Cleator Picks Lowery Aide to Manage His Campaign

Dan Greenblat, administrative assistant to Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) and a fixture in local political campaigns, will quit his Washington job in order to manage the mayoral campaign of San Diego Councilman Bill Cleator.

Greenblat said Thursday he will resign from Lowery’s staff effective Tuesday and immediately come to San Diego to assess the Cleator campaign. He said the councilman called him about a week ago and offered the manager’s spot.

Cleator is in a runoff election in June against Democrat Maureen O’Connor, who fell four percentage points shy of clinching the mayor’s office in the February primary. O’Connor received 46% of the vote; Cleator was second with 30%.

Greenblat expressed confidence Thursday that Cleator can overcome O’Connor and win the general election.

“I think some people might see it as an upset, but I’m used to uphill odds,” said Greenblat. “That’s when it is the most exciting, isn’t it? Americans love underdogs.”

Another local political consultant, who asked not to be named, however, said Greenblat may be optimistic about Cleator’s chances.

“His coming in is a no-lose situation for Dan Greenblat,” the consultant said. “If he wins, he’s a hero. If he loses, no one will hold it against him.”

Greenblat--who has participated in the political campaigns of Lowery and San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding, and helped with the Republican vote drive that aided council members Gloria McColl and Uvaldo Martinez in 1983--is known in local political circles as a hard-nosed campaigner, and O’Connor partisans say privately that they are braced for a tough fight.

Greenblat said he is not familiar with the details of the primary race, during which the conservative Cleator portrayed himself as open to diverse ethnic groups and more sympathetic to environmental concerns. Cleator’s voting record is strongly pro-development, and he has admitted that his contact with minorities has been limited.

But the new campaign manager said his “instinctive thoughts” led him to believe “there are going to be a number of things that are going to be changed.” He declined to elaborate.

Cleator said he sought out Greenblat to run his campaign because the primary campaign, geared toward volunteer efforts, was “departmentalized” with no one to coordinate all the functions.

“What we need is someone to stand in the middle of the room and be the general and start calling all of the shots, bringing everybody together,” said Cleator.

Cleator said he has known Greenblat since 1979. “I trust him. He knows what he’s doing . . . . I think he’s a very practical guy, and I think that he would run a very aggressive, but a straightforward campaign.”

Greenblat also declined to say how much the Cleator campaign will pay him, but added that after the race he will open his own political consulting and lobbying firm.

In other mayoral race action Thursday, O’Connor called a press conference asking Cleator to meet and discuss a campaign spending limit for the general election, which will be held June 3.