Cox Draws Criticism for Failing to Vote Since June, 1984, California Primary

C. Christopher Cox, who has based his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 40th Congressional District on his longtime support of President Reagan, did not vote for Reagan’s reelection in November, 1984, voting records show.

Cox, a lawyer and former senior associate White House counsel, also failed to vote in the 1986 California June primary or the general election in November, 1986, even though he was eligible, according to records in the office of the Orange County registrar of voters.

Cox said Tuesday that the last time he voted was in the June, 1984, California primary.

A resident of the county since the mid-1970s, Cox sold his Newport Beach home and moved to Arlington, Va., when he accepted his White House appointment in 1986. He maintained voting status in the county because he was a White House employee, a spokeswoman for the registrar of voters office said.

Cox, a leading contender in the June 7 GOP primary, said he had fully intended to vote for Reagan in November, 1984, but was tied up in a closed-door business meeting in Los Angeles that did not break until the polls closed that night. Cox was then a partner in the Newport Beach office of the Los Angeles-based law firm of Latham & Watkins, he said.

Cox and others on the firm’s management board were evaluating attorneys for promotions that night, he said, and “I got stuck in the meeting, and by the time it ended I couldn’t get back to Newport to vote. The important thing is, I intended to vote.”

Cox’s failure to vote drew sharp criticism from his two major rivals in the 40th District, Irvine City Councilman C. David Baker and Newport Beach businessman Nathan Rosenberg.

The three men are among 12 candidates in the Republican primary. The GOP winner is expected to become the favorite for the seat vacated by retiring Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) because registered Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district, 2 to 1.

“Chris has tried to paint himself as a Reaganaut throughout this campaign,” Baker said. “But if Ronald Reagan had to count on Chris’ vote to win, he would not be in the White House today.”

Rosenberg said: “Chris should be clearly embarrassed by this. . . . How can he say he is a Republican, a true follower of the President and then not vote for him? If he was too busy to vote, then he’s probably too busy to be a congressman.”

Cox Had Accused Rosenberg

In a mailer last week, Cox had accused Rosenberg of concealing and distorting his relationship with his brother, Werner Erhard, and Erhard’s self-improvement programs, the now-defunct est and the Forum.

Both Baker and Rosenberg said Tuesday that they voted for Reagan in November, 1984.

That same year, then-Lt. Gov. Mike Curb lost the Republican nomination in the governor’s race to George Deukmejian after it was disclosed that he had failed to vote in two gubernatorial elections for Reagan, his political idol. In that race, Curb had built much of his campaign around his loyalty to Reagan.

Cox has gone to great lengths in his campaign to portray himself as the “Washington candidate.” His literature prominently features pictures of himself with Reagan, and he talks often of the contacts he has built in the Reagan Administration and on Capitol Hill.

His political signs--featuring the cardinal-and-gold colors of his alma mater, USC--create the impression that Cox and Reagan have a close relationship.

The signs read: “Thank you, Chris Cox.” A facsimile of the president’s signature is affixed below the message.

Cox said it is “absurd” to say he is not committed to Reagan simply because he did not vote for him.

“It is not a contradiction because I have worked actively on behalf of the President, beginning in 1975, when I helped organize the Harvard Students for Reagan,” he said.

“There should be no question about my commitment to Republican politics and to Ronald Reagan.”

While working at the White House, Cox said, “I was voting my actions every day.”

When he moved to the Washington area in early 1986, he said, he determined too late that he was eligible to vote in the California primary in June.

“I could have changed my registration in time to vote in Virginia, but I wanted to keep my registration in California,” he said.

For the November election that year, Cox said, he had expected to be in California about that time and planned to vote in person.

But he said the trip was canceled “at the last minute” because of White House business.

When asked why he never requested an absentee ballot, Cox said: “I didn’t think I would need one.”