Orange County Elections : Griset Leads Longshore in Fund Raising : State Democrats Fuel Santa Ana Mayor’s Bid for Assembly Seat

With an infusion of $151,000 from Assembly Democrats in Sacramento, Santa Ana Mayor Dan Griset has taken an almost 2-to-1 lead in fund raising over Republican Richard E. Longshore in Orange County’s hottest state legislative contest, financial disclosure documents showed Wednesday.

The two men are running a close, spirited race in the 72nd Assembly District in central Orange County. Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) is vacating the seat to challenge U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in the 38th Congressional District.

Longshore, who reported raising $187,255 contrasted with Griset’s $324,484.80 for the period ended Sept. 30, charged that Griset’s receipts from the Assembly Democrats’ Political Action Committee show that he is beholden to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco). Throughout his campaign, Longshore has attempted to portray Griset as being close to the “liberal, big-spending” Brown.

Longshore’s disclosure documents revealed that he is receiving help from Brown’s Republican counterpart, Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), through the Assembly Republican Political Action Committee (ARPAC) and money transferred from other GOP lawmakers. Longshore reported receipts totaling about $35,250 from ARPAC, a $5,000 loan from Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange), $5,000 from Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach), $500 from Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and a $5,000 loan from Assemblyman Bill Jones (R-Fresno).

The documents also showed that state Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp had transferred $2,000 from his own reelection war chest to Griset’s campaign.

Griset’s biggest contributors included the United Auto Workers and the California Teachers Assn., which donated $5,000 each. Longshore collected $25,000 from the Orange County Committee for State and Local Candidates, a committee of the Orange County Lincoln Club. He also received $5,000 from the California Medical PAC, a unit of the California Medical Assn., and $4,000 from Fieldstead & Co., an Irvine-based development firm.

Longshore said Nolan had not matched Brown dollar-for-dollar in the race because “until now, he didn’t need to. . . . Dick Longshore has been able to stand on his own. We will raise as much money as it takes to win.”

Griset said the mandatory disclosure filings simply show that the race has “major statewide significance” and that the help he has received from Brown and the Assembly Democrats is “no different than the money both campaigns have received from contributors throughout the state, including the money my opponent has received from special-interest PACs.”

So far, Griset has reported spending $193,135 compared to Longshore’s $201,425. Griset’s report showed he had $2,912.71 in cash on hand. Longshore’s disclosures showed he had $4,734 in cash as of Sept. 30.

Griset, an insurance broker, has been a Santa Ana city councilman since 1979. Longshore, a real estate broker, once ran unsuccessfully for the Santa Ana council and was defeated in two previous bids for the 72nd Assembly District seat. In 1984, he lost to Robinson by 256 votes.