Davis Builds Fiscal Ramparts for ’88 Primary Battle

Facing political fallout from last year’s nasty altercation with former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler, state Sen. Ed Davis is stockpiling campaign funds early in hopes of fending off a potential 1988 Republican primary challenge by Assemblywoman Cathie Wright.

Davis of Valencia says he is beginning his fund raising earlier than usual to discourage Wright of Simi Valley from opposing him in next year’s GOP primary. He has retained a professional fund-raiser in Sacramento for the first time and has scheduled three fund-raising events in the next month.

Davis, 70, seeks to dispel speculation by Wright that he may not seek a third four-year term, and hopes as well to launch a preemptive fund-raising strike, said Hunt Braly, his administrative assistant. Davis, who has previously done intensive fund raising only during election years, says he hopes to raise $300,000 by the end of this year and $500,000 by the 1988 primary if necessary.

Wright, 57, says she is weighing a challenge to Davis in the heavily Republican 19th Senate District. The four-term assemblywoman said she will base her decision on “whether or not he can solidify the Republican Party in the San Fernando Valley, whether or not he can mend his fences with Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler.” Wright and Fiedler are considered political allies.

Davis, a former Los Angeles police chief, and Fiedler, a three-term congresswoman from Northridge, squared off in last year’s GOP U.S. Senate primary won by Ed Zschau. In a bitter, highly publicized incident, a complaint from Davis led to Fiedler’s indictment on charges that her campaign tried to draw him out of the race by promising to help raise $100,000 to pay off Davis’ campaign debt.

The indictment was dismissed by a judge 33 days later, but intense animosity between Davis and Fiedler shadowed their campaigns. Fiedler finished with 7.2% of the statewide vote and Davis with 6.6% in a 13-candidate field.

The bad blood apparently lingers.

Davis charged this week that “Cathie Wright is a surrogate for Bobbi Fiedler. . . . Fiedler’s vindictiveness is the motivation for Cathie Wright.” He suggested the race would be more interesting if Fiedler herself opposed him.

Replied Wright, “Anybody who knows me knows I run my own ballgame. I have never done anyone’s bidding.” She said Fiedler was one of many activists who had spoken to her about challenging Davis.

Told of Davis’ comments, Fiedler responded, “Ed has to deal with his own paranoias. I’m not interested in him at all. This is a race that she’s been considering for a long time. It’s her decision.”

As for Davis’ suggestion that her candidacy would spice up the contest, Fiedler retorted, “I’m not interested in fulfilling his desires.”

Fiedler, who has been doing twice-weekly commentary for KABC-TV since leaving Congress, said of Wright: “I support her running, and I believe she’d be an excellent candidate.” She said she would provide Wright with any assistance she requested, including fund raising.

Fiedler, however, bluntly dismissed Wright’s contention that Davis must make peace with her. “There are some fences that are not mendable,” Fiedler said. “And this is one.”

Paul Clarke, a GOP consultant who was Fiedler’s chief of staff and recently became her husband, said Davis’ failure to carry the 19th Senate District in the U.S. Senate primary indicates that he is vulnerable to a Republican challenge. Clarke said he, too, had offered to aid Wright.

But state Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim), chairman of the GOP Senate Caucus, strongly disagreed. He said Wright’s candidacy “would be tantamount to a kamikaze run. I believe that Ed Davis is exceedingly strong in that district.”

Seymour said the caucus, which provides campaign funds and technical assistance to Republicans, will throw its weight squarely behind Davis. He said it is too early to know how much money the caucus will contribute.

Davis would enter a primary campaign with several indisputable advantages. His two-term incumbency, tenure as Los Angeles police chief and candidacies for the U.S. Senate and governor give him high recognition in a sprawling district that includes the western San Fernando Valley, west Antelope Valley, the northern and non-coastal sections of Ventura County, and most of Santa Barbara County.

Wright, whose 37th Assembly District is made up of parts of Ventura County and northern San Fernando Valley, encompasses only one-third of the larger Senate district.

Davis is a proven fund-raiser. His 1980 war chest totaled $669,007, and he bankrolled $430,920 without serious opposition in 1984. He was reelected in 1984 with 74.5% of the vote.

His first major fund-raiser this year is a $500-a-person event in Sacramento for lobbyists and political action committees on March 23. The affair is being organized by Sacramento PAC fund-raiser Mary Ann Hodgson. Davis has also scheduled cocktail parties for $25 a ticket in the Santa Clarita Valley March 27 and a $75-a-ticket event in Calabasas April 3.

Davis said he has a $70,000 debt remaining from his U.S. Senate campaign but he is paying it off through direct-mail solicitation to 10,000 previous supporters. He said money raised at the upcoming events will not be used to retire the debt.

Wright, meanwhile, raised $301,667 in 1982, $270,035 in 1984, and approximately $269,000 in 1986. She said she does not know how much would be required to defeat Davis. Consultant Clarke said she would need to come close to matching Davis to be able to do enough direct-mail advertising to be competitive.

Davis said the impact of a primary challenge would be to siphon campaign funds from other Republican candidates in competitive districts. He has contributed to other Republican candidates, he said, including Wright.

Wright, in contrast, said that if Davis were the GOP nominee and the rift with Fiedler is not healed, the seat might be vulnerable to a Democratic challenge. Davis called this “the most unscientific statement I have ever heard from a politician” because “there’s no Democrat who could possibly win in that district.”

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), a Davis ally, disputed Wright’s contention that San Fernando Valley Republicans remain divided by the Davis-Fiedler antagonism.

“About 90% of the party were noncombatants,” McClintock said. “If any bitterness is left, it is among a handful of partisans on each side.”