DeVore Pulls Out of Race for Badham Seat, Backs Cox

Charles S. DeVore, a staunch military supporter and the youngest candidate in the race for the 40th Congressional District seat, withdrew from the campaign Thursday and endorsed Newport Beach attorney C. Christopher Cox.

DeVore, 25, of Laguna Hills is a former congressional liaison for the Defense Department. He advocates full military support for the Contras in Nicaragua and early deployment of the Strategic Defense Initiative, the so-called Star Wars defense system.

He said there is “very little difference ideologically” between him and Cox, a former White House counsel. “I didn’t have the money it takes to win,” DeVore said, adding that rather than remain in the race, he wanted “to unify the conservative vote and money” behind Cox.

“The next best thing to getting myself in,” DeVore said, “is getting someone elected who truly cares about America and protecting its future.”

DeVore’s withdrawal whittles the field in the June 7 Republican primary to 12 candidates. He is the second challenger seeking the post of Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) to pull out of the race in recent weeks. Costa Mesa City Councilman Peter Buffa, also citing a shortage of campaign funds, withdrew two weeks ago.

Badham announced in January that he will not seek a seventh term in November, touching off a furious scramble in the heavily Republican district to succeed the veteran lawmaker.

DeVore made his withdrawal official at a candidates forum in Leisure World on Thursday night.

At the forum, Cox triggered one of the sharpest exchanges so far in the campaign when he told a crowd of mostly elderly people that Adolfo Calero, a Contra leader, is scheduled to campaign on his behalf in Orange County later this month.

Nathan Rosenberg, a Newport Beach businessman who is considered a top contender in the race, then stood and said he was “shocked” and “insulted” that Cox would bring such an explosively political figure to the county to campaign.

As of this week, DeVore said, he had raised about $13,572 in a race that political experts predict may cost the winner $500,000. DeVore, a Cal State Fullerton graduate who moved into the 40th Congressional District late last year, acknowledged that he arrived late to the campaign and never recovered.

“I could have stayed in the race,” he said, “but what would have been gained by me being prideful . . . and preventing someone like Chris, who has a chance of winning, from capturing that seat.”

DeVore, who said he may seek elective office in the future, said he will work actively in Cox’s campaign.