Elections ’92 : Bitter End to Career in Politics : Remap: Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino loses his seat after running in a new district to avoid a clash with Rep. Elton Gallegly.

Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino, the only incumbent congressman to go down to defeat in the California primary, knew he was in trouble throughout the campaign, but that hardly softened the blow.

Surrounded by aides at his adoptive home Wednesday, the veteran lawmaker said the loss to Michael Huffington, a former Texas oilman who said he would spend whatever it took to win, left him bitter and exhausted.

“I never planned to stay until I was carried out,” Lagomarsino said. “I wanted to walk out when I was ready to leave, and when I felt there was someone good to replace me. It was not to be, I guess. . . . It hurts.”

With heavy hearts, Lagomarsino and his wife Norma plan to return to live in their Ventura beach house, leaving behind the condo that they rented in San Luis Obispo County. “We love it here,” said Norma Lagomarsino, standing on the bluffs near the condo overlooking the ocean. “It’s too bad the people here don’t love us.”

Defeated by nearly a 7% margin, or about 5,000 voters, Lagomarsino second-guessed the strategy of his own campaign. He attacked Huffington for spending more than $2.7 million of his own money to pull off the upset in the new 22nd Congressional District, which encompasses San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Since the start of the campaign, Lagomarsino knew that the race would be difficult. He left his home in Ventura County when he acceded to the urgings of Gov. Pete Wilson and White House political strategists that he move north to the new district to avoid a primary battle with his protege, Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), in the aftermath of reapportionment.

In return, Republican leaders tried to persuade Huffington not to challenge the longtime loyal Republican congressman. But the wealthy Santa Barbara businessman remained determined to launch his political career.

Lagomarsino said he does not regret his decision to move north for the sake of Gallegly. He said he plans to return to Ventura County, in part to make sure the voters return his friend to Congress.

“Emotions can play heavy on your shoulders at a time like this,” said Gallegly, choking back tears. “I still feel that Bob Lagomarsino is my mentor. Survivor guilt may be a way to describe it.”

Lagomarsino said he realized a couple of months ago, after Huffington’s ads were on every radio and TV station, that his campaign was in big trouble against the maverick challenge. He said he became so frustrated by the barrage of slick ads that he stopped watching television. He said he felt as if he was being portrayed as a monster.

“It gave me a helpless feeling,” Lagomarsino said. “I knew we couldn’t match it.”

He said he loaned his campaign nearly $192,000 in the weeks before the election, but it wasn’t nearly enough. On Wednesday, Norma Lagomarsino said the money was almost all they had in their personal savings account.

“I was outspent six to one,” the congressman said. “Those are rather tough odds to overcome. It is like running a clean race against an opponent on steroids.”

But what was even more painful was the split in Santa Barbara’s clubby Republican Party, a division that disrupted loyalties and strained friendships. “Meanness, deception and bitter partisan bickering” fractured longtime Republican alliances, he said.

Lagomarsino said he has no other concrete plans than to return to his $1-million oceanfront home just north of Ventura.

Come January, it will be the first time in 34 years that Lagomarsino has not held public office. Beginning with the Ojai City Council, Lagomarsino moved on to spend 12 years in the state Senate and 18 years in Congress representing Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. He was elected to the House in 1974, as one of the few Republicans to win election to Congress at the height of the Watergate scandal.

“It is tragic that he ended his career this way,” said Paul Leavens, one of the largest citrus growers in Ventura County and a longtime personal friend. “But it is not the end of the world. We go hunting and fishing every year. And, now he will be able to enjoy those things he loves.”

Huffington said he realized that it would be difficult for anyone who has served 34 years in office. “My heart goes out to him during his transition period,” Huffington said. “I hope he moves on from this point of disappointment.”

Gallegly hinted that he would be lobbying White House officials to get Lagomarsino a presidential appointment after he leaves Congress in early January.

“I think that the President is going to be pleading with Bob to take something,” Gallegly said. “I would walk through coals for Bob Lagomarsino, but I don’t think that will be necessary. Bob Lagomarsino’s credentials speak for themselves.”