ELECTIONS ’88 : ORANGE COUNTY : Lungren Endorses Wieder in Race to Succeed Him

Rep. Daniel E. Lungren’s long-awaited endorsement of Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder as his successor in the 42nd Congressional District finally came Wednesday, giving Wieder’s campaign a much-needed boost just days before Tuesday’s primary election.

The Long Beach Republican said that, although there were “many excellent candidates” among the eight Republicans vying to succeed him, “I decided to support Harriett Wieder, a person with whom I have worked on behalf of the people of our area for the past decade.”

He added that he already had cast his absentee ballot for Wieder.

The 42nd District is so heavily Republican that winning the GOP nomination is tantamount to winning the general election in November.

In a statement released by Wieder’s campaign office, Lungren added no details as to why he endorsed Wieder, 67, and he could not be reached for further comment.

Although the endorsement was not ringing and came just six days before the primary, it was worth waiting for. Wieder called it “the crown jewel of endorsements” in the district, which straddles the border between Orange and Los Angeles counties.

“Dan Lungren has always been a very popular congressman,” Wieder said. “Our very first poll showed that a Lungren endorsement was significant.” Indeed, several other GOP candidates had sought it.

Wieder said she intends to send out mail informing voters of the endorsement. “We’ve had the presses waiting,” Wieder said.

Lungren Meeting

Wieder said Lungren never questioned her about problems in her campaign, including a recall effort against her because of her record on development as a supervisor and her admission that she lied for 25 years by saying she had a college degree when she never attended college.

When Lungren spoke to her two weeks ago, Wieder said, they talked about the college lie. But she said he told her he was “proud of the way I handled it.” When the fabrication was revealed by one of her opponents in the primary, Wieder apologized to voters.

As for the recall effort, Wieder responded formally late Tuesday by branding proponents of the recall drive “out-of-the-area-led political activists” whose allegations “have no basis in truth.”

Allegations Disputed

In a one-page statement filed with the county registrar of voters, Wieder said allegations that her votes as a supervisor unfairly favored developers are either false or misleading.

“Two years ago, the voters of this district reelected me with 76.7% of the vote because they agreed with my balanced approach to solving county problems,” the statement said. “Now some out-of-the-area-led political activists want me recalled for one vote I cast on a south county development, Laguna Laurel.”

The statement referred to the controversial Laguna Laurel development agreement between the county and the Irvine Co. that was approved April 27 by the Board of Supervisors in a 3-2 vote. The agreement protects the Irvine Co.’s plans to build 3,200 housing units, a shopping center and a golf course in Laguna Canyon.

Recall Leaders

Tom Rogers, a leader in a successful drive to get a slow-growth initiative on the county ballot, announced recall drives against Wieder and Supervisor Thomas F. Riley immediately after the Laguna Laurel vote.

An official recall notice was served on Wieder on May 23 by Doug Langevin of Huntington Beach.

Langevin said Wednesday: “I’m not an outsider. I live in the 2nd (Supervisorial) District. I’m primarily concerned with her voting record in the 2nd District. If that makes me an outsider, then so be it.”

Langevin said that Wieder has every right to take issue with the allegations but that he believes they are true.

District Boundaries

Wieder’s district is in the northwestern part of the county and includes Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Westminster, Los Alamitos, Cypress, Stanton and parts of Garden Grove.

Rogers, of San Juan Capistrano, said Wieder’s “out-of-the-area” reference probably meant him. But he added: “She’s the chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and her actions have affected the whole county, especially the south county.”

A petition drive to get the recall on the ballot is expected to begin once the county registrar approves the petition language. Proponents of the recall drive will have 160 days to collect the signatures of 10% of the registered voters in Wieder’s district.