CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS 44th DISTRICT : Rivals Say Bates Weakened by Ethics Issue

As Rep. Jim Bates seeks reelection in the 44th Congressional District, there is little surprise that the major--some might argue the only --issue in the campaign deals with Bates’ reprimand by the House Ethics Committee last year on sexual harassment charges.

What was unanticipated about the race, however, was that the first wave of attacks besetting the four-term San Diego Democrat would come, not from the Republicans--whose criticism was predictable--but rather from a fellow Democrat who hopes to transform the June 5 primary into a referendum on Bates’ morality.

Running on the slogan “The Democrat We Can Respect,” lawyer Byron Georgiou concedes that his chances in his uphill campaign hinge largely on his ability to convince residents of the heavily Democratic district that Bates’ behavior makes him undeserving of their respect and their votes.

Bates’ effectiveness, Georgiou contends, has been “drastically reduced” since the House ethics panel rebuked him last October for sexually harassing two female aides and for improperly using his congressional staff for political purposes. That has left Bates “very vulnerable to a well-financed Republican campaign,” Georgiou says, arguing that the Democrats’ chances of retaining the seat in November will be better if Bates is not the party’s nominee.

Dismissing Georgiou’s challenge as simply “a good tune-up for the fall,” Bates predicts that the “so-called ethics issue” will leave him “a little bloodied but still standing” in both the primary and the November general election.

Noting that the Republicans “threw everything they had at me” in 1988 when the sexual harassment charges surfaced late in that year’s campaign, Bates adds: “If they didn’t get me then, they’re not going to get me this time.”

The Republicans, however, clearly do not share that dim view of their prospects, as evidenced by the fact that five candidates are competing for the GOP nomination in a district in which the Democrats hold a daunting 54%-34% edge among registered voters.

“Normally, the Republican nomination in this district is worth about as much as a case of smallpox,” said Chris Nelson, the campaign manager of GOP candidate Joseph Ghougassian. “When five Republicans are trying to get the nomination in a district designed to be Republican-proof, that tells you something.”

Given their choice, the Republicans would prefer to run against Bates, viewing him as a more inviting target in November. Plus, with Bates and Georgiou planning to spend more than $300,000 each in the primary, which has already taken on a strongly negative tone, the Republicans gleefully hope the Democrats’ race will be a divisive one that, among other things, dissipates the victor’s financial resources.

“If nothing else, Georgiou will force Jim Bates to spend his money and start at ground zero after the primary,” said City Hall lobbyist Jim Lantry, who announced his candidacy the day after Bates’ 1988 reelection.

“I don’t think Byron Georgiou has a chance,” added GOP candidate Randall (Duke) Cunningham, a much-decorated former Navy pilot. “But I relish him beating up on Jim Bates.”

Much as the Republicans would like to present a high-road contrast to the Democrats, they, too, have had increasing difficulty obeying former President Reagan’s so-called 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.

As each tries to distinguish himself from the crowded five-candidate pack, the Republicans’ comments have become more barbed, chipping away at the campaign’s initial comity. Lantry, for example, often downplays Cunningham’s military background by saying: “You can’t fly an A-4 through the halls of Congress.”

Ghougassian aide Nelson, meanwhile, calls Lantry the “No. 1 toxics lobbyist in San Diego,” a reference to his work on behalf of a hazardous waste disposal firm. And Lantry says of Ghougassian’s service as former U.S. ambassador to the Middle East nation of Qatar: “It’s an interesting background, considering that not many people are going to go to Qatar--or want to go there. I’m not quite sure how that prepares you for Congress.”

The Republican field is rounded out by two long shots: construction consultant Eric Epifano and retired firefighter Kenny Harrell, both of whom have run low-profile campaigns.

The candidate who can expect to encounter the most sniping, however, undeniably is Bates, a former San Diego city councilman and county supervisor who has been overwhelmingly reelected every two years since easily winning the newly created congressional seat in 1982.

Two years ago, in a campaign dominated by the sexual harassment and related charges, Bates won by a convincing 60%-37% margin in the 44th District, which covers downtown and southern San Diego, extending from Linda Vista south to Otay, and also includes Lemon Grove, National City and Chula Vista.

Though Bates characterizes the incident as “old news” likely to have even less impact on this year’s election than in 1988, Georgiou argues that voters two years ago gave Bates “the benefit of the doubt” because the harassment charges then were simply unconfirmed allegations. That is no longer the case, Georgiou stresses, in light of the House Ethics Committee’s sanction against Bates--a factor that prompted the National Organization for Women to endorse Georgiou over Bates.

“Having been convicted by the ethics committee, Bates can’t say again that these are just politically motivated accusations,” said Georgiou, who dropped out of last month’s special 78th Assembly District race to challenge Bates.

The ethics panel’s action stemmed from complaints lodged by two of Bates’ female staffers who alleged that Bates often embraced them, requested daily hugs from female aides, during which he often patted their derrieres and frequently made sexually suggestive remarks or gestures. In addition, they claimed that Bates expected staffers in his Washington congressional office to solicit campaign contributions, a violation of House rules.

In imposing the lightest possible punishment upon Bates, the ethics committee ordered him to send personal, written apologies to the two women. Bates also agreed to hire a professional consulting firm to develop sensitivity training for him and others in his office concerning attitudes toward female employees.

As he has from the beginning, Bates attributes the controversy to “some kidding and flirting around that sometimes was inappropriate . . . but was never as sensational as some made it out to be.”

Hoping to keep Bates on the defensive, Georgiou last week accused him of abusing the House franking privilege by mailing letters at taxpayer expense to about 400 politically active women in which he apologized for the sexual harassment charges. In response, Bates noted that letter fell within House guidelines, which prohibit mass mailings of more than 500 pieces within two months of an election.

On most “fundamental, core issues important to Democrats,” the 41-year-old Georgiou acknowledges that he and Bates agree, with one notable exception being the death penalty, which the challenger favors and Bates has voted against on some occasions. But Georgiou hopes that their philosophical similarity, rather than prompting Democrats to question the wisdom of deserting an incumbent, could enhance his own bid.

“What it tells Democrats is that they wouldn’t be sacrificing anything on the issues that are important to them if they elect me instead of Jim Bates,” said Georgiou, the former legal affairs adviser to then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. Many Democratic leaders, however, regard Georgiou’s candidacy as an act of disloyalty. Bates has long been one of the local party’s most dependable elected officials in assisting fund-raising, voter registration and other projects.

“I think Byron may be burning some bridges,” said former San Diego Democratic Party Chairman Irma Munoz.

Perhaps Bates’ major asset in his effort to again weather the ethics controversy is his unflagging attention to nuts-and-bolts campaigning. Even in non-election years, the 48-year-old Bates returns to San Diego on most weekends, spending hours politicking door-to-door and attending endless community events. Those efforts, combined with the considerable fund-raising and name-recognition advantages of incumbency, have paid major dividends throughout Bates’ career.

As highlights of his record, Bates points to his much-publicized role in exposing military procurement excesses, his sponsorship of key health and environmental legislation and helping to secure funding for expansion of the San Diego Trolley, to address the border sewage problem and for other local programs.

Though overshadowed by the Democrats’ contest, the Republican primary also has drawn unusually strong interest in a district in which the November election typically is a race in name only. Former Navy pilot Cunningham entered the primary as arguably the best-known GOP contender, thanks largely to his former directorship of Miramar Naval Air Station’s fighter pilot school. A staunch conservative who says he represents “the traditional values . . . lacking in Jim Bates,” Cunningham capitalizes on his celebrity at candidate forums by distributing autographed photos of himself in his flight jacket. A Cunningham brochure also showed him with “Top Gun” star Tom Cruise--a photo later pulled when Cruise’s agent objected.

A former Del Mar resident who moved to Chula Vista to enter the race, Cunningham was a high school teacher and coach before entering the Navy, and now heads a small company that markets aviation products. “I’ve never failed at anything, whether it was as a coach or teacher or at Top Gun or the Pentagon,” said Cunningham, 48. Ghougassian, born in Egypt of Armenian parents, is a former philosophy professor at the University of San Diego who, in 1981, joined the Reagan Administration, where he helped develop policies on immigration and refugees. He also served as Peace Corps director in the Yemen Arab Republic, and, from 1985 through 1989, was the American ambassador to Qatar.

After returning to San Diego, Ghougassian moved to Chula Vista, where he had lived in the 1960s.

Fluent in six languages, Ghougassian, 46, argues that his naturalized citizenship could attract strong bipartisan support from the 44th District’s large ethnic populations.

Lantry, a 36-year-old former San Diego City Council staffer who started a government consulting firm after leaving City Hall, has tried to cast himself as the moderate in the Republican primary best positioned to attract crossover Democratic votes in November.

Among his policy differences with his two major GOP opponents, Lantry is an abortion rights advocate, favors a ban on assault weapons and a 15-day waiting period for the purchase of any gun and supports the city’s Human Dignity Ordinance, a gay-rights measure prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment and private business.

The two other Republicans in the race, Epifano and Harrell, seem likely to be little more than political footnotes.

Harrell, a 52-year-old retired Spring Valley firefighter, refuses to accept campaign contributions, preferring to distribute hand-made literature, decorated by children, to back up his support for day care and education programs.

Epifano, a Mission Valley construction consultant, also had raised less than $5,000 as of March 31. By virtue of being unopposed in their respective primaries, two minor party candidates--Libertarian John Wallner and Peace and Freedom Party member Donna White--are guaranteed spots on the November ballot.