A New Political Fire Tests Costa : Politics: Police will not pursue case involving marijuana found in assemblyman’s home. But election-year incident may not be as easy to quell as previous run-ins with the law.

Assemblyman Jim Costa was one of the bright, young lights on the Democratic scene when one summer night in 1986 he was charged with soliciting a Sacramento prostitute and a police decoy posing as a prostitute for a three-way sex act.

The timing of his arrest--in the midst of a reelection campaign--could have hardly been worse, and a chastened Costa returned home to Fresno and apologized to a roomful of supporters that included his mother and political mentors.

“I deeply regret my action,” he said. “This is a bad dream that keeps recurring. I wish I could wake up from it.”

Last week, in the zeal of a new campaign for the state Senate, the San Joaquin Valley legislator hurried home to put out another potential political fire--this time to explain why a small quantity of marijuana was found inside his Fresno condominium by police during a burglary investigation.

The break-in occurred while Costa, 41, was in Sacramento pushing his “three strikes and you’re out” anti-crime bill. The thieves made off with a VCR, cuff links, leather jackets, a keepsake watch, wine and beer.

Costa, whose home had previously been burglarized three times, said it “reminded me once again how painful it is to be a crime victim.”

But voters who excused his earlier peccadillo may not be so forgiving this time. Rumors of fast living have dogged the veteran legislator, a bachelor, for years--rumors he has attributed to dirty politics and speculation. Now his political opponents say Costa has stretched credulity with his explanation of how the marijuana debris and paraphernalia--a hemostat, plastic sandwich bags and a 35-millimeter film canister--got inside his bedroom.

In a media blitz last week, he told voters that the residue and related items were left by either burglars using his condo to party or by someone trying to sabotage his political career.

“I can only speculate that it was a drug-related crime or someone was trying to set me up politically,” he said.

Although both scenarios have been deemed “possible but unusual” by Fresno police, the department will not pursue an investigation because the amount of marijuana is too small and the question of possession is too hazy.

Even so, the matter is not likely to end, not with a tough election around the corner in the 16th District, a conservative Democratic farm belt that stretches from Fresno to Bakersfield and is represented by Republican Sen. Phil Wyman.

Wyman’s supporters are already calling it “two strikes and Costa’s out.” Wyman is not about to let it die.

“I’m angry that Mr. Costa is trying to cover up his indiscretions by throwing a political charge of sabotage at me or someone associated with my campaign,” he said.

“I will not be sullied by a man who has been surrounded by controversy and questions of his lifestyle since we were both elected to the Legislature in 1978.”

Wyman has challenged Costa to a polygraph and drug test to “see which one of us is lying and which one of us is drug-free.”

Costa, an eight-term assemblyman, called Wyman’s challenge “shameful, insensitive and political grandstanding.”

“I’m not going to play that game. I did nothing wrong. I’m a victim of crime and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Costa’s strong base of support has led to easy reelection over the last decade. He has been an effective voice in Sacramento on behalf of farmers and supporters of a San Joaquin River parkway and advocates of cleaner air through rail transportation. In 1990, he was chosen by fellow Democrats as caucus chairman--one of the top party positions in the lower house.

“Jim is as hard a working legislator as you will find,” said John Krebs, a former congressman from Fresno and one of Costa’s political mentors. “He has been a very effective advocate for San Joaquin Valley interests.”

This work ethic, his supporters say, is rooted in Costa’s youth, when he would awaken before dawn to milk cows on his father’s dairy farm in west Fresno. But even they concede that Costa’s skill and maneuvering inside the halls of Sacramento have been undermined at times by a careless, self-destructive bent when he stepped out.

One year after the prostitution incident, in which he pleaded no contest and was placed on three years probation, Costa’s lifestyle was back in the news. Fresno County sheriff’s investigators delving into a 1987 murder found photos of the main suspect, a Paraguayan drug dealer, socializing with Costa.

The assemblyman told the Fresno Bee that he and the drug dealer had been friends. “I started wondering about how he supported himself and then I sort of distanced myself from him when I found out about his reputation as a big drug dealer,” Costa was quoted as saying.

As for last week’s incident and Costa’s explanation that political foes may have planted the marijuana, his supporters say the theory is not as improbable as it sounds. They note that the behavior of whoever broke in was bizarre. Burglars left many expensive items while taking items of sentimental value to Costa. They also spent some time rifling through Costa’s photos and papers.

David Provost, a political science professor at Cal State Fresno, said Costa probably made a mistake raising the specter of dirty tricks and thus giving Wyman a chance to seize the moral high ground.

“(Costa) left an opening for the Wyman people and they took it,” Provost said. “But I still don’t think this whole episode will have a lasting effect. The public forgave him once and even if they believe the marijuana was his I think they’ll forgive him again.”