CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / 46th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Women’s Group Feels Wrath of Dornan

No Republican candidate has ever run against Rep. Robert K. Dornan in his six campaigns for reelection, and when former Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan announced her GOP campaign last week, she learned one reason why.

Within hours, the outspoken and sometimes outrageous congressman from Garden Grove called the White House and the Republican leadership at the Capitol on Thursday to enlist their help in pressuring Ryan’s potential supporters and in trying to drive her from the race.

Then he barged into a Washington reception for WISH List, a newly formed Republican women’s group, at the tony Capitol Hill Club on Thursday night. One by one, Dornan threatened the congresswomen in the group with intraparty war if they chose sides against him. Those who did not attend the event, Dornan tracked down on the House floor.

By the end of the day, whatever support Ryan may have hoped to get from Republican women in Congress appeared to melt away. The elected members in WISH List--an acronym for Women in the Senate and House--recommended that the group adopt a rule saying it will not oppose a Republican incumbent.

WISH List is a nationwide group based in New York that was created last year to help finance campaigns for Republican women candidates who support abortion rights. Ryan’s name was to be submitted to the group for consideration of support.

The group has not picked the races it will target this year, but the congresswomen said for the first time Friday that the choices should be limited to open seats or those belonging to Democrats who oppose abortion rights.

“Obviously, Bob Dornan is a very powerful member of the House,” said Tony Blankley, spokesman for House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). “Everything that can be done would normally be done to persuade somebody not to run against . . . one of our most treasured members.”

Dornan said in an interview that he told the WISH members he could find Republican opponents to challenge their seats if they opposed him. And he said he appealed to their Republican loyalty, especially because a primary challenge could force him to end his role as President Bush’s liaison with the GOP’s conservative wing.

“Who does Judge Ryan think she is to try and hurt the President of the United States?” Dornan asked. “Politics is a dog-eat-dog rotten operation.”

Ryan, 48, a retired Orange County Superior Court judge, filed her campaign papers Friday, saying she was surprised, but undeterred, by the firestorm Dornan generated. Ryan said she would like the support of WISH, but that she made her decision to run before members of the group expressed interest in her campaign.

“Maybe I am totally naive, but I’ve always believed in our democratic system, and one of our foundations is that everyone has the opportunity to run for office,” Ryan said. “I am taken aback that this has created so much controversy. I’m interested in running because I know I have the qualifications and I’m not convinced that it would be hurtful to the party.”

Dornan is seeking reelection in the 46th Congressional District, which includes most of Santa Ana and part of Garden Grove. It is almost evenly split between Democratic and Republican voters and is nearly half Latino.

The episode on Thursday underscores the difficulty any challenger has in taking on an incumbent member of Congress, especially an entrenched veteran such as Dornan. It also forced Dornan to reveal the ferocious campaign arsenal he has built in 14 years as a congressman when he uncloaked his ties to the highest offices of Republican power.

“Bob Dornan is a close, personal friend of the President and we will help him out if he asks us to,” said David Carney, political director of the Bush/Quayle reelection campaign. “We’d be disappointed to see somebody challenge him.”

When Bush was running for President in 1988, Dornan was one of his first supporters who had solid conservative credentials. As a result, he was sent on a nationwide tour to solidify Bush’s right-wing support. Dornan visited 34 states, more than any other campaign surrogate.

This year, he has assumed the same role, making three trips to New Hampshire. Dornan, 58, also claims the all-time record as the most prolific fund-raiser in congressional history with more than $9.5 million raised since he was elected.

It is unclear whether any of the seven Republican congresswomen in WISH List were planning to support Ryan’s campaign before they were confronted by Dornan. Ryan’s name had not been submitted to the group and some WISH members did not know who she was, although she fit their criteria as a Republican woman who supports abortion rights.

But Dornan, who opposes abortion rights, said that after his contacts Thursday, he received promises from all seven congresswomen that they will not oppose him.

“I said to him . . . I enjoy working with pro-life Republicans in the U.S. Congress and I don’t want to do to them what for too long was done to us, and that is an attempt to shut us out of the party,” said Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.). “There are a lot of races I think that WISH can get involved in without targeting incumbent Republicans.”

Rep. Marge Roukema (R-N.J.) said: “Bob, I agree with you and it was not my intention to have WISH support candidates running against incumbents.”

The other elected members of WISH that Dornan said he talked with are Reps. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), Olympia J. Snowe (R-Me.), Constance A. Morella (R-Md.), Jan Meyers (R-Kan.) and Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum (R-Kan.).

Except for her position as a judge, Ryan has never run for public office. Congressional candidates are not required to live in their districts and Ryan said she will not move from her home in Yorba Linda for the campaign.

If Ryan launches a viable campaign, Dornan said he will be forced to spend time defending his office in the June 2 primary. But he said he was confident that he will win reelection.

“It’s just ludicrous and silly and destructive to any future she would have in the party,” he said. “I’m not going to worry about it very much because she’s not going anywhere.”