GOP All but Cedes the Race to Feinstein

The Republican candidate for one of California’s two seats in the Senate -- potentially one of the most powerful legislative positions in the country -- walked alone into a banquet room at the Pomona Valley Mining Co. restaurant on a recent morning and looked around.

The regular meeting of the California Federation of Republican Women, Southern Division, was underway, and the candidate, Dick Mountjoy, portly beneath a shock of white hair, stood mostly unnoticed. As a woman at the head table talked of plans for an upcoming convention, Mountjoy slipped small stacks of pamphlets and bumper stickers from the pockets of his cream-colored jacket and placed them on the registration table.

There was no entourage. No scheduler clicking away on a Blackberry or campaign handler whispering into a cellphone. Just Mountjoy, a former state senator from nearby Monrovia and self-described “biblical constitutionalist,” here to talk to the Republican faithful about his campaign to unseat incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

David had it easier against Goliath.

During a national election cycle marked by a bitter fight for control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, the campaign for California’s senior Senate seat has the feel of a foregone conclusion as Feinstein, one of the state’s most popular vote-getters, holds a commanding lead among likely voters in the race.

“Mountjoy doesn’t have the reach in the Republican Party or the name identification or the appeal to moderates that Feinstein has with Democrats,” said Terry Christensen, a political analyst at San Jose State. The Republican Party “knows it, and they’re not spending money on it. So it’s partly Feinstein’s strength and partly the California Republican Party’s weakness,” Christensen said.

And few people seem to know who Mountjoy is, despite his role as one of the architects of 1994’s Proposition 187, which would have made it illegal for undocumented immigrants to receive many government benefits. Mountjoy’s 29% support among all registered voters in the most recent Los Angeles Times poll is less than the 34% of state voters enrolled as Republicans. And in a July Field poll -- one of the last to ask the question -- 62% of voters said they did not know enough about Mountjoy to have an opinion about him.

Little has changed since then. Feinstein entered the late-summer push with more than $8 million in the bank to Mountjoy’s $21,000, making it likely that this will be the second California race in a row for the Senate in which the Republican challenger was unable to air crucial television ads in the final weeks of the campaign.

The next financial reports aren’t due until today, but even Republicans seem to have given up. The National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee -- a key funding and organizing tool for Republican Senate incumbents and hopefuls -- doesn’t even list Mountjoy as a candidate on its website. To add insult to injury, where his face and biography should be posted, the website lists Barbara Boxer, a red flag for Republican bulls.

Which is fitting, since this lopsided matchup has its roots in Boxer’s 58%-38% reelection two years ago over former California Secretary of State Bill Jones.

“The conventional wisdom is that Boxer is not as strong politically as Feinstein, and if Boxer could win in a walk, then the Feinstein race would be that much easier,” said Jack Pitney, a political analyst at Claremont McKenna College and a former Republican official.

“Feinstein’s advantage fed on itself. She went into the election a heavy favorite, and that deterred more credible candidates from getting in the race. From the Republican perspective, it’s a vicious cycle. People don’t think he can win, so they don’t give him support, which makes it less likely he will win.”

So why would a politician willingly enter such a race?

“The biggest upside is low expectations -- nobody expects him to do anything,” Pitney said. “If he can crack 40%, he can claim a moral victory. But it’s more about him doing his duty for the party. Major parties ought to nominate somebody to run against an incumbent, even if the outcome looks like a foregone conclusion. He’s performing a service for textbook democracy.”

Mountjoy insists that he is running to win and hopes that a strong Republican turnout and weak Democratic showing on election day will trump the early polls and overwhelming disparity in campaign budgets.

“We don’t have a lot of money, but we have enough to get our message out, and that’s all we need to do,” Mountjoy said. “We don’t try to match her money, just outdo her with the issues.”

Mountjoy’s platform embraces such boilerplate conservative issues as increased border security with Mexico, no amnesty for illegal immigrants, support for the war in Iraq, elimination of unspecified government waste, a stronger military and enhanced property rights. He also opposes abortion, even in cases of incest or rape, and gay marriage.

“America is at a crossroads,” said Mountjoy, who lists the Bible and the U.S. Constitution as his two guiding texts. “We’ve got to turn America around. We are quickly slipping into a moral decay that is unprecedented, and I for one say it has got to stop.”

Feinstein’s positions are just as reliably moderate-liberal as Mountjoy’s are conservative.

She advocates a “humane” approach to stemming illegal immigration; a “structured downsizing” of the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Donald H. Rumsfeld’s ouster as Defense secretary; a more collegial approach to foreign policy; and a heightened fight against global warming. She supports abortion rights and civil unions for gays.

As for campaigning, don’t expect to see much of Feinstein on the stump beyond a few town hall-style meetings and what campaign manager Kam Kuwata referred to as “Washington report lunches” -- part of her regimen for keeping in touch with constituents.

“Sen. Feinstein has focused her time on doing what she’s been doing all along -- doing her job well,” Kuwata said. “Why tinker with something people appreciate?”

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scott.martelle@latimes.com

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Begin text of infobox

Dianne Feinstein

Party: Democrat

Occupation: U.S. senator since 1992. Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988; member, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, 1970 to 1978.

Age: 73; born in San Francisco.

Residence: San Francisco

Personal: Married; one child, three stepchildren, five grandchildren.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Stanford University.

Career highlights: Former mayor of San Francisco, she first won election to the U.S. Senate in 1992 in the wake of the controversial appointment of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court, when she and Barbara Boxer made California the first state to have two women elected to the Senate at the same time. Feinstein has established a reputation as a liberal-moderate. Serves on the Judiciary, Appropriations, Energy and Natural Resources committees, and the Select Committee on Intelligence. Backed legislation protecting more than 7 million acres of California desert and dealing with other environmental issues; backed creation of a director of national intelligence; helped establish rights for victims of violent crime, and wrote the 1994 bill banning assault weapons.

Platform: Calls for a “change in direction in Iraq”; a more collegial relationship with allies on foreign policy; securing the border but also adopting a “humane approach” to undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.; aggressively working to reduce global warming; supports stem cell research; opposes further development of nuclear weapons by the U.S.; and calls for appointment of “mainstream judges” to the federal bench.

On the Issues

Iraq: Says Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld should be replaced. Supports development of a timeline and exit strategy that would significantly reduce the presence of U.S. troops by the end of 2007.

Immigration/border: Supports increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and Port of Entry inspectors. Says illegal immigrants should be put on a path to citizenship if they can prove they have been law-abiding, have worked and will continue to work, pay a fine and all back taxes and learn English.

Environment: Wants to raise average fuel economy on all vehicles by 10 miles per gallon by 2017, reduce greenhouse emissions by 10% or more by 2025.

Abortion: Supports abortion rights.

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Richard Mountjoy

Party: Republican

Occupation: Owner of a construction company before entering politics in 1968. A former state legislator, now active in pushing an initiative to deny most government benefits to illegal immigrants.

Age: 74; born in Los Angeles. Residence: Monrovia

Personal: Married; three children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Education: Monrovia-Arcadia- Duarte High School

Career highlights: One of the architects of Proposition 187, which denied most government benefits to illegal immigrants. The measure was overturned by the courts, and the administration of then-Gov. Gray Davis declined to appeal. Also was instrumental in legislation that banned the additive MTBE from gasoline.

Platform: Described on his campaign website as a “no-nonsense conservative who believes in God, country and family in that order,” Mountjoy supports “improved barriers and beefed-up law enforcement” on the borders and opposes amnesty for undocumented immigrants; backs balancing the budget through unspecified spending cuts and enacting laws to blunt a Supreme Court decision that broadened eminent domain to seize private property; supports “President Bush’s anti-terrorism plans”; opposes gay marriage and abortion, including in cases of incest and rape.

On the Issues

Iraq: Says U.S. should stay the course. Favors continued training of Iraqi police and military. Would support withdrawal only after U.S. is victorious.

Immigration/border: Favors

fence along entire southern

border and increased law enforcement. Opposes government benefits for illegal immigrants, except emergency medical care. Opposes all amnesty programs.

Environment: Says the continuing influx of immigrants must be addressed first.

Abortion: Opposes abortion.