Countywide : Huffington to Back Bill Honoring Rival

Rep. Michael Huffington (R-Santa Barbara) has agreed to co-sponsor a measure honoring former Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino, his bitter rival in a GOP primary battle last year.

Huffington had been the only Republican congressman from California not co-sponsoring legislation that would name the Channel Islands National Park visitor center in Ventura after Lagomarsino. The bill, introduced last week, was written by Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley).

On Tuesday, Huffington’s chief of staff, Mike Wootton, said that one of the congressman’s legislative assistants had erred in saying no when Gallegly’s office asked whether Huffington would co-sponsor the bill. When Huffington learned of the measure, Wootton said, “He said by all means, of course. . . . He certainly deserves this recognition.”

During his 18 years in Congress, Lagomarsino led the campaign to create the national park, which encompasses five islands off the coast of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. He was defeated in June in a heated primary battle in which Huffington, heir to an oil fortune, spent $2.7 million.