Lungren Announces His Campaign Team

Former Orange County Congressman Dan Lungren, the only announced Republican candidate for attorney general, named his campaign team Tuesday.

Ken Khachigian, a San Clemente lawyer and longtime adviser to Gov. George Deukmejian, will serve as principle strategist.

Khachigian was a speech writer for President Reagan and a senior adviser to Vice President Dan Quayle during the 1988 presidential campaign. He also served as a consultant and senior adviser to Sen. Pete Wilson in his 1988 re-election campaign.

Lungren represented the 42nd District in Congress from 1979 to 1989, when he decided not to seek reelection. The district, which includes Long Beach and parts of northwest Orange County, now is represented by former White House speech writer Dana Rohrabacher, also a Republican.

Lungren also hired Don Ringe, a Washington media consultant who worked on Sen. Robert Dole’s 1988 presidential bid as well as the campaigns of Florida Gov. Bob Martinez and Texas Gov. Bill Clements.

Lungren’s pollster will be Dick Dresner, who also is conducting polls for Wilson’s campaign for governor and the Crime Victims Justice Reform Act initiative.

“The mission that my team has accepted is the re-taking of the attorney general’s office from the liberal Democrats, who have held it hostage for eight long years,” Lungren said in a statement.

Lungren is running unopposed for the GOP nomination to replace Attorney General John K. Van de Kamp, who is stepping down to run for governor. Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner and San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith are battling for the Democratic nomination.