Solid Support Finally Cracked : Ouster: Three of Ross Johnson’s Orange County GOP colleagues joined the move to dump him and another abstained.

Since he arrived here as a tax-busting freshman Assemblyman more than a decade ago, Ross Johnson could always count on the help of his conservative Republican cohorts from Orange County.

But on Wednesday, the typically solid support that helped vault Johnson to his party’s top post in the Assembly cracked. Three legislators from Orange County joined 13 others to dump Johnson, of La Habra, as the Republican Assembly leader.

Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) teamed with colleagues Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach) and Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad) to oppose Johnson. Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) abstained. Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley) was the only member of the Orange County delegation to cast a vote in favor of retaining Johnson.

Much like their split vote, the Orange County delegation was decidedly divided over just what the toppling of Johnson will mean for everything from local politics to the county’s clout in Sacramento.

“It worries me,” said state Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange), a close Johnson ally in the Assembly until he was elected to the upper house. “It’s a setback for Orange County. Whenever you have a person in the leadership and that person is replaced . . . it’s a setback for the county.”

But others were less concerned.

“It won’t make a lot of difference,” Frizzelle suggested. “I think we’ll all still have a significant influence. And there will always be all those Orange County votes. The party can’t get along without us. That’s the bottom line.”

Allen was perhaps the most sanguine of her Orange County colleagues after the Republican caucus met in a cramped room in the Capitol and ousted Johnson after 2 1/2 years as leader.

“In terms of our philosophy of conservatism, I have no quarrel with Ross at all,” Allen said. “My concern was more with the methodology and manner of his leadership.”

Allen said she was most troubled because Johnson pushed to spotlight and financially support certain Republican candidates during primaries instead of waiting for the general election against Democrats.

He also blocked access to the governor’s office for all but a select few and failed to widely distribute perquisites such as staff help, committee appointments and reelection help, she said.

“Ross Johnson never gave me any support,” Allen said, adding that it was simply “time for him to go.”

Mays also said he voted against Johnson because of leadership style, not philosophical differences. Mays has made it no secret in recent months that he thought Johnson squandered conservative negotiating power during the long budget debacle by not coming out with a caucus spending plan as early as January.

Mays faulted his Orange County colleague for reacting to budget proposals and making a stand against taxes and for spending cuts when it was too late.

“From January on, I wanted to put together an Assembly Republican caucus plan, a budget plan to throw together for negotiations,” he said. “I come from private industry, and you just don’t go to the negotiating table without a plan.

“I brought it up several times but the leadership didn’t do that.”

Johnson, however, invoked Mays’ name in giving what he thought was the real reason for the caucus coup: ambition. Proposition 140, which limits Assembly terms to six years, fueled the impatience to have a new leader, Johnson said.

“Tom Mays has six years to show what he can do,” Johnson said. “Every day that Ross Johnson is a Republican leader, Tom Mays isn’t a leader.”

Ferguson blamed Johnson’s downfall on his failure to derail the monumental, $7.6 billion in tax and fee increases imposed by the Legislature--the sort of government money grab that is anathema to many Orange County voters.

Johnson also failed to turn to many of his conservative colleagues when two close lieutenants turned against him during the budget fight.

“He should have drawn us close to him,” Ferguson said. “He makes bad decisions. . . . All through his leadership he didn’t make the tough decisions when it came to people.”