Holy Moses, they’re breaking the 11th Commandment

The Republican Party’s 11th Commandment--”Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill of Another Republican”--is being forgotten as the battle for Rep. Daniel E. Lungren’s congressional seat heats up.

Two months before the election, Republican candidates are taking pot shots at the perceived front runner, Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder. And the campaign rhetoric will most likely get sharper before the June 7 primary.

There are eight Republicans running for the seat being given up by Lungren, whose decision not to seek reelection has sparked a pitched battle in the solidly Republican district, which runs from Torrance around the Palos Verdes Peninsula across a narrow band of Long Beach and into Orange County.

The race promises to be an expensive struggle between Wieder, the well-financed supervisor and lone candidate from Orange County, and her Los Angeles County-based rivals.

Two of them, former White House advance man Andrew Littlefair of Torrance and Stephen Horn, former president of California State University, Long Beach, vow to challenge Wieder on her home turf, where 45% of the district’s registered Republicans live.

“We’re going to be taking it to her,” Littlefair said. He accuses Wieder of being too pro-development and out of touch with voters in Orange County, where public anger over traffic congestion and increasing development has spawned a slow-growth ballot campaign.

“Why in the world would we want to send her to Washington?” Littlefair asked.

Horn rejects the conventional wisdom that Wieder has a natural constituency in Orange County that will give her the necessary margin to win the contest.

“We will compete in every precinct in Orange County,” he said. “We will be competitive everywhere.” Horn also charges that Wieder is pro-development and suggests that she cannot take her home base for granted with “all the baggage she’s carrying.”

Wieder has defended her approach to development as consistent with a belief in the free enterprise system. She accuses Horn of having been an “autocrat” on the Long Beach campus and mocks Littlefair’s role in planning presidential trips for Ronald Reagan. “What did he do, sharpen pencils for the President?” she asked.

‘Dukeing’ It Out. The two Republican candidates for a South Bay Assembly seat are locked in a contest to prove who’s closer to Gov. George Deukmejian.

The incumbent, Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro), proclaims that he’s been endorsed by the governor for reelection. Deukmejian’s name appears as honorary chairman on invitations to Felando’s major campaign fund-raiser. And his picture is prominently displayed in Felando’s taxpayer-financed legislative newsletter and campaign-financed mailers.

Not to be outdone, challenger Deane Dana III, son of the Los Angeles County supervisor, plans to stress his work for Deukmejian as deputy director of the state Department of Aging in Sacramento. “We will be talking about my dedicated service to the governor,” Dana said. “There is no question about it.”

Voters in the Assembly district, which encompasses Hermosa Beach and Redondo Beach, Torrance, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and parts of San Pedro, can expect to see pictures of Dana with Deukmejian.

Felando dismisses Dana’s effort to ally himself with Deukmejian. “I have the governor’s endorsement for this office,” Felando said. “I’m not going to try to out-Duke him.”

Image Building. An important thing for candidates has always been getting the most out of the three-word description that accompanies their names on the ballot. It’s the last thing voters see as they punch the computer ballot card.

Assembly candidate Dana, who left the Deukmejian administration to run for the Legislature, lists himself on the June ballot as a “California Government Executive.”

Congressional candidate Horn was president of California State University, Long Beach, for 17 years. He’ll be listed that way on the June ballot, although Horn stepped down from the post in mid-February and picked an acting president to replace him. Officially, he’s on leave.

Ex-presidential advance man Littlefair was a staff assistant to Texas oil man and corporate takeover artist T. Boone Pickens for six months before returning to the South Bay in January to run for Congress. But on the ballot, the 27-year-old candidate lists his occupation as “Corporate Executive.”

Former presidential speech writer Dana Rohrabacher, who left the White House last month when he became a candidate for Congress, is listed as a “Presidential Special Assistant.”

The secretary of state’s office has found nothing wrong with the ballot designations. “It’s supposed to reflect your primary occupation,” spokeswoman Melissa Warren said. “It’s just to let the voters know what experience the person would bring to the office.”

The secretary of state’s office can reject the listings if “we feel they are misleading,” but with 522 candidates running for legislative and congressional offices statewide, Warren said, they don’t check all ballot designations.

Political Give and Take. There’s nothing novel about candidates accepting money, but giving it back? That’s what Palos Verdes Estates City Council candidate Rita M. Bayer did with some of the $600 that the Police Assn. recently gave to her campaign.

“I think $100 is a heck of a lot of money and when the police handed me a check for $600, I was really surprised,” she said. Bayer said she didn’t feel that she could say it was too much at the time “so I waited several days and then gave them back $400.”

Candidate Raymond D. Mattingly also was offered $600 from the local police organization but he, too, thought it was a bit much. “I was uncomfortable . . . but I wanted their endorsement,” he said. Like Bayer, he accepted $200.

The police organization also gave $1,100 to support a ballot measure that would renew a special property tax to help pay for police, fire and paramedic services. But this is the first time they put money behind political candidates, said Capt. Mike Tracy. Bayer and Mattingly understand the needs of the Police Department, he said, adding that the candidates made no commitments other than to listen to police concerns.

The city is wrestling with replacing retired Police Chief Monte Newman. The association and a vocal group of citizens wanted a permanent chief chosen from police ranks--with Tracy the leading contender--but the City Council recently hired an interim chief who will make recommendations on qualifications for a permanent chief.

Bayer favors promoting from within city departments, including police. Mattingly also favors selecting a chief from inside the department if a qualified officer can be found.

Election Day Tuesday. Voters will decide the outcome of council races or ballot measures in Avalon, Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Lawndale, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Estates.

Times staff writer Gerald Faris contributed to this column.