the county spends $1 billion a year on services for illegal immigrants.

"Working for Los Angeles and the illegal aliens," the mailer concludes of Blais.

Blais said the mailer contains "blatant lies."

Blais runs the grant-writing firm with his wife, he said. Blais and Associates has done work for a nonprofit group called the Los Angeles Community Development Foundation, he said.

The company earned about $2,800 to find grants to help hire an executive director for the foundation, Blais said.

"I don't see how that contributes to a $1 billion in illegal immigration costs," he said.

Miller stood by the piece Tuesday and said it was Blais who is distorting the truth.

He pointed to Blais' 2007 statement of economic interest, known as a Form 700. The report, filed in March, includes an attachment showing that Blais received more than $10,000 in income from the Los Angeles County Housing Authority and the county's community development commission.

Those agencies, Miller aides contend, have provided aid to illegal immigrants.

"Either he's not being accurate on his Form 700 or he did the work," Miller said.

Blais said his firm has contracts with the agencies to provide as-needed grant work. But there hasn't been any, he said.

He listed them on his Form 700, he said, only because state regulators advised him to list all sources of "potential"income anywhere in the state.

"If we didn't list them (the Miller campaign) would have yelled at us for not listing everything that was a contract," Blais said.