Top GOP Leaders Under Fire After Election Setback

Dissident Senate Republicans, angry at their party’s failure last week to win an important special election, threatened their two top leaders with dismissal on Monday but then decided to wait at least until the seat is filled.

Republican floor leader James W. Nielsen of Rohnert Park and GOP caucus chairman John Seymour of Anaheim were criticized by other Senate Republicans during a private meeting because the Republican candidate, Assemblyman Wayne Grisham of Norwalk, failed to win what some party strategists had thought would be an easy victory.

Instead, Democrat Cecil N. Green, a Norwalk city councilman, outpolled Grisham 48% to 44%, falling just short of the majority needed for outright election. Green, Grisham and two minor-party candidates will meet again in a runoff election May 12 in the 33rd Senate District, covering southeastern Los Angeles County and part of northwestern Orange County.

Democrats were elated and somewhat surprised that their candidate received more votes last Tuesday than Grisham, a former congressman.

On Monday, Senate Republicans met behind closed doors for what one described as a round of “grumbling and dissatisfaction” with the leadership efforts of Nielsen and Seymour, particularly regarding the election.

Several participants said later that no vote was taken to oust the two and any further action was put off until after the runoff election. Seymour said later, however, that regardless of whether Grisham wins, he will step down in May as caucus chairman.

‘Unified and Committed’

He said he appealed to his colleagues to go into the election “unified and committed” to winning rather than fighting among themselves and possibly losing the election as a result. Democrats now control the Senate by a 23-15 margin, with one independent and the 33rd District vacant.

The seat, held by Paul Carpenter (D-Norwalk) until his recent election to the state Board of Equalization, is considered important to both parties as reapportionment approaches in the early 1990s. The party in power customarily draws the district lines that will give the greatest advantage to its own candidates.

Sources, speaking on condition they not be identified, said that Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno), generally regarded as a moderate, wants to take over Nielsen’s post, while Sen. John Doolittle (R-Citrus Heights), one of the Legislature’s most conservative members, is eyeing Seymour’s job.

The sources said that the election seemed to be the major cause of the dissension but that there were other reasons as well, including a failure by Nielsen and Seymour to involve more Senate Republicans in running election campaigns.

Meanwhile, Assembly Republican leader Pat Nolan of Glendale told The Times that the reason that Green received more votes than Grisham was that Democrats ran a much more sophisticated get-out-the-vote drive.

He noted that Democrats drove mini-vans with cellular telephones and voter profiles to pick up voters and take them to the polls on Election Day. He said Republicans were overconfident but have learned their lesson and will wage a more aggressive campaign in the runoff.

“Grisham was wounded and the Democrats smell blood,” he said.