AFTER THE ELECTIONS : MAN IN THE NEWS : GOP Leader Will Try to Offset the Odds

The new Assembly Republican leader, though only a freshman legislator, is nevertheless an experienced political operative who believes his skills will serve him well in his new and, some would say, daunting role.

Steering the minority GOP caucus and jousting with the leader of the Assembly Democrats, powerful Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco, will not be easy for 36-year-old Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga, who was elected to his second term last week.

Others with more experience have been blown out of the same office in short periods, and that was before rival Democrats extended their ranks. In Tuesday’s elections, the Democratic lower house majority increased from 47 to 49, and Republicans dropped from 33 to 31.

But Brulte has been involved in pitched political battles before, serving as a 1988 George Bush campaign advance man, and as an aide to a controversial former senator from California, S.I. Hayakawa, now deceased. He also was chief of staff to former Assemblyman Chuck Bader (R-Pomona).

The new GOP leader pledges to try to offset the Assembly odds by forming a coalition with allies in the Senate and Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

Brulte also pledges to see the day when Republicans become the majority party in the Assembly, despite the party’s election reversals last week that forced his predecessor out of the post. Brulte admits that he has no strategy for overcoming the Democratic edge, but says it will come.

“I have no detailed plan right now,” he said. “Give me a week or two to develop one. We have to analyze why we lost where we did, determine if we made mistakes, and if we did make mistakes, to learn from them.”

The closed-door vote among his GOP colleagues to elect Brulte was unanimous and there were no other candidates.

“I didn’t have to make a single promise to get the job,” he said, “and that gives me considerable freedom.”

How does he think he will get along with Speaker Brown? “A lot of that depends on the Speaker,” Brulte said. “What I will do is lead a united Republican caucus.

“There are serious problems facing this state. We need bipartisan cooperation to solve those problems. But we will not compromise on philosophy and we will not compromise on principles.”

The GOP leader once described himself as a conservative who still believes “there is a legitimate role for government” and wants “to make sure we have a social safety net.”

Brulte added: “I’m not here to destroy government. I’d like to reinvent government.”

Whether his presence as GOP leader will serve to crack the partisan gridlock that often grips the Assembly around budget time, he said, remains to be seen. Brulte said he has not met with Speaker Brown to discuss the legislative session that begins Dec. 7.

Asked for comment on the GOP leader’s election, Brown said: “He will be the sixth in a long line of Republican leaders (since Brown became Speaker) and I will deal with him in any manner in which he wishes. I hope cooperatively.”

One Republican lawmaker, who did not want to be identified, said that Brulte “won’t be his own man and will take his marching orders” from Assemblymen Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) and Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton), both former GOP leaders.

Brulte disputed that. “Anyone who suggests that can just sit back and watch and learn,” he said. “I’ve always been my own man and I am not going to change now.”

Brulte graduated 12 years ago from Cal Poly Pomona with a B.A. degree in political science.

He enlisted in the California Air National Guard in 1974. The next year, he was selected outstanding airman of the year for the United States and its territories. Brulte holds the rank of captain in the inactive reserve.

To relax, the new GOP leader likes to go to the movies. His favorite is “Breaker Morant,” an Australian film about Boer War soldiers who become scapegoats for their superior officers and get court-martialed for obeying orders.