Democratic Delegates Back Pringle Recall Effort

Declaring “never again” in English and “nunca jamas” in Spanish, the California Democratic Party agreed Sunday to support an effort to recall Republican Assemblyman Curt Pringle, whose victorious 1988 campaign included the use of uniformed security guards to monitor Santa Ana Latinos as they went to the polls.

Party delegates, meeting in the state capital for their annual convention, agreed by acclamation to provide up to $55,000 to Orange County Democrats to try to recall Pringle or prepare to unseat the Garden Grove Republican in the 1990 election.

The decision was the party’s first official action under former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., who was elected to a 4-year term as state party chairman Saturday night.

“The hiring of those guards was an outrageous action, and the party condemned it unanimously,” Michael G. Balmages, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee, said after the vote. “We had support from every sector of the party.”

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), who oversaw the campaign of Pringle’s Democratic opponent, Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach, said the action puts Pringle on notice that he will have to work full-time to hold the central county seat he won Nov. 8 by just 867 votes.

“If I were Curt Pringle, I’d start putting a campaign together,” Katz said. “I think this means the party wants to go ahead as long as the resources are there to back up the commitment.”

The poll guards were hired by the county Republican Party to monitor 20 heavily Latino Santa Ana precincts. GOP officials have said the guards were hired because of rumors that Democrats intended to bus in non-citizens to vote illegally for Thierbach.

The guards were removed at the request of Registrar of Voters Donald F. Tanney, who received complaints that some of the guards were harassing voters and even sitting inside the polling places and handling ballots.

FBI and D.A. Investigating

The FBI and the county district attorney’s office are investigating the incident to determine whether laws were broken. A separate, civil lawsuit aimed at overturning the election result is pending in federal court in Santa Ana.

Pringle could not be reached for comment Sunday. But, anticipating the Democrats’ action, he said earlier in the week that he would take recall talk in stride.

“I think this is just another one of their partisan political games,” Pringle said. “They are just trying to keep the fires burning.”

County GOP Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes took the opportunity to fire the first salvo at the state Democrats for electing as their new leader Brown, still the favorite whipping boy of conservative Republicans, and he also took a swipe at Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

“We beat Willie Brown on Nov. 8, 1988, and we will beat Jerry Brown if he desires to enter this issue,” Fuentes said. “The people of Orange County have repeatedly rejected Jerry Brown and his arch-liberal policies, and I see no reason why they would empathize with him on this issue.”

The 72nd District, in central Orange County, has been a key election battleground since 12-year incumbent Democrat Richard Robinson of Garden Grove gave up the seat to run for Congress--unsuccessfully--in 1986. Republican Richard E. Longshore of Santa Ana held the seat until his death last year, after which the GOP picked Pringle to try to keep Democrats from regaining it.

The Democrats’ official action Sunday amounted to approving a “statement of policy” that would grant $5,000 to study the feasibility of mounting a recall of Pringle and another $5,000 to any candidate endorsed by the state party if a recall qualified for the ballot in the 72nd District.

The party also agreed to provide up to $45,000 in matching funds to help county Democrats publicize the guards issue, register new voters and reach out to minorities.

Party officials said Sunday that they need to collect signatures of 13,000 registered voters--20% of the votes cast in the November, 1988, contest--to qualify a recall bid for the ballot.

All of this was contingent upon the party’s executive committee finding that “adequate funds are available” after an audit of party finances is performed. The audit, and that caveat, were proposed by Jerry Brown, who at a press conference Sunday said he supported the “spirit” of the anti-Pringle effort.

“We will actively make this an issue,” he said. “As to whether or not it should go to a recall, that requires further investigation.”

On Saturday, Brown said while addressing a breakfast session of county Democrats that the party needs “to keep this issue of voter intimidation alive so that people do not forget that Republicans stop at nothing, even the violation of the fundamental right of voting, in their desperate effort.”

Cranston, Davis, Van de Kamp

Also endorsing the recall effort were Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) and two possible candidates for governor, state Controller Gray Davis and Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp.

“I’m going to help you in any way possible to make sure we get Curt Pringle out of Sacramento as soon as possible,” said Van de Kamp, who was accused last week by Republicans of trying to further his political career by pursuing criminal forgery charges against Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange). Lewis was indicted by a Sacramento grand jury in the mailing of phony presidential endorsement letters by Republicans in 1986.

The county’s Democrats worked single-mindedly on the Pringle issue over the weekend, telling everyone who would listen that the district had been “stolen” by Republican dirty tricks.

Flyers Call for Removal

By Sunday, the 160 delegates from Orange County, sporting red-and-white lapel buttons saying nunca jamas, had distributed about 10,000 copies of two flyers decrying the GOP action and calling on Democrats to unite in an effort to remove Pringle.

The money conditionally approved by the Democrats would be only a drop in the bucket for a recall effort, which would probably cost each side at least $1 million. But County Chairman Balmages said the support would help keep the issue alive in the county.

“We’re going to do a recall if it’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We’re not going to waste our time if the support isn’t there. But we’re going to go after Pringle in a recall or in 1990.”