Green, Grisham Broke Spending Records : Norwalk Politicians Seek Ways to Erase Debts Before They Run Again Next Year

Two Norwalk politicians, who last spring ran the most expensive Senate campaign in the state’s history, are now looking at ways to erase big debts.

Democrat Cecil N. Green and Republican Wayne Grisham spent a record $2.99 million on May’s special election in the 33rd state Senate District, which cuts across southeast Los Angeles County and northwest Orange County.

Green, a Democrat and a former Norwalk council member who won the Senate seat, outspent Grisham by a 2-to-1 margin. His campaign is in debt $147,021, with most of that owed to political consultants. Assemblyman Grisham owes $193,199, including debts to employment agencies that hired workers--many of them teen-agers--at $5 an hour to go door to door in the campaign’s final days.

Both men face tough reelection bids next year; Green in the 33rd Senate District and Grisham in the 63rd Assembly District. Officials in both parties acknowledged that it will be difficult to raise money not only to erase debts but also to build new campaign war chests.

The two legislators said they plan a series of fund-raising dinners in the coming weeks to offset their debts.

On Sept. 22, Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) has agreed to host a black-tie birthday dinner for Green, who turns 63 that month. Green aides hope the invitation-only, $250-a-plate event, which targets big Democratic contributors, will retire most of the senator’s debt.

Green’s debt was sweetened considerably by an election-day ploy that rewarded voters with a dozen free doughnuts. The “doughnut caper,” as it was dubbed, cost the Green campaign $40,000, but strategists contend it was money well spent. Everybody who voted was eligible on election day to go to one of seven doughnut shops and redeem their voter stubs for a dozen doughnuts. The trick was that only voters identified in advance as pro-Green were told of the offer via letters and door-hangers on election day.

When asked about the campaign’s record spending, Green said: “It was ridiculous . . . but this was a political war and both sides wanted it badly.”

Grisham, 64, said much of his debt was amassed without his knowledge in the final weeks of the campaign. He said the campaign was being directed by Sacramento-based consultants who simply kept spending, even though the money had run out.

An independent review of campaign bills by Grisham’s staff has turned up more than $60,000 in expenditures that Grisham knew nothing about, said Dale Hardeman, the assemblyman’s chief aide. He called the campaign leading to the May 12 runoff the “most confused and disjointed I’ve seen in 20 years of political work.”

Grisham blamed the “win-at-any-cost” mentality that took over the campaign for much of his trouble. “The stakes were so high I guess they decided to roll the dice,” Grisham said. “In any campaign I’ve ever been in, I’ve never spent money I did not have. This race was no different. Other people were calling the shots.”

As a result, Grisham said he believes Senate Republicans should help pull him out of debt. Hardeman said that unless the party rallies “and takes care of this family matter” it will hurt the GOP’s credibility.

But some senators, like Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), said it is up to Grisham to pay his own bills.

‘Part of the Business’

“It’s rare that a campaign ends up with a surplus,” said Bergeson, who contributed $10,000 to Grisham’s campaign. “Incurring debts is part of the business, and one has to be willing to accept that. I don’t feel any responsibility” for helping Grisham.

Greg Haskins, executive director of the Orange County Republican Party, said Grisham faces an uphill fund-raising struggle because there are both state and federal elections next year.

“He must pay off the debt to maintain his credibility and at the same time start raising money for what may be an expensive reelection struggle,” Haskins said. “It’s going to be difficult because everybody in the world is going to be asking for money next year.”

Grisham has said he will not challenge Green again. Instead, he plans to seek a third term in the 63rd Assembly District.

A host of local Democrats have been mentioned as possible challengers to Grisham, including Norwalk Councilmen Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez and Robert White, Cerritos Councilwomen Diana Needham and Ann B. Joynt, party activist Marshall Story of Cerritos, Pete Ohanesian, a Downey businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 1984, and Bob Epple, a Norwalk attorney.

Retired Downey Municipal Court Judge Leon Emerson, who was a candidate early in the 33rd District race and considered by some to be the early Democratic front-runner in next year’s 63rd, recently withdrew his name from contention. He said the campaign would be too difficult on his ailing wife.

In the 33rd, Green, who was elected to serve the final 18 months of former Sen. Paul Carpenter’s four-year term, said his 1988 reelection effort is under way. Carpenter, a Cypress Democrat, resigned the seat in January after being elected to the state Board of Equalization.

Democrats in Majority

Although the Democrats have a sizable edge in voter registration in the 33rd District, the conservative-leaning constituency has historically shown a streak of independence that makes it difficult to predict the outcome. Because it is known as a swing district, both parties think they can win there. And that is why Green believes next year’s election again will be expensive.

“It could be a million-dollar race. Who knows.” Green said. “It will take a lot of money to win it.”

The most talked-about challenger in the 33rd District on the Republican side is Cerritos Councilman Don Knabe. While stopping short of announcing his candidacy, Knabe, chief deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana, said last week: “I’m looking very hard and very seriously (at running against Green).”

Sacrifice for Unity

Knabe was a candidate early on in this year’s election in the 33rd District but withdrew after Gov. George Deukmejian met privately with him and Grisham to encourage one of the two to drop out and help the party unify behind one candidate.

Grisham’s defeat has only intensified the Republicans’ interest in the seat, Republican state Party Chairman Robert Naylor said.

“It is our top Senate election priority,” said Naylor, adding that he does not believe Roberti and the Democratic Party will have the same kind of resources to commit to the race next year.

Bob Forsyth, Roberti’s chief of staff, disagreed: “It is a seat we can win, and we will spend whatever it takes to hold it.”

It will be easier for Green to raise money next year because of his incumbency, said John Hanna, Orange County Democratic Party chairman. “There’s no question, the race will be competitive,” he said.

“But he’s (Green) not the unknown he was. A lot of contributors who did not take his candidacy seriously will now be willing to step forward.”