Cory Reportedly to Retire; Gray Davis May Seek Job

Veteran Democratic state Controller Kenneth Cory, a fixture in California politics for two decades, has decided not to run for reelection to the office he has held for 11 years, sources said Wednesday.

Assemblyman Gray Davis of Los Angeles, who was former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s chief of staff, reportedly is seriously considering running for the Democratic nomination to replace Cory. Davis appeared to have a clear field as of Wednesday.

Neither Cory nor Davis would return telephone calls from a reporter who asked to talk about their political futures late Wednesday. A Davis spokesman, reading a brief prepared statement, simply quoted the assemblyman as saying: “If Ken Cory doesn’t run, I will seriously consider it.”

But two other politicians familiar with a lot of behind-the-scenes jockeying involving Cory and Davis reported that Cory definitely had decided not to run for reelection and Davis was on the verge of jumping into the race. A third source described Davis as Cory’s “anointed successor.”

Cory, 48, surprised members of his staff by calling them together Wednesday and announcing he was “just tired” of public office, the sources said.

Although the office of controller normally attracts a minimum of public attention, Cory periodically has been the center of controversy. And in recent weeks, both major candidates for the Republican nomination for controller have attacked the Democratic incumbent aggressively, challenging his ethics.

Assemblyman Don A. Sebastiani (R-Sonoma), in announcing his candidacy for controller on Feb. 11, asserted that Cory’s tenure in office has been “riddled with investigations and scandals.” Sebastiani’s primary election opponent, Dan Stanford, former chairman of the state Fair Political Practices Commission, charged--admittedly without evidence--that Cory had illegally pocketed $300,000 in campaign contributions.

Cory, uncharacteristically, has refused to respond to these most recent attacks, fueling speculation that he might not run again.

And with Friday the deadline for officially filing as a candidate in the June 3 primary election, Cory conspicuously had not declared his candidacy.

By delaying his reported retirement announcement until virtually the last moment, Cory has set the stage for Davis to suddenly step in at the deadline and run with no major opposition for the Democratic nomination.

Caught by Surprise

The political maneuverings, for example, caught by surprise one Democrat who long has coveted the job of controller--State Board of Equalization member Conway H. Collis. Collis had not suspected there would be a vacancy this year, and he reportedly was lamenting Wednesday night that he already had filed for reelection.

Although Cory’s reported decision came as a surprise to most people who learned of it, he apparently had been doing nothing to prepare for the 1986 elections. In fact, the secretary of state’s office reported Wednesday that as of last Dec. 13, Cory’s political kitty was showing a deficit of $542,485, which presumably still must be made up in some fashion. Much of this debt, however, was owed to himself from past personal loans to his campaign committee.

Controversy involving Cory over the years has ranged from a $522,000 campaign loan he received from two Orange County supporters when he first ran for controller, to a furor over a $50-million loan in 1982 from the state Teachers Retirement System fund to a Colorado oil company.

Investment Committee

Cory sat on a three-member investment committee that approved the teachers’ pension loan. Another committee member, Gilbert W. Chilton, and Beverly Hills lawyer Anthony J. Truex were indicted Jan. 24 on charges of taking $1.55 million in a bribery scheme to arrange the loan, nearly all of which the state has recovered. Cory has said he was duped by Chilton and was the person who first grew suspicious and notified law enforcement authorities.

Davis, 43, long has been looking for a chance to run for higher office. An attorney by profession, but long active in politics on behalf of former Gov. Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Davis was elected to the Legislature in 1982 and soon became the single biggest campaign fund-raiser for his Assembly Democratic colleagues.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), to whom Davis has turned over many hundreds of thousands of dollars in political money, reportedly gave his blessing to Davis’ candidacy. So has state Treasurer Jesse M. Unruh, who easily defeated Davis in the 1974 contest for the Democratic nomination for treasurer.

Unruh Protege

Cory was an early protege of Unruh, back in the mid-1960s when Cory was an ambitious young member of the Assembly and Unruh was the powerful Speaker. Unruh highly respected Cory’s political acumen and always has been fond of telling people, “If I had Ken Cory’s looks, I’d be President.”

Before the Cory era, the office of controller frequently was used as a steppingstone to higher office. Both Republican Thomas Kuchel and Democrat Alan Cranston became U. S. senators after serving in the post. Houston Flournoy, whom Cory succeeded, won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1974 while still controller, but was beaten for the governorship by Jerry Brown.

Cory was widely speculated to be considering a run either for the U.S. Senate or governor in 1982, but sought reelection instead.

The controller basically serves as the state’s accountant and signs its checks. The job currently pays $42,500 per year, but the salary will be boosted to $72,500 next year.

If Davis should decide to run for controller, he would give up one of the state’s most prized Assembly districts--encompassing affluent areas of Los Angeles’ west side and the San Fernando Valley. His vacating of the traditionally Democratic seat could set off a hot fight for his party’s nomination. One potential candidate being speculaed about Wednesday night was Lisa Specht, who lost a race for city attorney last year.