A challenger thrusts the shadow of Speaker Willie Brown into GOP Assembly race.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, the Legislature’s most powerful Democrat, suddenly has become an issue in an increasingly bitter Republican primary fight between Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando and challenger Deane Dana III.

Republicans have used Brown in campaigns against Democrats for years, but now Dana is using the Democratic Speaker against Republican Felando in the 51st Assembly District primary race.

In a slick campaign mailer sent last week to 43,000 Republican households from Redondo Beach to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Dana accused the San Pedro lawmaker of being a “staunch ally” of Brown.

On the cover, the mailer quotes Felando expressing support for Brown.

Inside the mailer, challenger Dana accuses Felando of having “close ties” to the Speaker. Dana charges that Felando attended one of Brown’s fund-raisers in 1985, which netted more than $700,000 to help beat Republicans. Dana also alleged that Brown was “the special guest of honor” at a Felando fund-raiser.

Dana’s charges are being repeated in telephone calls to Republican homes.

Stung by the accusations, Felando denounced the mailer as “absolutely false” and said the suggestion that Brown was a special guest at one of his fund-raisers is “an outright lie.”

Felando said that shortly after Brown became Speaker, Brown spoke to Felando’s women’s advisory group at Ante’s restaurant in San Pedro, but it was not a fund-raising event.

He said Brown has “never, never, never” been a special guest at one of his fund-raisers, although the Speaker has dropped by, just as Republicans have stopped in at events held by Democrats. “We do this all the time in Sacramento,” he said.

Felando did not dispute the quote that the mailer attributes to a Times article last January. In the story, Felando said he would not join five dissident Assembly Democrats who have broken ranks with Brown. If all 36 Republicans voted with the so-called Gang of Five, the 41 votes would be sufficient to oust Brown from the speakership.

“There is a faction within his (Democratic) caucus that is taking some shots at him, but it would be foolhardy for them to try (to oust him),” Felando said.

“Don’t count on me for the 36th vote. I would support Willie. I think he’s been an excellent speaker. When Willie tells you something, you can take it to the bank. If there is somebody better, show me. And I don’t think there is,” Felando is quoted in the article.

At week’s end, even after the Dana mailer, Felando again praised Brown for “the way he handles himself as Speaker and the way he handles the House.”

But Felando pointedly said he was “not talking about (Brown’s) political philosophy.”

Felando said Republicans have made tremendous progress in chipping away at the Democratic majority in the lower house because Brown is so unpopular in many parts of the state.

“We want to keep him in there and run against his philosophy and policies,” Felando said. “To say that I am an agent for his leadership and caucus is absolutely ridiculous.”

But Dana, son of the Los Angeles County supervisor of the same name, said Republicans should unite to oust Brown because he stands in the way of legislation favored by conservatives and Gov. George Deukmejian.

He challenged Felando to vote to remove Brown, who ranks as the most unpopular elected official in polls of local Republicans.

With six weeks left before the June 7 primary, South Bay voters can expect Dana to keep using Brown against Felando.

And Felando is likely to respond by pointing out that he has been endorsed for reelection by prominent Republicans, including Deukmejian and Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach).

And Then There Were Two. The withdrawal of Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., from active campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination leaves Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and the Rev. Jesse Jackson as the only two Democrats in the race.

They’re also the only Democrats who may appear on stage in a nationally televised debate in Torrance June 5 sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Two weeks ago, the League had to cancel a planned debate in Torrance between Republican presidential candidates when Vice President George Bush forced Kansas Sen. Robert Dole out of the running.

The rapidly shrinking field of candidates hasn’t helped the League’s local fund-raising efforts, which have slowed dramatically in recent weeks.

Finance Chairwoman Charlotte Lobb said the League has raised more than $100,000 to cover the costs of the debate at El Camino College’s Marsee Auditorium, but $170,000 is needed.

League spokeswoman Janice Kaplan in Washington said the League is seeking commitments from the Dukakis and Jackson campaigns to participate in the debate two days before the June 7 California primary.

Both candidates appeared at League-sponsored debates before the New Hampshire and New York primaries.

Caucus Fever. Although California Democrats will vote for their party’s nominee for president on June 7, a quiet fight is under way in congressional districts across the state to determine exactly who will be delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Atlanta in July.

On May 1, the Dukakis and Jackson forces will hold caucuses in congressional districts to select their delegate slates.

And in some areas, Dukakis spokesman Pat Forciea said, there is “pretty intense competition” among those seeking to become a Dukakis delegate from California.

Any registered Democrat attending a congressional district caucus can vote for his or her choice to fill one of the coveted delegate slots.

After the results of the primary election voting are known, delegates will be apportioned based on the performance of Dukakis and Jackson in the congressional district and statewide.

Of 336 delegates statewide, 19 will be selected next weekend at caucuses in the four congressional districts that represent the South Bay.

Campaign Clutter. On street corners, fences and lamp posts throughout the South Bay, voters are being reminded over and over and over again that there’s an election approaching.

The blizzard of campaign signs mimics the crowded primary election ballot.

Some heavily traveled intersections in Torrance and near the Palos Verdes Peninsula are suffering from graphic gridlock.

It’s like a rainbow. There are signs for five of the eight candidates in the Republican primary for Lungren’s 42nd Congressional District seat, as well as Assembly candidates Felando and Dana. The colors range from sky blue to sunset orange and lime green.

With that much to look at, does anybody pay attention?