Wieder More Than Doubles the Money Each Foe Raises in Fight for Lungren Seat

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder has raised more than twice as much money as any of her three leading competitors for the Republican nomination in the 42nd Congressional District race, according to Federal Election Commission reports that were due Friday.

In the reporting period, Jan. 1 to March 31, Wieder raised $174,620, of which $40,000 is a loan from her supervisorial reelection fund. She spent $56,880, leaving her with $117,740 at the end of the reporting period.

Her closest GOP competitor in fund-raising was Dana Rohrabacher, a former speech writer for President Reagan, who raised $81,000 during the first three months of the year. After spending $7,000 on fund-raising activities, Rohrabacher had $74,000 in cash remaining March 31.

Partly because of her fund-raising ability, Wieder has been viewed as the front-runner in the race to succeed Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), who is not running for reelection. Whoever wins the Republican nomination in the June 7 primary is expected to win the seat in the heavily GOP district, which straddles the boundary between Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Wieder is expected to benefit from being the only major candidate from Orange County. She must carry some baggage over traffic problems and growth, as a longtime member of the Board of Supervisors. She can expect her opponents to use most of what they raise for their campaigns to attack her for her role in the evolution of that growth and congestion.

In anticipation of this, one of her foes predicted that her contribution list would read “like a ‘Who’s Who’ of builders and developers in Orange County.”

But the supervisor’s husband, Irv Wieder, who is active in his wife’s campaign, pointed out Friday that more than 60% of the money raised for her current race “isn’t from builders and developers.”

Nearly 20% of the money listed on her report was from political action committees, which have a $5,000 federal limit. Individuals and businesses have a $1,000 limit.

The 42nd District seat came open when Lungren announced he would not seek a sixth term so he could carry on a court battle over legislative confirmation of his appointment as state treasurer by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Lungren’s treasurer appointment won Assembly confirmation but was rejected in the state Senate. His court case asserts that just one house of the Legislature is needed for confirmation.

The district includes Seal Beach, Cypress, La Palma and parts of Huntington Beach, Westminster and Garden Grove in Orange County, and the Palos Verdes area and Signal Hill and Rossmoor and parts of Long Beach and Torrance in Los Angeles County.

The third-ranking fund-raiser in the Republican primary race, Cal State Long Beach President Steve Horn, had raised $78,799 and had $37,766 left as of the end of March, according to his FEC report.

$21,000 in Own Personal Loans

Andrew Littlefair, who worked as a staff assistant to President Reagan until last summer, raised $71,119 during the first quarter of the year, most of it in late March. His money includes $21,000 in personal loans from himself.

Littlefair received $47,569 from individuals and $2,550 from political action committees, according to his report. Much of his money came as a result of his association with Texas oilman and corporate takeover player T. Boone Pickens. After leaving the White House, Littlefair worked as a staff assistant to Pickens in Amarillo, Tex., for six months. He received $2,000 in contributions from Pickens and his wife. Other Pickens associates gave Littlefair $7,000, and the oilman’s Mesa Petroleum political action committee donated another $2,000.

Littlefair also received $500 contributions from former White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan and Michelle Laxalt, daughter of former Sen. Paul Laxalt, R-Nev.

Rohrabacher, who left the White House in mid-March after serving the Reagan Administration since its inauguration, received $57,000 from individuals and $20,000 from political action committees. He contributed $4,000 to his own campaign, including a $3,000 loan.

Most From Capital

The vast majority of his money came from Washington and other areas outside the 42nd Congressional District.

Rohrabacher received $250 from conservative commentator William F. Buckley and $500 from oilman Nelson Bunker Hunt of Dallas. Singer Sammy Hagar of the rock band Van Halen gave $1,000.

President Reagan’s political action committee, Citizens for the Republic, gave $5,000, the maximum allowed by federal law, to Rohrabacher.

None of the other GOP candidates--former Palos Verdes Estates Mayor Robert Welbourn, Torrance aerospace engineer Tom Bauer, Huntington Beach carpenter Jeffrey Burns or Palos Verdes Estates lawyer Donald G. Davis--reached the $5,000 threshold for filing with the Federal Election Commission.

One of them, however, Welbourn, reported that he had raised $2,100 for the race and had $1,200 on hand as of March 31. As of that date, the only money Welbourn reported spending was the $895 filing fee to put himself on the ballot.

On the Democratic side, political science professor Guy Kimbrough had not reached the $5,000 level. His opponents, Ada Unruh and Dan Farrell, could not be reached for comment.

Peace and Freedom Party candidate Richard D. Rose said he did not plan to spend more than $1,000 on his campaign.