Ex-U.S. Treasurer Angela Buchanan to Oppose Hayes for State Office

Setting the stage for a costly primary fight, former U.S. Treasurer Angela M. (Bay) Buchanan barnstormed California Tuesday to announce her candidacy for the Republican nomination for state treasurer.

Buchanan, 40, an Irvine resident, flew to Sacramento, Fresno, Burbank and San Diego to promote her challenge to incumbent Treasurer Thomas Hayes, a Republican. Hayes, 43, was appointed to his post by Gov. George Deukmejian last year following the death of Jesse Unruh.

Calling herself “the underdog” to the governor’s candidate, Buchanan nevertheless dismissed suggestions that she was defying Deukmejian.

Deukmejian’s Not Her Foe

“I’m not running against George Deukmejian,” Buchanan said at a press conference in Fresno. “If he (Deukmejian) wants to run for treasurer, I’ll be glad to step out,” Buchanan said.

Deukmejian and other Republican leaders had hoped to avoid the primary fight that now appears likely. Many GOP insiders were unhappy that Deukmejian had not chosen someone with stronger party credentials than Hayes to succeed Unruh in the only constitutional office that has fallen vacant during Deukmejian’s term in office--and the only one aside from Deukmejian’s now held by a Republican.

Hayes, the nonpartisan state auditor general for 10 years, had purposefully stayed clear of party politics during his tenure. His job required him to make recommendations to the Legislature and governor regarding state government operations. He registered as a Republican when he was appointed treasurer.

In an interview Tuesday, Buchanan avoided attacking Hayes’ record, but sharply questioned his party credentials.

“There is no reason for conservatives to mount a campaign on behalf of Tom Hayes. He has never lifted a finger for the (conservative) movement,” Buchanan said.

Whoever wins the GOP primary is expected to face Kathleen Brown, the leading Democratic candidate, in the 1990 general election. Brown is the sister of former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and daughter of former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown Sr.

“I believe I can beat Kathleen Brown. I can keep this office for Republicans,” Buchanan said in Sacramento. Buchanan herself is the sister of a political figure, conservative Washington commentator Patrick Buchanan, who also served in the White House during the Reagan and Nixon administrations.

“A run of Jerry Brown’s sister against Pat Buchanan’s will bring national attention and national money,” Angela Buchanan said Tuesday, estimating that she will need up to $1.5 million for the primary alone.

Should Buchanan and Brown both win their parties’ nominations, it will be the first time in California history that two women have faced each other in a general election for a state constitutional office. Secretary of State March Fong Eu and former Treasurer Ivy Baker Priest--who coincidentally also was a U.S. treasurer before she ran for the state post--are the only two women to have been elected to statewide office, according to Caren Daniels Meade of the secretary of state’s office.

Buchanan is expected to be able to raise money statewide and nationally for her campaign because of her former position as U.S. treasurer and her extensive national Republican connections. At 30, she was named in 1979 as national treasurer of Reagan’s presidential campaign. In 1986 she managed the U.S. Senate campaign of Los Angeles commentator Bruce Herschensohn, a fellow conservative who came in second for the Republican nomination.

Buchanan has hired Washington consultant Roger Stone and pollster Lance Tarrance for her effort. She pledged Tuesday to refuse donations from anyone who does any business with the treasurer’s office.