Lewis Faces Tough Race for Chairmanship Post : Congress: Rep. Dick Armey of Texas says he has enough votes to unseat the leader of the Republican Conference.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), California’s highest-ranking Republican congressman, is facing a formidable challenge Monday from a Texas conservative who says he has enough votes to overthrow Lewis from his House leadership post.

The results won’t be known until after Republicans cast secret ballots in party organizational elections, but most observers say the contest is close.

Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas) is claiming he has nailed down 95 votes, six more than he needs to win. Lewis is not giving out any vote counts, relying on an extensive political network stitched together over 14 years in Congress to keep his post.

But some insiders--citing a volatile brew of headstrong new members, internal struggles over the party’s future and disaffection with the GOP House leadership--would not be surprised to see Lewis swept out as chairman of the Republican Conference, number three in the leadership pecking order.

“In this business, you never count your chickens before they’re hatched,” Armey said, “but I feel confident that I have the votes to win.”

Lewis’ press secretary, David LesStrang, said the Armey vote count is a fantasy. “Armey simply does not have the votes, period. Jerry has never lost a leadership election.”

Both candidates claim to have a majority of the 47 new--and independent-minded--Republican congressmen, who may be the deciding factor.

Most on-the-record comments about the contest from veteran lawmakers were conspicuously bland. Even sharp-tongued GOP Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), an Armey backer who helped set up a challenger to Lewis in 1990, was uncharacteristically mild:

“I don’t think anybody thinks it’s particularly in anybody’s interests to talk about any of the races this year.”

In private, the rhetoric takes on a sharper edge. Conservatives have long viewed Lewis as too accommodating to the Democratic majority, and his support of the 1990 tax hike remains unpardonable to the more combative right wing of the party.

Lewis’ extroverted personality and pragmatic legislative sense have won him many friends in the House. But critics say the depth of that loyalty is suspect. Even the California delegation is deeply split over the race.

“He has stepped on hands, toes and other body parts during his ascent up the leadership ladder,” said a top aide to a Southern California congressman.

As testimony to their misgivings, California Republicans ousted Lewis in 1990 from his seat on the Committee on Committees, the panel that doles out GOP committee assignments. Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad), with four years’ less seniority, was elected to the post.

Another conservative California House member offered a more blunt assessment:

“Lewis got to his position strictly by trading committee assignments to the detriment of his own California Republicans. That’s why there is such ill will.”

LesStrang dismissed such talk as “disinformation.”

The five-term Armey, a brainy former economics professor, made his mark in the House with his tough budget-cutting stands and military base-closing legislation. To demonstrate his frugality, he once slept in a roll-away bed in his office to save personal expenses.

His supporters say his toughness, economic savvy and straight talk are what set him apart from Lewis.

“Armey’s a conservative leader and activist who is running for the chairmanship at a time when it is important to engage the new Democratic Administration. He’s the right guy in this situation, when the Clinton forces come out with their economic agenda,” said Rep. Duncan L. Hunter (R-Coronado), who lost to Lewis in a battle for chairman of the Republican Policy Committee in 1987.

“These intra-party contests are tough,” Hunter said. “I voted for Jerry in 1988 when (Labor Secretary) Lynn Martin was running against him (for Conference chairman), and the California connection was a consideration. This time, I think that Armey’s philosophy is more pro-growth for the California economy.”

In addition to his leadership position, Lewis is the ranking minority member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, which oversees the House administrative budget, and sits on the Subcommittee for Defense. Some insiders on Capitol Hill regard these influential roles as more important to California than the Conference chairmanship.

In a related development, three Democratic members from California were elected Friday as officers of the freshmen class: Lucille Roybal-Allard, first vice-president; Bob Filner, treasurer, and Xavier Becerra, whip.

Times staff writer Robert W. Stewart contributed to this story.