GOP Race for Controller--a Question of Soup or Wine?

On the surface, each of the Republicans running for state controller would seem to be a campaign manager’s dream: One is the politically active scion of a famous wine-making family, another a veteran state senator and the third California’s former political watchdog.

Yet, in their first statewide race for a relatively obscure post, they have discovered that despite the political attention they have received in Sacramento, they are largely unknown outside the state Capitol and their respective home bases.

Realizing that voter familiarity may be the winning card, all three--Assemblyman Don Sebastiani, Sen. William Campbell and former Fair Political Practices Commission Chairman Dan Stanford--have decided to wage political battle from the sterile environment of the television studio.

So far, the campaign has been almost devoid of the usual public debates and barnstorming tours, leaving more time for the candidates to raise money for the 30-second commercials they believe will buy them the statewide exposure they now lack.

“The real question is will more people eat soup than drink wine?” Campbell quipped, referring to the giant soup company that shares his name and Sebastiani’s real-life link to the Sonoma winery his family owns.

With the candidates holding most of their TV firepower for the final weeks preceding the June 3 primary, there has been little with which to gauge their progress.

Early polls show Campbell and Sebastiani in a tight race and Stanford trailing. Most of those polls are inconclusive, however, and prove only that the vast majority of Republican voters have no idea whom they favor.

The most recent poll by Teichner Associates for KABC-TV, for example, showed an estimated 70% of GOP voters are undecided in the Los Angeles area, the most populous region of the state.

“Candidates are having a devil of a time getting the electorate to pay attention to these races,” said Otto Bos, an adviser to U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson and a longtime Stanford associate. “That’s particularly true in the controller’s race, where I’ll lay you odds that few people even know what the job is.”

For all its obscurity, the post is potentially a powerful one because the controller not only is the state’s chief bookkeeper but serves on a myriad of influential boards, such as the State Lands Commission and the Board of Equalization, and oversees $32 billion in investments by California’s two state worker pension funds.

The job also is viewed as a potential springboard to higher office. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and former Sen. Thomas H. Kuchel (R-Calif.) both were controllers, as was the GOP’s unsuccessful 1974 gubernatorial nominee, Houston I. Flournoy.

Even so, a lackluster race was shaping up until veteran Democratic Controller Ken Cory, just days before filing was scheduled to close, unexpectedly announced that he would not seek reelection to the office he has held for three terms, leaving the controller’s race the only statewide election without an incumbent.

Because most upward paths in California politics were blocked by well-entrenched incumbents, the surprise opening energized the contest and drew three legislative veterans from the Democratic ranks--Assemblyman Gray Davis of Los Angeles, state Sen. John Garamendi of Walnut Grove and Assemblyman Alister McAlister of San Jose.

Ties to Deukmejian

On the Republican side, Stanford, 35, a San Diego lawyer with ties to Gov. George Deukmejian, suddenly found himself in competition with the better-known Sebastiani and Campbell, both of whom have widespread Republican contacts and proven fund-raising records. A fourth candidate, former state Sen. Marz Garcia, recently withdrew, saying his sources of campaign money had dried up. He endorsed Campbell, but the late withdrawal means Garcia’s name will remain on the ballot.

There have been few, if any, real issues raised in the contest so far. Stanford has been the only candidate to put forth a formal platform, a 10-point plan that included a comprehensive audit of the Legislature’s $150-million fund for emergencies, which he labled a “slush fund.”

Campbell has said he would focus on improving auditing practices, use the powers of the office to promote business development and bolster the state fund set up to compensate victims of crimes. Sebastiani pledged to take “a wise and mature and much more sober view of public investments” and to “say no” to unquestioned spending by the Legislature.

The first to launch his campaign, Stanford was forced to abandon the early slashing attacks he had made on Cory and adopt a new strategy, portraying himself as a Sacramento outsider battling the Capitol’s political establishment.

Squeeze Play

In recent weeks, Sebastiani and Campbell have repeatedly sought to paint the race as a two-way contest, contending that Stanford’s backing has all but evaporated.

“I see him with fire in his belly more than any other candidate,” Sebastiani said of Stanford. “But it’s not been translated into brick and mortar.”

Meanwhile, Campbell, 50, a witty 18-year veteran of the Legislature who served five years as Senate minority leader, has been the first to launch his television commercials. The Hacienda Heights lawmaker purchased $100,000 worth of viewing time on major Los Angeles and San Diego stations and said he expects to expand that statewide in the last few weeks before the primary.

Unlike Sebastiani, Campbell does not have to give up his legislative seat to run for office. This makes it easier for him to raise the $600,000 he says he needs, because no matter the outcome of the controller’s race, he still will be in a position of power in Sacramento. Thus, special interests feel more inclined to contribute to his campaign. So far, Campbell--always an effective fund-raiser--has reported raising about $200,000.

Generally regarded as a philosophical moderate, Campbell has made little secret of his desire for higher office. Most recently, he considered and then rejected a run in the crowded U.S. Senate GOP primary contest.

Young Conservatives

Sebastiani, by contrast, is one of a group of young Republicans elected in the wake of Proposition 13 and noted for their uncompromising conservatism. The 32-year-old assemblyman was known mainly for his family-owned winery until he was thrust into the limelight by his unsuccessful battles to overturn a Democratic reapportionment plan.

The fight gave him statewide exposure far beyond what a junior legislator might expect, but it also put him in conflict with party leaders who were not consulted. His efforts eventually pushed Deukmejian to sponsor an alternative plan that led the governor into an embarrassing defeat.

Forced out of the family business during the tumultuous reapportionment fight, Sebastiani is now back at the helm of the winery, and aides said he is spending much of his time trying to raise campaign contributions.

So far, he has reported taking in less than $100,000 of his $250,000 fund-raising goal, far less than his rivals hope to raise. Sebastiani said that reflects the reality of competing for money against higher-profile races.

Stanford, meanwhile, has been accused of purposely exaggerating his strength to maintain the credibility of his candidacy.

Rocky Beginning

That allegation, raised not only by his opponents but by more neutral political observers, was spawned in part by Stanford’s rocky start in what is his first political campaign.

Shortly after resigning his appointed post last December as chairman of the FPPC, Stanford released a list of 100 supporters and announced that Margaret Brock, a prominent GOP fund-raiser from Los Angeles, was co-chairing his campaign. But several of the endorsers later said they did not support him, and Brock said her name was used without her permission.

Soon afterward, Stanford was accused by the secretary of state’s office of exaggerating his financial support by listing $155,000 in pledges on official campaign finance reports meant to disclose what a candidate actually has collected.

Stanford said he simply was trying to provide more information than the law called for. But he later agreed to strike the pledges from his report, leaving his campaign fund with a cash reserve of $11,245.

Defending his actions, Stanford said his endorsements were legitimate at the time he received them but that Campbell and Sebastiani pressured supporters into backing away.

Television Blitz

More recently, Stanford, hoping to repair the image of his campaign, began telling potential backers that he has purchased $250,000 worth of television time for a major advertising blitz that he said is scheduled to begin this week.

By contrast, Campbell’s campaign has been fairly low-keyed, but he too faces potential controversy over his connections to convicted political corrupter W. Patrick Moriarty, a constituent and friend.

Campbell carried a controversial bill on behalf of the former fireworks magnate that would have stripped local government of its power to ban “safe-and-sane” fireworks. But while Moriarty’s links to a number of local and state officials have brought indictments and some convictions, Campbell has never been targeted in the continuing investigation by the FBI and the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Nonetheless, during a recent press conference, Stanford, without mentioning Campbell by name, declared that it is time to stop “worrying about possible indictments of those close to Patrick Moriarty.” When questioned, Stanford said he was merely trying to “chide” reporters by making reference to the highly publicized scandal.

Letter to Potential Donors

After that, Stanford distributed copies of a letter written on behalf of Campbell saying that the senator’s real goal is to become governor and that he will “remember his friends” who contribute now to his controller’s race.

A Campbell aide said the senator was embarrassed by the letter, which was sent to potential contributors by a lawyer who insisted that he was acting on his own.

Sebastiani, meanwhile, has been able to escape much of the controversy by keeping public appearances to a minimum. However, his opponents in separate interviews said they expect him to be hurt by provocative statements he has made over the years, among them his suggestion that women astronauts, including Sally Ride, be given a one-way ticket to space.