CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: ATTORNEY GENERAL : Victims-Rights Activists Back Lungren

Stressing his tough anti-crime posture, Republican state attorney general candidate Dan Lungren on Tuesday showcased several crime victims’ advocates who praised him while questioning the crime-fighting credentials of his Democratic opponent, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith.

Lungren “is a man of character and . . . commitment,” said Collene Campbell, the sister of slain motor sports promoter Mickey Thompson and a leader of the Crime Victims California Justice Committee. “I’m so proud to know Dan, and we as crime victims have very little to be proud of.”

Campbell, speaking at a news conference, said she served “in the trenches” with Lungren, a former five-term congressman, to help win passage of Proposition 115, the sweeping anti-crime initiative approved by voters in June. In contrast, she said, Smith, who also supported Proposition 115, never made himself available to meet with her.

A Smith spokeswoman said Tuesday that the San Francisco prosecutor would be happy to confer with Campbell, who now heads a 400-member group called Memory of Victims Everywhere. “If she appeared at his office at a time when he was busy with district attorney’s work, it’s possible he couldn’t meet with her at that time,” spokeswoman Betsy Hely said.

In recent weeks, Smith has relentlessly attacked Lungren for his staunch anti-abortion stance as well as his repeated votes in Congress against anti-pollution legislation. Lungren has counterattacked by stressing the key role he played in the passage of criminal reform laws, including the Comprehensive Crime Cotrol Act of 1984, which strengthened prison sentences and allowed authorities to seize the assets of drug dealers.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. James Cloninger, a co-author of Proposition 115, questioned the extent of Smith’s involvement in bringing the anti-crime initiative to the ballot.

During a joint appearance with Lungren last month, Smith said he had helped draft Proposition 115, which is designed to speed trial proceedings and expand the number of crimes covered by the death penalty. But Cloninger said Tuesday he had no recollection of Smith participating in the drafting process.

But Alameda County Dist. Atty. John J. Meehan, in a statement by Smith’s campaign later Tuesday, said he recalled that Smith helped work on revisions of the proposed initiative in a California District Attorney’s Assn. committee.