40th, 42nd Districts : Primary Victories, Losses Came High

In one of the most expensive congressional primaries ever in Orange County, three of the 14 candidates in last month’s contest for the the GOP nomination in the 40th District spent a total of more than $1.6 million, federal campaign records show.

The winner, former White House lawyer C. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach, spent $649,768, the bulk of it on a mail blitz in the campaign’s final weeks, according to Federal Election Commission reports filed Friday.

In stark contrast, Cox’s opponent in the November general election, Laguna Beach Councilwoman Lida Lenney, spent roughly $10,000 to win the Democratic primary.

In all, the 18 candidates from all parties in the 40th District spent almost $2 million leading up to the June 7 primary in the heavily Republican district stretching from Fountain Valley to Newport Beach to Laguna Hills.

Spending in the 40th District was second in county history only to the 1982 primary election in the 43rd Congressional District, when 21 candidates, including 18 Republicans, spent $2.7 million.

In the county’s other heated congressional race last month, Dana Rohrabacher, en route to winning the GOP primary in the 42nd District, spent less than two of the losing candidates, Harriett M. Wieder and Stephen Horn.

Wieder, the favorite at the outset of the race, spent $434,366 only to finish a distant second to Rohrabacher, a Palos Verdes resident. Former Cal State Long Beach president Stephen Horn, who wound up third, spent $273,367.

Rohrabacher, who like Cox played heavily on his ties to the Reagan Administration, spent $266,238. He now faces Democrat Guy Kimbrough, a political science instructor, in the largely Republican district that runs from Huntington Beach north along the coast to Torrance in Los Angeles County.

Kimbrough spent less than $10,000 to win the Democratic primary.

In the 40th District, Cox was a virtual unknown at the outset of his campaign but proved to be a formidable fund-raiser, drawing upon a vast network of conservative friends, college classmates and law colleagues nationwide. The Harvard Law School graduate received $569,617 in contributions, finishing his maiden run for elective office with a $134,370 debt, including $94,600 in unpaid loans to himself, records show.

As the race wound to a close, and Cox emerged as the front-runner, he apparently had little trouble raising money, unlike his opponents, Nathan Rosenberg, a Newport Beach businessman, and C. David Baker, an Irvine city councilman.

“Once people had a chance to hear Chris and understand his politics, the contributions started to come,” Cox campaign aide Elizabeth Laugharn said. She added that plans have not yet been made on how to retire the debt or raise money for the fall campaign.

Baker, 35, who was considered the front-runner in the 40th District for weeks, also finished with a sizable debt, $149,522, including a $94,000 loan to himself. Endorsed by many key GOP activists, he raised $485,955 for the race. Baker was supported by, among others, Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), who announced in January that he would not run for a seventh term in the 40th District.

John Nakaoka, Baker’s campaign manager, said it is not certain how Baker will pay off the debt. Baker, who finished second by 1,200 votes in the primary, is under investigation by the district attorney’s office on suspicion of writing an unauthorized check on the account of a private health foundation which he headed during the final days of the campaign. No money was ever transferred from the foundation account to his, Baker’s attorney has aid, and Baker put a stop-payment order on the check.

40TH & 42ND CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING REPORTS

Here are the top spenders in the 40th and 42nd Congressional District primaries, the amounts they spent and their campaigns’ current debts.

Amount Spent * Outstanding Debt 40TH DISTRICT Republicans C. Christopher Cox $649,768 $134,370 Nathan Rosenberg $514,372 $ 25,766 C. David Baker $479,020 $149,522 Democrats Lida Lenney $10,036 $0 42ND DISTRICT Republicans Harriett M. Wieder $434,366 $40,000 Stephen Horn $273,367 $0 Dana Rohrabacher $266,238 $106,680 Democrats Guy Kimbrough $10,000 $0

* Including loans

Source: Federal Election Commission reports