Brown Expected to Keep Speakership Despite Pressure From GOP Leader

Although Assembly Speaker Willie Brown appeared certain to retain his powerful post after helping Democrats to capture three Republican seats in the Nov. 8 election, there were strong indications Tuesday that the turmoil is far from over and that Brown may hold on to the speakership by only a slim margin.

Newly installed Assembly Minority Leader Ross Johnson (R-La Habra), seeking to assert his independence, insisted that he has pledges from all but three Republicans to vote against Brown on Monday when the speakership is decided for the next two-year session.

Deriding Brown as a “wheeler-dealer” who uses power politics to thwart the public will, Johnson teamed up this week with a band of five dissident Democrats in an unusual direct-mail campaign to pressure the three Republicans--Stan Statham of Oak Run, Sunny Mojonnier of Encinitas and Gerald N. Felando of San Pedro--who appeared resistant to opposing Brown. Similar mailers highly critical of the Speaker were sent to voters in districts represented by Democrats who won their seats by narrow margins.

While acknowledging that his tactics were unorthodox, Johnson predicted that he will round up enough votes to block Brown. “I am absolutely convinced that at this moment Willie Brown does not have the votes to be elected Speaker,” Johnson said.

But Brown still predicted a certain, if narrow, victory. “On Monday, I will have 41 votes up on the board, and that will stop all the talk,” the San Francisco Democrat told a reporter.

By his own count, Johnson is assured of 30 of the GOP’s 33 votes in his hopes of denying another term to Brown, who has already held the post longer than any Speaker in California history. Even with support from the dissident “Gang of Five” and the entire Republican caucus, Johnson’s effort would appear to fall short of the 41 votes needed to elect a Speaker.

Philosophical Differences

But the continued turmoil highlights deep philosophical and personal differences within both parties and suggests that Brown’s powers are likely to be eroded in any event. After a year of political battering, Brown has indicated that he will support “reforms” in the way he runs the Assembly, several of which could diffuse the power he wields.

Brown has also pledged to become more involved in public policy issues in hopes of altering his image as the consummate political operator. But that could also prove difficult with a divided house and an uncooperative Republican leader.

Johnson sought to downplay any likelihood of an ongoing feud, however, saying, “This is a very unusual circumstance, one that I would expect would never be repeated.”

The Republican leader’s tactics already appear to have backfired in at least one case. GOP Assemblyman Statham, in an angry confrontation with Johnson in front of reporters, accused the Republican leader Tuesday of engaging in “blackmail.”

Statham, one of those targeted in the direct-mail campaign, refused to say how he will vote on the speakership. But he told Johnson, “I’m dissatisfied with Willie Brown as Speaker of the Assembly, but I’m infuriated with Ross Johnson for intimidating me.”

Calling Johnson’s actions “unbelievable, outrageous and repulsive,” Statham added: “In all of my political history I have never seen a Republican minority leader as his first act to go out and do a negative hit piece and hurt Republican incumbents.”

Unity Stressed

Johnson, who initiated the confrontation by showing up at press conference called by Statham on an unrelated subject, said he had “no desire whatever” to attack his colleagues but “it is important that Republicans be united in this effort.”

Johnson said there are several Democrats whom Republicans could support for the speakership, but most of the speculation centered on Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon of Alhambra, a member of the dissident Gang of Five that has tried unsuccessfully for nearly a year to topple Brown. Two other members of the group--Assemblymen Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres) and Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista)--have failed in previous attempts to assume Brown’s post.

In an interview, Calderon said he has been trying to gather support, in part, by emphasizing that he would become the Assembly’s first Latino Speaker.

In addition to targeting Statham, Mojonnier and Felando, the mailers sent out by Johnson and the Gang of Five also focused on Democrats Norman Waters of Plymouth, Dominic L. Cortese of San Jose, Steve Clute of Riverside and Assemblyman-elect Ted Lempert of San Mateo County. All of these Democrats won close elections in conservative districts. About $100,000 reportedly was contributed by the state Republican Party for the effort.

The mailers include an unflattering photograph of Brown and a plea to “help pull the plug on Willie Brown.” Among other things, the brochures say of the Speaker: “He calls Gov. Deukmejian ‘a horse’s rear end’ and fights him at every turn.”

Mailers Called ‘Racist’

Asked for a response, Brown called the mailers “racist,” insisting that the photograph had no purpose other than to make sure voters realize he is black. Republican Johnson has also threatened to distribute a second mailer that, according to several sources, asks voters to recall those who support Brown.

Although Brown has been confident of solid Democratic support, other than from the Gang of Five, he has quietly moved to make friends among Republicans as well. Soon after the election, for example, Felando, who has had a close personal relationship with Brown over the years, was moved by the Speaker to a larger Capitol office that had been occupied by Republican Caucus Chairman Dennis Brown of Signal Hill.

Felando did not return a call to The Times. But late Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Johnson said Felando had relented and agreed not to vote for Brown on Monday, thereby canceling plans to send the second mailer to voters in his district. The spokeswoman acknowledged, however, that Felando had not promised to support Johnson’s candidate either.