Nestande Is First to Enter Contest for Lt. Governor

Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande on Tuesday became the first announced candidate for the 1986 Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. He said he will try to raise $2 million for his effort and will campaign as a staunch supporter and friend of Gov. George Deukmejian and President Reagan.

Meanwhile, conservative state Sen. H.L. Richardson (R-Glendora) and former Lt. Gov. Mike Curb told The Times that they are considering entering the race.

Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy, a San Francisco Democrat, said in March that he will seek reelection next year.

In announcing his candidacy for lieutenant governor, the 47-year-old Nestande emphasized his ties to Deukmejian and Reagan and attacked Democrats generally for supporting Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird of the California Supreme Court.

He said he will not attack McCarthy by name because “I don’t feel that’s the kind of campaign I should run.”

Nestande told about 300 supporters gathered Tuesday evening at the Hotel Meridien in Newport Beach:

“In partnership with George Deukmejian, we will continue to let government promote independence and individual enterprise, and provide expanding opportunities instead of restrictive limits . . . . I welcome this challenge because our opponents remain committed to an overindulgent and slothful government that would sap our strength instead of contributing to it.

“Their government (the Democrats) would support the judicial arrogance of the state Supreme Court and Chief Justice Bird, the kind of arrogance that allows her to consistently reject the death penalty even though over three-quarters of the people in this state support it.”

McCarthy said through a spokesman that he would not comment on Nestande’s candidacy or his remarks.

Nestande acknowledged Tuesday that he is virtually unknown outside of Orange County except among party activists but said Orange County has come of age and is now a significant political base from which to launch a statewide campaign.

Nestande was Reagan’s director of correspondence in Sacramento and was active statewide in Reagan’s presidential campaigns and Deukmejian’s gubernatorial effort.

Earlier this year, Deukmejian reappointed Nestande to the state Transportation Commission and he is now the panel’s chairman. He was first appointed in 1981 by then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Both Reagan and Deukmejian have said they will not become involved in contested primaries.

Most Active Board Member

A three-term former state assemblyman from Orange, Nestande gave up his seat in 1980 and defeated county Supervisor Edison Miller, a controversial former prisoner of war in North Vietnam who had been appointed to the board by the younger Brown to fill an unexpired term.

Since then, he has been the most active board member, frequently involved in high-profile issues, observers said.

In 1983, Nestande said he returned $18,000 in campaign contributions to Anaheim fireworks manufacturer W. Patrick Moriarty after learning that the money had been “laundered” by Moriarty through several friends and business associates.

Moriarty pleaded guilty last March to corruption charges and and is now cooperating with an investigation of his activities by the U.S. attorney’s office and the Orange County district attorney. He has agreed to testify against state and local politicians who allegedly received bribes from him in the form of money, prostitutes, vehicles, vacation homes and the hiring of relatives.

Nestande said, “I returned my $18,000 to Moriarty and I think that closes the door on the issue . . . . McCarthy sent $10,000 back, but I sent mine back sooner.”

Campaign Managers Hired

Nestande said he has hired former Deukmejian aides Sal Russo and Doug Watts, who are partners in a Sacramento-based firm, to manage his campaign. He said he borrowed about $30,000 from his supervisorial campaign fund for an initial campaign mailing this week to 30,000 GOP activists statewide.

Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren and longtime Reagan political adviser Stu Spencer will serve on his election committee, Nestande added.

“I don’t know how much money he can raise,” Spencer said of Nestande, “But he’s a hard worker. I think he can take Richardson, but Mike Curb would be formidable.”

Nestande has tangled frequently with staunch conservatives over land use decisions in Orange County and, while a member of the Assembly, battled conservatives over GOP caucus leadership posts.

In an interview last week, Richardson said Nestande’s candidacy was one reason he was considering the race. “I think I’d be a better candidate than Nestande . . . . He’s moderate to liberal in his voting record.”

Nestande replied, “If a Ronald Reagan Republican is too liberal for H.L. Richardson, then so be it.”

Curb May Try Comeback

Curb told The Times in an interview last week that he may attempt a political comeback (he lost to Deukmejian in the 1982 gubernatorial primary) and enter the contest, “If it’s the best thing for me to do to help the party . . . . It may be that I’m the only one with enough name recognition statewide to stand any chance at all of defeating Leo McCarthy.”

Curb said he has returned recently from a two-year stint as national GOP finance chairman in Washington, D.C., and said he has “dedicated the rest of 1985 to making sure my businesses are on the right track.”

Curb owns Mike Curb Productions, a record company.

According to campaign finance reports on file at the secretary of state’s office, Curb still has a $174,253 debt remaining from his 1982 campaign, while Richardson ended 1984 with a combined total of $53,183 in two state Senate campaign accounts. Gun Owners of California, a political action committee controlled by Richardson, reported a $52,548 surplus for the 12 months that ended Dec. 31.

Kuchel Rose to Senate

No Orange County Republican has attained statewide office except Thomas Kuchel, a one-time Anaheim-based state legislator who served as state controller and then U. S. senator 25 years ago.

(Orange County-born Richard Nixon served as a U. S. senator and eventually President, but only after holding a Los Angeles County congressional seat.)

Former state Sen. John Briggs (R-Fullerton) ran unsuccessfully for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 1978. Former state Sen. John Schmitz (R-Corona del Mar) collected only 3% of the statewide vote in an ill-fated 1982 campaign for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

Former Supervisor Robert Battin ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor in 1976 and shortly thereafter was convicted and jailed for misappropriating county supplies and staff time for his campaign.

No Orange County Democrat has attained statewide office except former Assemblyman Ken Cory of Westminster, who is now state controller.