Dannemeyer Plans Race for Feinstein’s Seat in ’94

Just as he retires from 14 years in Congress, conservative Orange County Rep. William E. Dannemeyer announced Tuesday that he hopes to return to the Capitol by defeating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 1994.

Dannemeyer’s announcement almost two years before the election would mark his second bid for the seat. He gave up his congressional office last spring for a failed attempt to unseat appointed U.S. Sen. John Seymour in the June Republican primary.

Democrat Feinstein, who was sworn into office Tuesday, defeated Seymour in the election last week. She will be on the ballot in 1994 for election to a full six-year term.

“My preference is to limit Diane (sic) Feinstein to no more than two years in the United States Senate,” Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) said in a written statement. “She and (Sen.-elect) Barbara Boxer are truly the J.E.T. twins--Job Elimination Twins.”

Dannemeyer, 63, an outspoken conservative backed by the GOP’s religious right, is best known for his support of mandatory disclosure laws for AIDS patients and his opposition to anti-discrimination rules for homosexuals.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Dannemeyer said he considered--but abandoned--an idea to run for the state Senate in an upcoming special election in Orange County. And he announced that he would launch two statewide initiatives that he hoped to place on the 1994 ballot along with his name.

Both initiatives are intended to improve the economy by reducing regulations affecting business. One would target workers’ compensation laws and the other would make air quality districts into an elected body instead of an appointed one.

Keeping his focus on a conservative solution to the economy, Dannemeyer also told reporters that he wrote President-elect Bill Clinton a letter Tuesday proposing tax law changes and suggesting that he would be available for a job in the new Administration as Treasury secretary or director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“He said he wanted Democrats and Republicans and independents to serve in his Administration,” Dannemeyer said, adding that he was not expecting an appointment.

Dannemeyer’s decision to run for the U.S. Senate surprised another potential candidate, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

Dornan said Tuesday that he was “flabbergasted” that Dannemeyer had not consulted him first.

“If anybody steps out of the way for somebody else, it’s not going to be me,” Dornan said.

When Dannemeyer was asked about the possibility of running in the primary against Dornan, he said: “It’s a free country.”