Surprise Announcement : Won’t Seek 7th Term, Badham Tells Backers

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), Orange County’s ranking member of Congress and a senior member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, told supporters Sunday that he will not seek reelection this year to a seventh consecutive term.

Badham, 58, said he intends to take a long vacation with his wife, Ann, and enjoy private life for the first time since he entered the public arena 27 years ago as an assemblyman. He made the announcement to about 200 supporters attending a cocktail reception at his home.

The congressman did not indicate whether he would pursue private business interests, but a former aide said Badham almost certainly would take advantage of the close ties he has built up with the Southland’s defense industry.

Badham was expected to formally announce his retirement plans at a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. today at his Newport Beach headquarters. Aide Lucy Olson said late Sunday that he would not publicly discuss his plans until then.

The announcement at the reception Sunday reportedly caught those in attendance by surprise.

“It was kind of a little gasp that came up,” Newport Beach aircraft tycoon Glen Stillwell, a longtime Badham supporter, said in describing the reaction. “It came as a complete surprise.”

Badham’s sudden departure from the 1988 race leaves the contest for the 40th Congressional District wide open.

Several names surfaced Sunday as potential candidates for the Republican nomination in June. Considered the most prominent in the field are Orange County Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, whose supervisorial district overlaps roughly one-third of the 40th District, and state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach).

Bergeson, who attended Badham’s cocktail reception and then flew to another engagement in Sacramento Sunday night, could not be reached for comment.

Stanton, contacted at his home late Sunday, said: “Sure, I’m interested.”

Stanton said the politically prominent GOP support group known as the Lincoln Club had inquired in recent years about his interest in running for the 40th Congressional District seat. But he said he had told club members he would not consider it until the seat was open.

“Since it’s open, obviously I’ll be looking at it,” Stanton said.

Another likely candidate is Nathan Rosenberg, the 35-year-old Newport Beach business executive who garnered a full third of the vote in his unsuccessful 1986 primary bid to take the GOP nomination in the 40th District away from Badham.

Rosenberg, who already had been building support for a second run at Badham this year, expressed elation and surprise at the announcement Sunday.

“This is a great Christmas present the congressman has given me,” said Rosenberg, who added that he would decide later this week about participating in the race for Badham’s seat this year.

Dave Baker, 34, an Irvine city councilman for four years, said he also was interested in the seat and already had begun testing the political waters recently. Baker said he too would make a formal announcement within “days.”

On the Democratic side, Irvine Mayor Larry Agran has been mentioned in the past as a possible candidate in the district. But Agran quickly dispelled that notion Sunday, saying: “I don’t have any particular interest in running.”

Stillwell predicted there would be many more names thrown into the ring, some of whom “no one has even talked about yet.”

Having served in Congress since 1976, Badham has seniority over the four other Orange County lawmakers elected to the House of Representatives since then.

Badham’s most important distinction, though, was his membership on the powerful House Armed Services Committee. He was a ranking congressman on some of that body’s subcommittees and was among the most senior members of the committee. The membership was important for Orange County’s military-industrial complex, political observers said.

“That is a powerful influence we will be losing,” said Brian Bennett, chief aide to Congressman Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove.) “Where it will really hurt is with anything connected with armed services.”

Congressman Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), whose district reaches into south Orange County, said Sunday that Badham’s military expertise was a benefit to the nation as well as the county. Packard also said Badham’s voting record reflected the conservative nature of his constituents.

Packard echoed a general belief that, regardless of who takes his place, the 40th Congressional District will remain a conservative Mecca.

“We’ll miss Bob. He’s been a good friend and a good member,” Packard said. “But I don’t doubt that whoever replaces him will reflect the same attitude.”

Bennett noted that with Badham leaving and Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) being nominated by Gov. George Deukmejian as the new state treasurer, Orange County’s congressional delegation faces big changes. Lungren’s district stretches into northern Orange County.

But Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), the county’s second most senior congressman, agreed with Packard that the county’s political climate would not change.

“Any time someone in a congressional seat retires, that opens up the musical chair game in those seats,” Dannemeyer said. “These things have a way of reverberating like a pebble in the sea.”

Although Badham’s actual departure announcement came as a surprise, speculation and rumors of his impending retirement had been circulating for years. Bill Schreiber, Badham’s chief of staff until about nine months ago, said the congressman told him early last year that he was considering bowing out of the 1988 race.

“He was ambivalent about it,” Schreiber said. “I think he had ideas that there were other things he’d like to do with his life.”

Stillwell said rumors of a retirement announcement had surfaced again in recent weeks but that he and most other political observers did not take them seriously.

“We just took it as the usual two-year rumor,” Stillwell said.

Badham provided no clue of the announcement when guests began arriving for his open-house cocktail reception, an event the congressman has held the last two years as a holiday tribute to his boosters.

Roughly midway through the two-hour reception, Badham, flanked by his wife, stood up in a tented area of his patio where guests had gathered and made the announcement, Stillwell said. Badham told the group that he wanted to tell them first and then the press.

“He said he had spent 27 years in public service and he thought he was young enough to do other things,” Stillwell said. “He said he was going to make the effort.”

Another supporter who attended the reception said Badham indicated that it was just time for him to move home.

“A wise man is one who knows when to walk away,” the supporter, who did not want to be quoted by name, said of Badham’s attitude. The supporter said the reaction from the boosters was one of general disappointment.

Schreiber predicted that after a long vacation Badham would start working for a private defense contractor.

Times political writer Claudia Luther contributed to this article.