ELECTIONS 37TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Wilson Gives His Support to Takasugi

Gov. Pete Wilson on Thursday endorsed Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi in the seven-candidate Republican primary race for the 37th Assembly District seat being vacated by Wilson’s old nemesis, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks).

Wilson might also endorse a second candidate today in the same race, former Ventura County Supervisor Madge L. Schaefer, said sources close to the governor. “There’s been some discussion about endorsing them both,” a source said.

But Wilson communications director Dan Schnur said Thursday that he did not know if a second endorsement is forthcoming. Schaefer said only that the governor’s backing of Takasugi “is only half the story.”

Both Takasugi and Schaefer worked with the governor when he was the mayor of San Diego a decade ago, and Wilson respects them both, Schnur said. He said a second endorsement would make the governor’s support no less significant because the field is so large.

Wilson announced Thursday his endorsement of 17 Republicans in Assembly primary races across the state. Schnur said the governor is backing candidates that he believes would be both “electable and efficient legislators.”

In his endorsement of Takasugi, Wilson declared that the 70-year-old Oxnard mayor is “a living example (of) how one can overcome adversity to make good things happen.” He noted that Takasugi emerged from a World War II Japanese-American internment camp to earn a masters degree in business, run his own grocery for 35 years and finally become mayor of Oxnard.

“Instead of anger and self-pity, Takasugi dedicated his life to making the world around him a better place,” Wilson said in his letter.

Schnur said he would not describe the endorsement of Takasugi--and possibly Schaefer--as an effort by Wilson to hurt the chances of Newbury Park financial consultant Alan Guggenheim. The candidate has declared his anti-tax and anti-gun control positions to be closest to McClintock’s, who is abandoning his Assembly seat to run for Congress.

McClintock has not endorsed any candidates in the newly redrawn district, which includes the cities of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

McClintock has been Wilson’s most vitriolic Republican critic in the Legislature.

Wilson cited a need for cooperation between the governor and legislators to get through tough economic times, when issuing a letter of endorsement for Takasugi.

Takasugi, a fiscal conservative who favors abortion rights for women, said he thinks that Wilson is supporting him partly because of his ideological flexibility.

“I’m not beholden or restricted to any one position,” Takasugi said. “He knows I’ll be reasonable. . . . He can count on me to be reasonable and conducive toward supporting his programs.”

Takasugi said that since he first worked with Wilson when both were mayors years ago, “we’ve more or less seen eye-to-eye on most issues.”

“I’m very flattered by the endorsement. It’s got to be a plus,” Takasugi said. “But my best endorsement is out here from the voters.”

Guggenheim downplayed the importance of Wilson’s endorsement because he believes that it will have little effect on his core of support.

“It’s nothing special,” he said. “In the Republican Party there are some people who are more liberal and some who are more conservative, and the core of my support comes from those who are more conservative. From the beginning, we said it’s a race between two liberals and one conservative.”

Guggenheim has received heavy backing from the National Rifle Assn. and a Camarillo businessman who owns at least six religious radio stations and shares Guggenheim’s antiabortion stance.

Guggenheim said his support comes from groups and individuals who agree with his “pro-family, anti-tax” views. He has solicited the support of Operation Rescue antiabortion activists, saying that of the seven candidates he is the only one who is “conservative, pro-life.”

Takasugi campaign manager John Davies said the Oxnard mayor has been supported by Wilson and political committees representing physicians, lawyers, law enforcement and real estate groups because they fear Guggenheim’s election.

Davies described Guggenheim as a “right-wing fanatic.”

Guggenheim rejects the label, declaring himself a supporter of “traditional Republican values.”

Schaefer and a fourth candidate, Jon H. Williams, who is also running a strong campaign, said they did not know how important the governor’s endorsement will be in their district.

“I think people have pretty much made up their minds by now,” Williams said. “Of course, I would probably have different thoughts if he had endorsed me.”

Schaefer said Wilson’s endorsement of Takasugi “is reflective of how Nao has run his whole campaign. He has spent more time in Sacramento than he has in his district. He’s been up there trying to get special-interest money and he’s been successful.”

Campaign financial statements filed in mid-May showed that Takasugi had raised $94,000, more than any of his opponents, with physicians and real estate interests contributing heavily to his campaign.

Guggenheim had raised $89,000, Williams $42,000 and Schaefer $24,000. The other three candidates have raised less. They are: Michael D. Berger, assistant principal of Moorpark High School; Kenneth (Skip) Roberts, a Newbury Park property manager, and Ronald E. De Blauw, an Oxnard trucking company owner.