Dornan Complains to Party About Ryan : Politics: Congressman says primary foe ‘went far beyond scope of ethical campaigning.’ Opposition camp calls charge ‘a joke.’

The county Republican Party’s ethics committee heard allegations Tuesday by Rep. Robert K. Dornan that his opponent in last June’s GOP primary, Judith Ryan, violated the party’s campaign conduct rules.

The conduct rules adopted by the county Republican Party are non-binding and are intended to prevent divisive intraparty battles that might split GOP support and damage its nominee.

The ethnics committee heard the complaint Tuesday from a Dornan representative. But Ryan’s campaign refused to participate, charging that the hearing was “absurd” and that the county Republican Party is biased in favor of the county’s conservative incumbent lawmakers.

A spokesman for the GOP said a decision on the complaint was expected in the next few days.

Dornan (R-Garden Grove), who won the hard-fought June primary by a wide margin and was reelected earlier this month, charged that Ryan’s campaign violated the party’s conduct rules at least 12 times.

The examples included an allegation that a photographer for Ryan trespassed on Dornan’s property in Virginia to take pictures of his home for a campaign brochure and that there was improper collusion between Ryan’s campaign and the National Abortion Rights Action League.

Dornan also cited a number of statements from campaign mailers for Ryan that he considered inaccurate, including one that said he has not done any work in Washington to help his district and another that called Dornan “Public Enemy Number One.”

“I realize that during hard-fought campaigns many attacks must be taken on the chin because a candidate is a public figure,” Dornan wrote to the ethics committee. “However, my 1992 Republican primary went far beyond the scope of ethical campaigning.”

Eileen Padberg, who managed the campaign for Ryan, responded: “It’s obvious Bob Dornan and the Republican Party has nothing else to do. We don’t even take this seriously. . . . It’s a joke. Do they think I care if they censure me?”

If the committee agrees with Dornan that Ryan’s campaign violated the party’s rules of conduct, it can issue reprimand or a censure.