Rohrabacher Rides Landslide to Congress

Former presidential speech writer Dana Rohrabacher is headed back to Washington after parlaying his White House post into a seat in Congress.

Voters in the GOP-dominated 42nd Congressional District of Los Angeles and Orange counties chose Republican Rohrabacher as their next congressman by almost a 2-1 margin.

Rohrabacher, who rented an apartment in Lomita during the campaign, buried Democrat Guy C. Kimbrough of Huntington Beach and Peace and Freedom candidate Richard D. Rose of Long Beach in an avalanche of votes. Final returns showed the GOP candidate captured 64% of the vote.

Rohrabacher, 41, will be a new face in Congress, replacing 5-term Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach), who did not seek reelection.

All of the South Bay’s incumbent Democratic congressmen--Glenn Anderson of Harbor City, Mel Levine of Santa Monica, Mervyn Dymally of Compton and Julian Dixon of Inglewood--won landslide victories over under-financed Republican challengers.

As the dimensions of Rohrabacher’s victory became clear, the candidate sounded humble about the responsibilities that await him. “I’m looking forward to the job,” he said in an interview early Wednesday. “I know how hard it is going to be. It’s going to be a real challenge.”

Rohrabacher, a speech writer for President Reagan for the past 7 years, vowed to maintain the Reagan legacy by voting in Congress to “keep taxes low and have a strong defense.”

But he predicted that “it’s not going to be easy finding consensus and compromise” when President-elect George Bush confronts a Democratic Congress.

Rohrabacher said he plans to open a district office in Seal Beach and a satellite office in the Torrance-Palos Verdes Peninsula area to serve the sprawling district, which hugs the coast from Torrance to Huntington Beach.

He said his top local priorities will be seeking federal help on landslide repairs on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, expansion of the port of Long Beach and flood control and transportation improvements in Orange County. His goal is to serve on committees dealing with foreign affairs and science, space and technology issues.

Rohrabacher said his ties to President Reagan and former Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North contributed to his victory in last June’s Republican primary and in Tuesday’s general election.

The Reagan connection was hammered home to voters in campaign mailers last spring that featured a glowing testimonial letter from the President and pictures of Reagan and Rohrabacher in the Oval Office.

White House Backing

In the fall, Rohrabacher sent just one mailer, this time featuring both Reagan and Bush.

At an election eve rally Monday at the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Reagan praised Rohrabacher for serving with distinction at the White House.

Rohrabacher, an editorial writer for the Orange County Register before he joined the Reagan administration in January, 1981, became the favorite to win the congressional seat after scoring a come-from-behind victory in the hard-fought Republican primary contest last June.

During the fall campaign, Rohrabacher opposed new taxes, supported a strong defense and favored funding for the Contras in Central America and for self-proclaimed “Freedom Fighters” around the world. He expressed some skepticism about the NASA Space Station project, which would be built in large part by McDonnell Douglas, a major employer in the district.

The road to victory for Rohrabacher was a long one.

When he returned home to California to campaign last March, he was virtually unknown in the district. But his political fortunes began to change when his campaign spread the politically damaging information that Republican rival Harriett M. Wieder, an Orange County supervisor, had lied for 25 years about having a degree from Wayne State University in Detroit when she actually never attended college.

Rohrabacher spent a total of $353,342 on his primary and general election campaigns by the close of the last reporting period Oct. 19. He estimated his campaign debts at $50,000 and $60,000. By contrast, Democrat Kimbrough spent $12,000.

Elsewhere in the South Bay, Anderson captured 67% of the vote in the 32nd Congressional District race against Republican Sanford W. Kahn and Libertarian Marc F. Denny. The district includes Harbor Gateway, Harbor City, San Pedro, Wilmington and much of Long Beach. Anderson, who became chairman of the House Public Works Committee this year, will be starting his 11th term in Congress.

Dymally scored a 71.8% victory over Republican challenger Arnold C. May and Peace and Freedom candidate B. Kwaku Duren in the neighboring 31st Congressional District, which stretches from Hawthorne to Bellflower.

In the 27th Congressional District, which runs from Malibu to Redondo Beach, Levine captured 67.7% of the vote, easily defeating Republican Dennis Galbraith and Libertarian William J. Fulco.

And in the 28th Congressional District, which includes parts of Inglewood and Westchester, Dixon did better than any incumbent with 76.3% of the vote. The also-rans were Republican George Adams, Libertarian Howard Johnson and Peace and Freedom candidate Salomea Honigsfeld.