Badham Says No to Unity Pledge : Politics: Candidate trying to unseat Assemblyman Gil Ferguson sees GOP’s “11th commandment” as incumbent insurance.

Orange County Republican Party Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes says it is the local GOP’s 11th commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.”

Phyllis Badham, who is trying to unseat incumbent Assemblyman Gil Ferguson in the 70th District, speaks of it in less reverential terms. “I’m going to abolish it when I’m elected,” she said this week.

It is the county Republican Party’s code of ethics, a six-paragraph document in which candidates in contested Republican races pledge, among other things, to conduct their campaigns “in the most ethical and moral tradition, maximizing the opportunity for a Republican victory in the General Election.”

Badham has refused to sign the pledge, saying it is an unnecessary scrap of paper. The issue arose Monday night at the county Republican Party Central Committee’s monthly meeting, during which Badham was pressed repeatedly on her refusal to sign.

“She has not discussed the issue (of) why she has not signed this pledge, and I think it should be addressed before she leaves tonight,” said sergeant-at-arms Bob Ray after Badham briefly addressed the 80 or so party loyalists in attendance.

Badham returned to the podium and noted that her opponent had signed the pledge but still had been quoted in newspaper articles attacking her personally.

“He has called me an ‘airhead,’ and that was quoted in the Sacramento Bee,” she said. “I don’t . . . find that ethical practice, and I’d like to know why he signed it if he can’t conduct an ethical campaign.”

After Badham’s initial explanation, Ray questioned her again, saying he had not asked her about Ferguson but wanted to know why she had not signed.

When Badham answered that she took the pledge to mean that incumbent Republican officeholders should not be challenged, she was heard groans and boos.

“My understanding of the code of ethics is . . . ‘Thou shall not challenge a fellow Republican,’ ” she said. “Within the party in Orange County, there’s absolutely no reason to have a code of ethics form. . . . If my opponent signed it, but can’t abide by it, I don’t know what good it does, anyway.”

Ferguson was invited to Monday’s meeting but did not attend, instead sending a letter explaining that business in the Capitol prevented him from doing so. In a recent interview, however, he said he would refuse to debate Badham until she signs the code.

“If you’re going to run . . . as a Republican in this county, you sign the pledge,” he said.

Fuentes called it “unusual” for a candidate not to sign the pledge and said the only other Republican candidate in the county who has not returned the pledge is 58th Assembly District candidate Peter von Elten.

But he added that no one has complained of campaign ethics violations in any race so far.

Badham, 30, a moderate conservative and public relations manager for Ricoh Electronics, is a decided underdog against Ferguson, 67. One of the most conservative legislators in Sacramento, Ferguson has a strong base of volunteer support in his district, which includes most of the county from Newport Beach south.

Badham was in hostile territory Monday night when she accepted the invitation to speak to some of the most committed party faithful, including many Ferguson supporters. Near the the meeting room exit, someone had taped a photocopied newspaper article detailing a lawsuit filed against Badham by her former campaign consultant.

But the daughter of former Rep. Robert Badham did not seem to let that bother her. “I may not win by much, but I’m definitely going to win on June 5,” she told the crowd.