Wilson Backers to Hear Reagan Today in Irvine

President Ronald Reagan, making good on his pledge to spend the fall of his final term hustling votes and money for GOP candidates, will appear in Irvine today at a $500-a-plate fund-raiser for Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.).

Interrupting a three-week vacation at his Santa Barbara ranch, Reagan will fly by helicopter to the Port of Long Beach for a brief morning appearance, then on to the Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. He is scheduled to arrive at the Irvine Hilton about 12:30 p.m., where he will address an estimated 1,000 supporters and party loyalists.

Reagan then is slated to take a short flight to Los Angeles for an afternoon campaign appearance on behalf of the Republican nominee to replace him, Vice President George Bush.

According to the White House, Reagan’s arrival at the Tustin Marine base will be limited to press and invited guests. The luncheon, a White House spokesman said, is sold out and not open to the public.

Reagan was in the county earlier this year, appearing at a $100,000-per-couple private luncheon in Coto de Caza to benefit his planned $60-million presidential library in Ventura County. In 1984, he launched the successful campaign for his reelection at a fall rally in Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley.

Despite the scandals that have enveloped the final months of his presidency, Reagan, by all accounts, is still immensely popular here, said Greg Haskins, executive director of the county Republican Party.

“Anytime he appears locally, he draws a big crowd,” Haskins said. “He is a big plus for the party.”

Wilson is banking on Reagan’s appeal--and assistance--in his tough reelection bid against the state’s Democratic Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy in the Nov. 8 general election.