ELECTIONS / 44TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Novice Runs Aloof but Well-Connected Campaign

Pasadena insurance broker Bill Hoge has never been elected to office, or even been a candidate.

Even so, several of his opponents in the crowded Republican primary for the newly created 44th Assembly District complain that he is running a distant, above-the-fray campaign typical of a longtime incumbent.

Although he is less well-known than several of his rivals, he has appeared at only two of seven candidate forums held so far. In addition, he has a 2-to-1 fund-raising lead over his closest opponent, having received donations from several legislators and political action committees around the state.

“Bill Hoge is running as if he is an anointed incumbent,” said Lee Prentiss, a Los Angeles Police Department detective and a former South Pasadena city councilman who is running against Hoge.

Candidate Barbara Pieper, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Education and former La Canada Flintridge city councilwoman, said his failure to attend most of candidate forums makes Hoge’s campaign “sort of a stealth candidacy.”

Several of his opponents say Hoge’s success at fund raising, as well as his apparent confidence, is the result of endorsements from Assemblymen Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Monrovia) and Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), each of whom formerly represented portions of the new 44th District, which arcs from San Marino to Sunland.

The endorsements by the two longtime conservative legislators surprised and rankled local Republican activists, as well as others running in the 10-candidate field that includes a school district trustee and three former city council members, as well as veteran party activists.

Critics say they had expected Mountjoy and Nolan to stay out of the June 2 primary race. The two legislators have taken the candidate selection out of the hands of district voters and turned it over to statewide political action committees and lobbyists, candidates say.

Ironically, the criticisms of Hoge by the rest of the field may even be helping to solidify his position as front-runner with the frequent mention of his endorsements and campaign strategy.

Campaign finance reports filed last week show Hoge was the only candidate to have tapped into resources from beyond the district, one measure of the influence of Nolan and Mountjoy.

Hoge acknowledged that he expected the support of the two legislators to help him: “If people were supporting Nolan and Mountjoy financially, I would hope they would do the same for me, because I am clearly the candidate against government abuse and waste.”

But he disputed the contention that he is campaigning as if he had the race wrapped up.

“Every waking moment I’ve got is spent meeting constituents in the district,” he said. “I don’t know how better to campaign than meeting with people who can vote for me.”

The Republican nominee will face one of three Democrats and a lone Libertarian candidate in the November election.

Although some critics believe the endorsements could actually turn voters off, others worry that they give Hoge, a staunch conservative who backs tax cuts and gun owners’ rights, an undeserved advantage.

“We have some very fine candidates in this campaign and, being an activist in the community, it is difficult for me to make a selection,” said Elaine Klock, a prominent Altadena Republican.

Referring to Mountjoy and Nolan, she said: “I told both of them that I didn’t feel they should become involved in the race.”

Bill Ukropina, a Pasadena resident and chairman of the local chapter of the California Lincoln Clubs, agreed.

“I haven’t talked to anybody yet, among active Republicans, who isn’t disappointed” that the two legislators made an endorsement in the contest, Ukropina said.

“There are a lot of very good candidates who have done a lot of volunteer work, and given a lot of money to Republican causes, and by endorsing one candidate I think they are really pushing aside a lot of people,” he said.

Mountjoy defended his endorsement of Hoge, saying he was obligated to recommend to his former constituents a successor.

“I don’t have a problem with any of these folks--they’re all good people,” he said, referring to the primary field. “It’s just that the type of person we need in Sacramento is someone to stop the tide of higher taxes . . . and of all of these folks, I believe that Bill Hoge will be the guy who will stand on his own two feet and not cave in to special interests.”

In a statement, Nolan also championed Hoge’s conservative views. “Bill Hoge has the ability and the deep commitment to make a vital contribution to our conservative agenda,” he said.

At a time when anti-incumbent sentiment seems to be spreading like a fever across the nation, Hoge is anything but apologetic about the endorsements.

“I don’t mind at all being supported by incumbents who have fought the bureaucratic system in Sacramento,” said Hoge, whose campaign literature touts his anti-tax stand. “Those two legislators have been known as fighters against tax increases and government waste.”

Although never elected, Hoge has been a party activist. He is a member of the executive committees of the party’s county and state central committees and also serves on the state party’s platform and rules committees. He is a past president of the conservative California Republican Assembly and, in 1986, chaired the Southern California campaign to oust liberal state Supreme Court Justice Rose Bird.

Steve Frank, also a former president of the California Republican Assembly, the state’s largest Republican grass-roots organization, said Hoge has been allied with the two legislators on issues ranging from their backing of Proposition 13 property tax cuts to a range of bills promoting so-called family values. When he headed the Republican group, Frank said, Hoge developed support for legislation initiated by conservatives.

“Bill Hoge has rolled up his sleeves and worked for the cause,” said Frank, a Simi Valley-based consultant for conservative causes. “He has earned those endorsements.”

But Hoge’s opponents say his party activism alone does not make him an automatic choice for Republicans, especially in a field that includes experienced officeholders.

The other candidates in the field include former Pasadena City Councilman Stephen Acker; Roy Begley, a writer active in local Republican organizations; Bob Bell, a Shadow Hills computer consultant; T.K. Choi, a Pasadena gas station owner; Robert L. Oltman, a Pasadena business executive; Maurine Petteruto, a Temple City resident; and Wilbert Smith, a Pasadena school board member.

In addition, opponents say that although the other candidates dutifully show up to air their views at forums sponsored by local Republican organizations, Hoge has kept his distance until this past week, when he appeared at a forum sponsored by a Pasadena Republican women’s group.

Hoge “is not showing up at the forums so it is hard for me to judge what makes that candidate tick,” said candidate Pieper.

Smith, who was elected in 1989 to the Pasadena Board of Education, said: “I have a problem with these two Assembly persons slapping us in the face like this and their candidate doesn’t have the courtesy to address us in campaign forums.”

Besides, several of them charged, the endorsements probably come with strings attached.

“The rest of us are talking to the people, trying to find out what their concerns are so that we can represent them, and Nolan and Mountjoy are telling this man what his concerns are going to be,” said candidate Prentiss.

Hoge rejected the idea that he would be beholden to his political benefactors.

“They both know me well and know I absolutely have an ability to be totally independent,” he said.

Finance reports filed last week show Hoge well ahead of his opponents. He raised about $74,000 between the first of the year and March 17, while his closest rival, former Councilman Acker, has raised about $40,000, about half from his own law firm. Pieper reported that she had raised $28,000.

Hoge’s contributions included $7,000 from members of the Assembly, $5,000 from the Gun Owners of California political action committee and $5,000 from a Sacramento political action committee that promotes so-called family values.

Kathleen Crow, who is managing Acker’s campaign, said she thought contributions were a result of the backing of Mountjoy and Nolan.

“I would expect they’ve made some calls on his behalf,” she said.

Acker said that despite Hoge’s fund-raising lead, “the public is rightfully disappointed with many elected public officials . . . and so, for that reason, I don’t think it is particularly helpful for any one of us to run on the strength of backing of officeholders who don’t even live in the district.”

Richard Temple, a Sacramento-based political consultant working for Pieper, said Hoge is either too busy raising funds to show up to candidate forums or he is unwilling to field questions.

Either way, Temple said: “I don’t think it makes him appear to be the incumbent. I think it’s a strategy to shield him from voters.”