Politicians Swarm to County ‘Moneycomb’

Four is not exactly a trend. But it does seem to be more than serendipity that four Democratic officeholders whose districts are far from Orange County are staging fund-raisers here this month.

“People from Orange County have been contributing to politics for a long time, and to legislators out of their area for a long time,” said Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda). “The only difference is, now we’re coming to Orange County.”

The high cost of political campaigns has led many candidates to seek ever more creative ways to attract contributions. Thus, it was probably inevitable that Democrats, particularly those in powerful positions, would find corporations, special-interest groups and individuals in Orange County who are willing to give them money--even though voters here don’t send many Democrats to Sacramento or Washington.

$15,000 Raised by Katz

That is certainly no secret to Katz, who raised $15,000 at a $250-a-person lunch Wednesday at the Irvine Hilton that was organized by the Irvine Co., which keeps a high profile in both Republican and Democratic politics.

“It’s like bees to honey,” veteran Republican consultant Stuart Spencer said. “If the money was in Barstow, they’d go to Barstow.”

The only Democrat in the Legislature who has an Orange County constituency is state Sen. Cecil Green of Norwalk, one-fourth of whose district spills over into the northeastern area of the county. The GOP holds a whopping 54.5%-34.5% voter-registration edge over Democrats here, and the county’s other 14 federal and state representatives are Republicans.

But while Republicans dominate in Orange County, they do not hold majorities in either house of Congress, in the state Senate or or in the Assembly. In addition to raw voting power, that means Democrats control committee chairmanships.

Just one Orange County legislator holds a chairmanship at either the state or federal level. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) is chairwoman of the State Senate’s Local Government Committee.

Thus for the most part, as political consultant Dennis DeSnoo noted: “If you wish to talk to someone who has some impact on state or federal policy, you need to look outside the county.”

Democratic political consultant Harvey Englander agreed.

“As good as the intentions of the members of our legislative delegation are, they do not have the clout with the Democratic leadership on transportation and other issues, such as the environment,” Englander said. “They can’t go to (Assembly Speaker) Willie Brown and say, ‘Help us,’ and really receive a lot of support.”

Fuentes’ View

Tom Fuentes, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, put it a bit differently: “In the case of Orange County, where we have important needs that are controlled in Sacramento, like transportation, we fall prey to these bag-carrying Democrat legislators.”

Of the four Democrats staging fund-raisers in the county this month, three hold powerful committee chairmanships, either in Sacramento or Washington.

Katz, as chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, oversees major decisions that can Pelosi (D-San Francisco) on Aug. 31.

Although Pelosi is a freshman, and thus does not have seniority for much power in Washington as yet, she is a friend of the firm’s board chairman, Walter B. Gerken, a longtime Democratic supporter.

“Nancy is a person he’s very fond of personally, for whom he has a tremendous amount of respect,” Haskell said of Gerken. “He wants Nancy Pelosi to know about Orange County and the issues that are important to us and the issues that are important to our industry.”

Pelosi, former state Democratic Party chairman, has been calling on friends throughout the state to help her retire a six-figure debt she incurred in a bruising fall election.

In a way, the lack of Democratic officeholders in Orange County makes it easier on Democratic politicians from the outside.

County Is ‘Wide Open’

“They don’t have to worry about trampling on someone else’s territory,” said Richard J. O’Neill, former state Democratic Party chairman and a prominent Democrat in Orange County. “It leaves it wide open.”

That is not the case for Republicans from outside the county, who are naturally more likely to approach a local legislator or member of Congress before traveling here to raise money. In fact, Republicans from outside the area often turn to mailing lists to solicit in Orange County.

“They haven’t been in picking our grapes in our own vineyard lately,” said Greg Haskin, executive director of the Orange County Republican Party.

Also, Haskin said, “it’s a lot easier for our local legislators to help raise funds for candidates from other parts of the state than have someone from out of the area come in.”

One prominent county Democrat who asked not to be identified said that while Orange County is “not San Francisco yet, and it’s not Beverly Hills,” it “probably beats San Diego or any other large population area” in Democratic fund raising.

“Orange County has a national reputation for being a wealthy county, and not just Republicans,” he said. “It also happens to be the home of quite a few Democrats of substance.”