State GOP Chief Denies Serious Split in Party

The California Republican Party chairman, a conservative from Modesto, attempted Friday to minimize the prospects of a crippling split within the party over Gov. Pete Wilson’s deficit-cutting tax program and the overthrow of an anti-tax conservative this week as head of the Assembly Republican Caucus.

While he frequently differs with Wilson on issues, GOP Chairman Jim Dignan said conservatives who are disgruntled over a $2.3-billion income tax increase on the wealthy must understand the magnitude of the crisis Wilson faced in trying to resolve a $14.3-billion budget deficit.

Dignan, commenting during a breakfast meeting of political writers, acknowledged that “a lot of Republicans are unhappy.” But, he added, “I’m hopeful the people will have a better understanding of the true nature of the crisis” and the fact that Wilson was not responsible for the massive deficit.

Dignan refused to characterize the change in Republican Assembly leadership as a reflection of growing power on behalf of GOP moderates and a decline of conservative clout. He said that the new Assembly Republican leader, Bill Jones of Fresno, had long sought the job and that the defeated chairman, conservative Ross Johnson of La Habra, had barely survived previous efforts to oust him.

Even though Jones supported Wilson on the income tax issue, his election does not necessarily represent a fatal division between Republican moderates and conservatives, Dignan said. “Jones is a good unifier,” Dignan added. “He will bring everyone together. He will be a breath of fresh air for the Assembly.”

As the GOP leader, Johnson held minority Republicans together in opposition to Democratic-crafted budgets and any tax increases, providing Wilson with his most severe political problem. Jones was one of nine Republicans who bolted this week to support the governor’s compromise plan to resolve the budget-tax impasse.

Moderates have appeared to be on the rise in recent years within California’s Republican ranks. Wilson, who calls himself a conservative despite moderate stands on issues such as abortion and the environment, won the GOP nomination for governor without opposition last year and then appointed a like-minded Republican, John Seymour, to his Senate seat.

But Dignan said Wilson could not have won the governorship without solid conservative voter support. Dignan’s own election at the state Republican convention in Sacramento in January represented a triumph for conservative GOP activists.

Dignan rejected the notion that the conservative movement, steeped in the 1978 Proposition 13 tax revolt, was on the wane. But he acknowledged that the Republican Party in California is growing and said, “When it gets larger, you’re looking at a bigger tent.” As the party grows, he added, “there may be more moderates.”

The party does face potentially divisive primary battles next spring for both U.S. Senate seats. The campaigns are shaping up along classic moderate-vs.-conservative lines. Seymour is being challenged by conservative Rep. William E. Dannemeyer of Fullerton. Conservative television commentator Bruce Herschensohn of Los Angeles and moderate Rep. Thomas Campbell of Stanford are the declared candidates for the six-year term of the seat being relinquished by Sen. Alan Cranston, a Democrat.

Dignan said he recently met with Seymour and Dannemeyer and said each pledged to support the successful primary opponent against the Democratic nominee in the fall. Dignan plans similar peacekeeping meetings with Herschensohn and Campbell and any other potential candidates, he said.