VENTURA : Buchanan Backers Open Another Office

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan opened an office in Ventura on Monday, said Gary Taylor, the campaign’s operations director in Ventura.

Taylor said he believes that the Ventura area has many conservative Republicans who will favor Buchanan in the June 2 Republican primary because they are fed up with President George Bush.

“We wanted to have a presence for Republicans, many of whom are dissatisfied with the president,” Taylor said.

He said the campaign has planned a March 17 open house for the new office at 3787 Transport Road. The campaign opened an office in Thousand Oaks three weeks ago.

Buchanan has canceled a speaking engagement Friday due to scheduling conflicts, said Katherine Dempster, the campaign’s Ventura County coordinator. She said the campaign hopes to bring Buchanan to the county in mid-April, but no firm date has been set.

Although the Buchanan campaign has not been overwhelmed with volunteers in Ventura County, Dempster said she receives about a dozen calls a day from interested voters. “We’re still in the process of putting a volunteer base together,” she said.

Taylor said he is confident that Buchanan, who is lagging substantially behind Bush, will not drop out of the race before California Republicans cast their votes June 2. “Regardless of the delegate count against him, we are confident he will stay in the race until the California primary,” Taylor said.