ELECTIONS ’88 ORANGE COUNTY : Cox, With the Most Money, Has a Good Shot, Experts Say

Propelled by cash contributions from sources outside Orange County, Newport Beach attorney C. Christopher Cox now has the resources to make a serious run at winning the Republican primary in the 40th Congressional District, political experts and campaign aides say.

Cox, largely unknown outside local legal circles, has amassed an impressive total of $346,082 in contributions and loans by tapping his extensive network of college, legal and politically conservative friends and colleagues, campaign finance records show.

In 2 1/2 months, the Harvard Law School graduate quietly and methodically eclipsed the fund-raising efforts of the two front-runners in the 40th District primary, Irvine Councilman C. David Baker and Newport Beach businessman Nathan Rosenberg.

“Name identification is a commodity that can be purchased,” said Harvey Englander, a Santa Ana-based political consultant. “Now he has the money to do just that.”

In addition to his fund-raising successes, Cox finished a close second to Baker, with Rosenberg a distant third, at a recent California Republican Assembly convention in the 40th District. And Cox now has the support of several members in the county’s Lincoln Club, a prestigious group of Republican business people.

Even political aides to Rosenberg and Baker, long considered the top contenders among 12 Republicans in the primary, concede that Cox’s fund-raising success has forced them to reassess their own campaigns.

Dave Vaporean, Rosenberg’s chief adviser, acknowledged: “We are now shifting more of our attention to Chris. . . . All we heard back in January was Dave Baker this and Dave Baker that. But clearly Chris is now the more aggressive campaigner.”

Said Baker consultant Frank Caterinicchio: “I am not surprised that Cox can raise that kind of money. He knows a lot of people, and that will be a plus down the road.”

Through March 31, Cox had raised $348,775 for his campaign, compared to $343,779.71 for Rosenberg and $234,993.44 for Baker, according to contribution and expenditure reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Even more telling, Cox had $268,624 in unspent funds; Baker had $190,138.81, and Rosenberg, $119,871.01.

Contributions from outside Orange County were key to Cox’s strong fund-raising showing.

About 52% of Cox’s contributors were from outside the county, campaign finance records show.

Bullish on his Washington connections, Cox received $23,670 from sources in and around the nation’s capital. He also received $4,000 from economist Arthur B. Laffer, one of the chief architects of Reagan’s early economic policies.

Cox’s biggest single source of contributions came from his former law firm, Los Angeles-based Latham & Watkins. A partner in the firm’s Newport Beach office until two years ago, Cox received a total of $60,100 from attorneys and employees at the firm, which has seven offices nationwide, including one in Washington.

Rosenberg also did well attracting out-of-county support. Records show that 49% of his money came from outside sources.

Rosenberg, 35, also received $17,915 from his brother, Werner Erhard, and his associates. Erhard founded est in the mid-1970s and now runs a similar program called the Forum.

Less than a third of Baker’s contributions were from outside the county, and most of those contributors were attorneys with the Los Angeles-based firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker. Baker works in the firm’s Orange County office, one of seven around the country.

Baker, a first-term councilman, was sharply critical of the outside money that is helping fuel Cox’s candidacy.

‘You Can Buy Election’

“It represents to what extent you can buy an election,” charged Baker, a UC Irvine basketball star and graduate. “My support comes from inside this county. . . . I like to view myself as the Orange County candidate.”

But Cox said it takes “more than a few local ties” to succeed in Washington.

“We are not talking about running Orange County,” the 35-year-old Cox said, “we are talking about representing Orange County and helping run this country.” In defense of his outside contributions, Cox said he has received money from across the nation because conservatives everywhere are “looking for representatives who can go to Washington and carry their cause.”

With eight weeks to go before the June 7 primary, Cox said his own polls of Republican voters in the district show that he has pulled even with Baker and is ahead of Rosenberg. That is an improbable scenario in the minds of many because Cox still was working in Washington when Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) decided in early January not to seek a seventh term in the prized 40th Congressional District.

Baker, 35, has been endorsed by Badham, and he believes that support and the endorsement of state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), whose district overlaps much of the 40th Congressional District, will spring more money for his campaign.

‘Raised the Ante’

But one of Baker’s aides said this week that Cox’s success so far has “raised the ante” in the campaign and forced Baker supporters to redouble their efforts to tap new contributors.

“Frankly, we were caught short,” the aide said, “and our finance people are just going to have to work harder. Cox did well, perhaps too well.”

Baker went to Washington this week to meet with Badham and raise money for his candidacy.

“The difference is,” he said, “we’re going to solicit PACs (political action committees) that have Orange County ties.”

Baker said Cox’s success could come at his expense because he and Cox are more philosophically similar than Rosenberg and are competing to some extent for the same pool of Republican votes. And Baker believes that Rosenberg will attempt to “prop up” Cox’s candidacy to weaken Baker’s.

Vaporean said Baker’s inability to turn his well-publicized endorsements into contributions is largely the reason that Rosenberg is expected to focus more attention on Cox in the coming weeks.

Campaign Has Stalled

“Baker has been unable to get people to make the ultimate commitment: Open their checkbooks,” Vaporean said. “Baker’s campaign has stalled.”

The county’s leading Republican group, the Lincoln Club, is divided over which candidate to support. Club president Gus Owen said the group traditionally does not endorse a candidate in the primary. And at least four candidates in this primary, including Irvine businessman Peer Swan, a club member himself, have backers in the club.

John Rau, a former Badham finance director and a longtime Lincoln Club member, has supported Cox from the outset. He said Cox’s strongest liability is name identification with voters, but he added that Cox can easily overcome it because of the sizable contributions he has received.

To reach voters, Cox said, he plans to spend much of his money on mailers, believing that in a large market such as Southern California, television is not effective.

Political consultant Englander agreed. “It doesn’t make sense to buy into commercial TV,” he said. “If you buy Los Angeles radio or TV, you’re buying 15 congressional districts. You’ve got to bring it down to a local level.”

CAMPAIGN WAR CHESTS IN THE 40TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Candidate Number of Contributions %from outside Contributions Orange County C. David Baker 241 $234,993.44 31% C. Christopher Cox 579 $266,082.00 52% Nathan Rosenberg 648 $343,779.71 49%

Candidate Average Loans Cash on hand Contribution as of March 31 C. David Baker $975 0 $190,138.81 C. Christopher Cox $460 $80,000 $268,624.00 Nathan Rosenberg $530 0 $119,871.01

Source: Federal Election Commission contribution and expenditure reports.