HUNTINGTON BEACH : Election Rival Begins Rohrabacher Attack

Democratic congressional candidate Guy C. Kimbrough kicked off his campaign Wednesday at the Huntington Beach pier by attacking the environmental record of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Lomita).

Kimbrough, a professor at Mt. San Jacinto College who lost to Rohrabacher in 1988, criticized his rival for supporting an increase in offshore oil drilling in the wake of Orange County’s recent tanker spill. Kimbrough said he opposes any additional drilling off the California coast.

“As usual, he misses the big picture,” Kimbrough said. “His position is wrongheaded and shortsighted.”

Rohrabacher declined to comment on Kimbrough’s charges Thursday. “My position will be that until the primary is over, I will not be answering to charges made,” he said. He will respond to his Democratic opponents, he explained, only after one of them wins the party’s nomination in the June 5 primary.

Kimbrough and computer operator James Cavuoto are seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge the freshman Rohrabacher. The predominantly Republican 42nd Congressional District straddles the boundary between Orange and Los Angeles counties, stretching along the coast from Huntington Beach to Rancho Palos Verdes.

Rohrabacher defeated Kimbrough in the 1988 general election 64% to 33%. Kimbrough raised only $11,889, compared to almost $500,000 for Rohrabacher.