Bid for Strickland’s State Assembly Seat Is All in the GOP Family

One is a Schwarzenegger Republican, two are Reagan Republicans. They all want to replace conservative Ventura County Assemblyman Tony Strickland, a GOP leader who cannot run again because of term limits.

One candidate would seem to have the inside track, since she’s married to the incumbent.

But in one of California’s most competitive and costly primary races, three Republicans are waging aggressive campaigns to win the March 2 primary and almost certainly the November general election, since no Democrat is on the ballot in the 37th Assembly District.

“It’s certainly one of the most watched primaries in the state, because of the personalities involved and because you have three strong candidates,” said veteran Republican campaign consultant Wayne Johnson.

“You can see two good basketball teams on the court anytime,” he added. “But when you’ve got three, that’s an interesting game.”

The Republican candidates are junior high history teacher and Republican activist Audra Strickland, 29; millionaire investor and former aide to state Sen. Tom McClintock, Mike Robinson, 28; and county prosecutor Jeff Gorell, 33, who is backed by several Republican leaders close to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

A fourth Republican on the ballot is Eric McClendon, 40, who was an attorney in Louisiana before moving to California in 1998 to forward the acting career of his son, now 13.

Together the candidates have already raised more than $1 million: Robinson leads with $533,000, but nearly all is his own money; Strickland has raised $434,000, including contributions from many of her husband’s supporters; Gorell has received only $124,000, but former Gov. Pete Wilson, a top Schwarzenegger advisor, is his marquee guest next week at a $500-a-plate dinner hosted by Dole Foods billionaire David Murdock.

McClendon has raised just $6,000, he said.

Johnson, who has worked on campaigns for McClintock and Tony Strickland, said Audra Strickland could be the early favorite because of her longtime GOP connections -- but that Robinson has also toiled for Republican causes for several years. And, he said, Gorell must be taken seriously because of his backing and credentials.

Indeed, other analysts said that Strickland and Robinson could split the conservative vote and hand the election to Gorell.

“The arithmetic is simple,” said USC political science professor Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. “There are two conservatives and one moderate. And the reality is that the primary is the only election that counts in this district.”

Despite her youth, Audra Strickland said her experience in Sacramento sets her apart from rivals. After working for three Assembly members as a young adult and counseling her husband for five years, she said she has the political savvy to work effectively in Sacramento immediately.

“I was involved in politics long before I met Tony, and wanted to run myself; I’ve been active in Republican politics since I was 18 years old,” she said.

She does not downplay the importance of her husband’s influence with campaign contributors. “My husband has been incredibly supportive,” she said. “He’s introduced me to folks, and I’ve had an opportunity to sit down and talk with them about my background and why I think I’m going to win this race.”

Like Tony Strickland years earlier, Robinson studied politics under McClintock, the conservative icon who challenged Schwarzenegger in last fall’s recall election.

Robinson’s positions, in fact, are the same as McClintock’s on everything from worker compensation reform to budget-spending caps to opposing a $15-billion bond issue backed by Schwarzenegger on the March ballot.

Robinson, who inherited millions of dollars from his family’s Iowa food brokerage company, said he became involved in politics only four years ago, while a student at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Robinson has served as president of Ventura County’s conservative California Republican Assembly.

He left his job as a McClintock aide a year ago -- he worked at a box factory and as manager of a tennis store previously -- to run for the Assembly.

“I’m the true conservative in this race,” he said. “Audra might siphon off some votes, but I’m not terribly concerned about that.”

Gorell said Republicans need to follow Schwarzenegger’s lead to balance the state budget and close the ruinous rift between conservative and moderate Republicans. He said that, like Schwarzenegger, he wants to give Californians of all stripes a reasonable option to polarized party politics.

“I’m the Schwarzenegger candidate in this race,” he said. “That means I’m going to Sacramento to concentrate on the issues on which all Republicans agree and not get bogged down on the social issues that divide Republicans.”

Gorell said he’s against gun control and gay marriage but that he doesn’t want to focus on those positions.

The 37th District covers most of Ventura County and extends into the L.A. County communities of Canoga Park, Chatsworth and Castaic. About 46% of registered voters are Republican and 34% are Democratic.