GOP’s Nominee Was Fund-Raiser for Willie Brown : Senate race: Carol Rowen says she didn’t realize her duties in 1985 for Assemblyman Bane would include work on the Speaker’s dinner that benefits Democrats.

Carol Rowen, the Republican state Senate nominee in a Van Nuys-based district, was a campaign fund-raiser in 1985 for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, one of the state’s most visible Democrats, according to campaign reports.

The records show that Rowen, a lifelong Republican, was paid $5,000 as a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Democrat’s annual Los Angeles dinner. Brown uses the proceeds of his event to help fellow Democrats throughout the state win election.

Rowen, who faces Democratic state Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti in a June 2 runoff, said she made telephone solicitations for Brown’s dinner, prepared fund-raising lists and helped with other arrangements, including picking out chocolate used in a centerpiece.

In several interviews this week, Rowen said she was hired as a fund-raiser by Marlene Bane, the wife of Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Tarzana) and the Speaker’s Los Angeles fund-raiser, without realizing that her duties would include work for Brown as well as Assemblyman Bane.

Rowen said she was “fairly stunned” to learn that she would be providing help to Brown’s campaign but went ahead because it “was a job. This was something I was hired and paid to do.”

As she seeks to hold on to her support among Republican voters, Rowen’s assistance to the Speaker could prove embarrassing because Brown long has been an anathema to the GOP. In past legislative campaigns, Republicans have cited Brown’s liberalism and flamboyant style as reasons to elect a GOP majority to the Assembly.

However, some Republicans dismissed suggestions that Rowen’s connection to the Speaker would hurt her campaign. “The bottom line is she is the Republican nominee and that’s all that matters to the California Republican Party,” state GOP Chairman Jim Dignan said.

Rowen was in Sacramento on Wednesday to meet with Senate Republican leaders who are supporting her bid for office. Sen. Bill Leonard (R-Big Bear), chairman of the GOP Senate caucus, said funds had not been budgeted for a special election, but lawmakers and party officials, nonetheless, are attempting to help Rowen.

Leonard maintained that Rowen’s work for Brown won’t hurt her with GOP voters and it might be an advantage because she appeals to Democrats. “I think voters are looking for independent candidacies,” Leonard said.

In a special election earlier this month, Roberti led the field of 10 candidates in the race to replace former Sen. Alan Robbins in the San Fernando Valley’s heavily Democratic 20th District, which includes San Fernando, Mission Hills, Pacoima, Reseda and Van Nuys. But Roberti received only 34% of the vote, short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Rowen, whose Senate campaign is directed by Marlene Bane, was the top Republican vote-getter.

The election was called because Robbins resigned after agreeing to plead guilty to charges of extortion and income tax evasion. Roberti, whose Hollywood-area district was collapsed in reapportionment, moved to the Valley to run for the remaining part of Robbins’ term. Several sources have told The Times that after Marlene Bane unsuccessfully sought to manage Roberti’s campaign, she recruited Rowen, a longtime friend, to jump into the contest.

For much of the past decade, Marlene Bane has been paid to stage Brown’s Los Angeles fund-raiser, developing a reputation as a superb organizer with an aggressive style. Having the ear of the Speaker as well as her husband, chairman of the powerful Assembly Rules Committee, Marlene Bane has emerged as a major political player in her own right.

While on a visit to Sacramento this week, Rowen recalled that she was between jobs when Marlene Bane hired her to work for Tom Bane’s campaign committee. Rowen, a pension consultant, was paid $8,000 by the Bane campaign for work from September, 1985, and February, 1986, according to campaign records. Tom Bane reported $5,000 of Rowen’s salary as part of a $42,000 “in-kind” contribution to Brown for “expenses and salaries” associated with the Speaker’s dinner.

Rowen said she called some potential contributors on Brown’s behalf and attended the dinner. She also upgraded a list of contacts used for the Brown event and for Assemblyman Bane’s fund-raising dinner. Rowen recalled doing more work on Tom Bane’s behalf than for Brown.

Rowen views her roles helping organize events for Brown and Assemblyman Bane differently, even though both lawmakers are Democrats. Rowen said she does not know Brown and “thought it was very funny” that as a Republican, who opposes the Democratic leader on many issues, she would work on his dinner. Rowen said that while she disagrees on issues with Assemblyman Bane, she has been “a close personal friend” of him and his wife.

Rowen said she is no fan of Brown’s. “I would not volunteer to work in Willie Brown’s campaign. I was a paid employee of Friends of Tom Bane. Had I not been, I wouldn’t have been involved in that dinner.”