GOP Spending in 42nd District Topped $1.3 Million : Campaign Puts Rohrabacher $106,680 in Red

Former White House speech writer Dana Rohrabacher owes $106,680 from his successful campaign for the Republican nomination in the 42nd Congressional District.

Campaign finance reports filed in recent days with the federal Election Commission show that Rohrabacher raised $286,231 and has spent $266,238.

Both are far less than the amounts raised and spent by Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, who placed a distant second in the June 7 election.

Altogether, Republican candidates spent more than $1.3 million campaigning for the seat, long held by Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), who tried unsuccessfully to win the state treasurer’s job.

Less Than $10,000

By contrast, Democrat Guy Kimbrough, a political science instructor from Huntington Beach, spent less than $10,000 to win a three-way Democratic primary contest.

Kimbrough will face Rohrabacher this fall in the heavily Republican district, which stretches along the coast from Torrance to Long Beach to Huntington Beach and northwestern Orange County.

The campaign finance reports show that Rohrabacher had $14,443 at the end of the reporting period June 30 but still owed $106,680, including $66,209 in unpaid campaign bills and $40,471 in unpaid loans. He loaned his campaign $33,971 and has yet to be repaid for that amount or $2,743 for miscellaneous expenses.

However, Rohrabacher spent considerably less than Wieder, whose losing congressional campaign cost $440,294. Wieder reported that she raised $472,767 and had $32,473 on hand at the end of the reporting period. She had not repaid a $40,000 loan from her supervisor’s campaign fund to her congressional campaign.

Since the election, Rohrabacher has made some progress in reducing his campaign debt. He received $500 checks from political action committees representing local aerospace and defense contractors, including Hughes Aircraft Co. and Lockheed. The campaign also has been promised $5,000 from the National Rifle Assn., Rohrabacher spokesman Robert Rule said.

Rohrabacher has had “more success getting in the door” to meet with the well-heeled political committees since winning the primary, Rule said. “They are returning phone calls and having lunch with Dana.”

Fund-Raiser Falters

The former presidential speech writer’s campaign report suggests that the candidate raised less than he had hoped at a June 1 fund-raiser in Long Beach, which featured retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North. Rohrabacher has said he hoped to sell $100,000 worth of tickets to the affair, but the report shows that he raised only $116,000 for the entire period between May 19 and June 30.

The Rohrabacher campaign reported paying $1,512 for North’s airline tickets and hotel room aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach. However, Rule said, Rohrabacher did not pay North to appear, nor did he agree to raise funds in the future for North’s legal defense. North has been indicted in the Iran-Contra scandal and is scheduled to go on trial in September.

“There was absolutely no quid pro quo arrangement of any kind,” Rule said.

North’s appearance at a Long Beach Airport rally and a fund-raising dinner six days before voters went to the polls gave Rohrabacher a last-minute burst of media attention at a time when polls showed many Republican voters were undecided.

The race was marked by expensive campaign mailers and personal attacks between candidates. For example, it was Rohrabacher who first disclosed that Wieder had lied for 25 years about having a degree from Wayne State University when she never attended college. Wieder was also attacked by other candidates for her votes in favor of Orange County development projects.

Stresses Reagan Link

On the positive side, Rohrabacher stressed his longtime association with President Reagan.

Final returns showed that Rohrabacher received 27,507 votes. Wieder ran a distant second with 17,128 votes, followed by former Cal State Long Beach President Stephen Horn with 15,911 and one-time White House advance man Andrew Littlefair who polled 6,581 votes.

Like Rohrabacher and Wieder, most other Republican contenders for the seat reported campaign debts.

Horn reported total contributions of $245,221 and expenses of $273,367, including a last-minute personal loan to the campaign of $30,500, which has not been repaid.

Littlefair also reported a campaign debt. After raising $182,329 and spending $186,935, his campaign had $19,873 in unpaid bills plus an unpaid $23,000 personal loan.

Torrance attorney Robert Welbourn, who finished fifth, raised $55,565 and spent $66,807. He reported an unpaid $11,500 personal loan to his campaign.

Palos Verdes Estates attorney Don Davis, who finished seventh, spent $27,771, virtually all of it personal funds, and reported a campaign debt of just under $13,000. Thomas Bauer and Jeffrey Burns, who finished sixth and eighth respectively, did not file expense reports, which are not necessary if less than $5,000 is raised and spent.

42ND CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING REPORT

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

Amount Spent * Outstanding Debt Republicans Harriett M. Wieder $440,294 $40,000 Stephen Horn $273,367 $30,500 Dana Rohrabacher $266,238 $106,680 Democrat Guy Kimbrough Less than $10,000 not available

* Including loans

Source: Federal Election Commission reports, interviews