Beating Hurtt Could Prove a Daunting Task : Politics: Moderate Republicans can’t even find a candidate to run on same special election ballot with conservative Garden Grove businessman.

Several moderate Republican leaders in Orange County celebrated last year’s election as the end of a conservative era, but in the first chance to demonstrate political power at an upcoming special election, they were unable to muster a candidate.

Tuesday, as the deadline to enter the race for a vacant state Senate seat passed, conservative Republicans were openly boasting that Rob Hurtt, a Garden Grove businessman from the party’s right wing, will win the race by such a wide margin that the usual runoff election will not be necessary.

The March 2 election will be an open ballot, meaning that voters can cross party lines to vote for any candidate. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will be held on April 27 between the top vote-getters in each party.

Moderate GOP leaders vowed last month to find a candidate to challenge Hurtt in the special election on March 2. But the county registrar’s office reported Tuesday that Hurtt will be the only Republican name on the ballot seeking to replace former state Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Fullerton), who was elected to Congress last November.

Conservative leaders said Tuesday that Hurtt’s unopposed campaign is proof that the media and a vocal minority of Republicans have inaccurately portrayed a power shift in the party toward the moderates.

“The unity and grass-roots core of our party is a dynamically conservative organization and it is rather unified at this point,” said Thomas Fuentes, who was reelected on Monday to his fifth term as chairman of the county GOP. “Here is now a more truthful and reflective and honest position of where the Orange County political community is.”

Democrats also proclaimed renewed strength after last year’s campaign and the special election could present an opportunity for the party to expand its representation since the two major parties are nearly equal among the district’s registered voters.

Four Democrats are expected to be on the ballot, but none are well known or well financed and none has ever served in elected office.

Those candidates are Ken LeBlanc, co-owner of an automobile parts sales company; Linda K. Rigney, a teacher in Garden Grove; Wayman Nelson, a health insurance consultant from Santa Ana, and Rick Foster, a businessman from Anaheim.

Libertarian Party candidate Richard Newhouse, a teacher from Garden Grove, is also expected to be on the ballot if he completes the application process today. And the Peace and Freedom Party is represented by David Porter of Anaheim, who reported his occupation as musicologist.

The 32nd Senate District includes the cities of Santa Ana, Garden Grove and Fullerton as well as parts of neighboring communities.

Several Democratic leaders as well as moderate Republicans were in Washington on Tuesday attending today’s inaugural of President-elect Bill Clinton. But Democratic officials indicated privately that the party is not likely to endorse one of its candidates and will probably wait, instead, to see if there is a runoff.

Political observers expect, however, that it will be a daunting task to beat Hurtt, 48, a millionaire who has pledged to spend several hundred thousand dollars of his own money on the campaign, if necessary.

Conservative candidates have also proven themselves to be particularly successful in special elections where turnout is traditionally low and right-wing volunteers are often the most loyal.

So recruiting a candidate to run against the traditional political wisdom is difficult, according to some moderate GOP officials. Like the Democrats, Hurtt has never served in public office, but he has been endorsed by all of Orange County’s Republican legislators.

“The sacrificial lambs have all been slaughtered,” said Dana Reed, a Costa Mesa attorney who ran unsuccessfully as a moderate Republican candidate in a recent special election.

“I think that what this says is that in a special election, when you have a $1,000 limit (on contributions), it is virtually impossible to beat somebody who is going to spend their own money,” said Reed, who was in Washington for the inaugural. “You simply don’t have the time or the resources to put on a viable campaign.”

Eileen Padberg, a GOP political consultant who vowed last month to find a moderate Republican candidate to challenge Hurtt, also said Tuesday that the task was harder than she expected.

“The problem is that everybody is scared because of the money,” she said. “The people that could do it and would be interested and qualified can’t beat somebody with $500,000.”