Naylor Will Take Aim at Zschau With $200,000 in Radio, TV Ads

Assemblyman Robert W. Naylor, a long-shot candidate for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination, announced plans Wednesday to broadcast $200,000 worth of commercials aimed at hurting the campaign of Rep. Ed Zschau, a front-running rival and fellow Northern Californian.

Naylor’s commercials seek to portray himself as a “Reagan Republican” and a stronger supporter of the President than is Zschau, who in the past occasionally has voted against Administration policies.

As the race entered its stretch drive, Naylor, a state legislator who seldom gets an opportunity to vote on Reagan programs, targeted Zschau as the candidate to defeat in the crowded 12-person pack of GOP Senate contenders.

Naylor, from San Mateo, told a press conference that he has rounded up $75,000 for San Francisco Bay Area television and radio commercials and hopes to collect an additional $125,000 at fund-raising functions by June 1. He said he also hopes to purchase television commercials in San Diego, but would bypass expensive broadcast advertising in vote-heavy Los Angeles. A campaign spokesman said the San Francisco ads initially will be shown on two cable networks, CNN and ESPN.

Naylor conceded that by current political advertising standards his proposed $200,000 effort is modest, but predicted it could be enough to damage Zschau, of Los Altos, in his political home base. And Naylor theorized that if other Republican candidates fracture the Southern California vote, he perhaps could win the nomination to face Democrat Alan Cranston in November.

Zschau, due largely to strong northern support, has emerged as one of the front- runners for the nomination. A California Poll this week showed Zschau and former Los Angeles Police Chief Ed Davis tied for second at 15%, trailing former television commentator Bruce Herschensohn of Los Angeles, who had 18%. Naylor was grouped with four other candidates at 8%.

But in Northern California, Zschau showed his highest support, with 24%, while Naylor had 12%. About 40% of California Republicans live in the north and the poll found that 26% were undecided.

Naylor’s television commercials portray Zschau as supporting tax increases while Naylor “stopped” them. He told reporters that Zschau introduced a bill in Congress two years ago that proposed a 5% income tax surcharge.

One commercial features Naylor’s 10-year-old daughter Kristen stroking an American flag while another asserts that Zschau as a congressman “voted against the President more than any other Californian.”