SACRAMENTO — In his transformation from car-alarm magnate to Republican congressman and, now, candidate for governor, Rep. Darrell Issa has often recalled his rags-to-riches rise in the business world. Issa's campaign Web site touts an achievement that seems to symbolize his story: "In 1994, Inc. Magazine recognized Darrell Issa as Entrepreneur of the Year."
In fact, Issa has never won the prestigious national award. The founders of Outback Steakhouse took the magazine's top "Entrepreneur of the Year" honors in 1994.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Monday August 11, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 1 inches; 60 words Type of Material: Correction
Darrell Issa -- An article in Section A on July 30 about discrepancies in Rep. Darrell Issa's record incorrectly said the Adrian (Mich.) Daily Telegram first reported his 1973 arrest on a gun charge in Michigan. The Telegram first reported details of the arrest. The fact that Issa was arrested and fined was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In an interview, Issa said that he actually had won a local Entrepreneur of the Year contest in San Diego -- he lives in Vista in northern San Diego County -- and that he hadn't been trying to suggest that he had received national honors. The local contests are conducted as qualifying rounds for the national award.
"I was runner-up three, four, five times, whatever it was -- at least three -- in San Diego, and then I won the San Diego award," Issa said. "Nobody would ever imply or mislead to, you know, something as simple as the Entrepreneur of the Year award."
In his short political career, Issa -- so far the only declared Republican candidate for governor in the special election this fall -- has faced both small and large questions about his record in business and the military and his brushes with the law. Republican and Democratic opponents have accused him of concealing arrests as a youth and embellishing his personal story.
The Times examined Issa's statements and campaign literature over the past 13 years and compared them with military records and other public documents. The review reveals a number of claims contradicted or unsupported by records and verifiable facts.
The Times offered Issa and his campaign aides opportunities to clarify the discrepancies. In interviews and written statements, Issa and the campaign provided explanations of their position on some questions.
'Irrelevant' Questions
In an interview Saturday, Issa said that questions about his past were "irrelevant to who is Darrell Issa now and who is Darrell Issa as a governor."
Among the issues:
* Issa, who served two stints in the military, first as an enlisted man and later as an officer, has said that he was an Army computer research and development specialist. In a 1995 interview, he said that as an officer he had spent four years in the New Mexico desert perfecting electronic warfare techniques that were later used in the 1991 Gulf War.
