<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Dornan Denies Farber’s Charge of Erratic Record on Domestic Violence

Tough talk: Joining the chorus of politicians who are focusing on the issue of domestic violence in light of the O.J. Simpson case, Mike Farber, the Democratic candidate in the 46th Congressional District, claims his opponent, Rep. Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove, has an “erratic voting record” on legislation dealing with violence against women.

Dornan says Farber does not know what he’s talking about.

Farber offers as proof Dornan’s recent vote against the anti-crime bill, which included the Violence Against Women Act, designed to improve law enforcement and prosecution of domestic violence crimes, training of police and judges on the issue, establishment of a national domestic violence hot line and making “gender-motivated” crime a civil rights violation. The anti-crime package is currently pending in House-Senate conference committee.

“Mr. Dornan claims to be tough on crime, but his aggressive public statements contradict his erratic voting record,” Farber charges in a statement. A campaign spokesman says some of the Republican sponsors of a similar bill Dornan supported in 1993 have signed off on the latest crime bill.

Dornan responds that “all the best anti-crime fighters in the House didn’t vote for the crime bill,” that he registered a protest vote because the bill is “milquetoast and phony,” that it “bogs down some tough anti-crime approaches with civil rights approaches” and that it is “weak and counterproductive.”

The 1993 Sexual Assault Prevention Act, which Dornan supported, is more comprehensive on the issue of violence against women, Dornan adds. “When someone batters his wife, he should be treated worse than if he battered a stranger on the street or someone who came out of a bar.”

*

Bedeebadeebadee, that’s all folks: Dornan says the only reason he is responding to Farber’s allegation is because of the O.J. Simpson case and the sensitivity of the domestic violence issue.

But the debate you have just read will be the last one Dornan engages in with Farber before the Nov. 8 election. The incumbent says that from this point on, he is disregarding Farber.

“I have no respect for an opponent who takes money from a pornographer,” Dornan says, referring to a $1,000 campaign contribution that the Farber campaign acknowledges it received but returned to the donor.

“I have never met Farber, I hope I never do,” Dornan says. He adds that pornography is a major cause of violence against women, so “what the hell kind of a hypocrite is Farber . . . a Catholic, to take money from a pornographer?”

The Farber campaign says it received a contribution in February from a Santa Ana computer businessman who had a contract to produce an interactive video that contained sexually explicit material. Even though the businessman had no control over the content, the Farber campaign says it immediately returned the donation to avoid controversy. Not until Dornan raised the issue did the Farber camp realize that the businessman’s wife also contributed $1,000, and that money was returned on Friday.

Farber also responds that Dornan’s challenge of his faith is “not only preposterous but typical of Dornan’s past issue-dodging.”

*

Two house cleanings: State political pundits, meanwhile, aren’t giving Farber much of a chance of defeating Dornan. But, hoping for a fresh start, Farber has installed a new campaign organization, including campaign director Diane Gould, a fund-raiser based in Washington, whose past clients include U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (D-Colo.) and Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.).

In another key race, supervisorial candidate Linda Moulton Patterson has replaced political consultant Jeff Adler with Harvey Englander, whose former firm represented Moulton Patterson’s June primary opponent, Haydee V. Tillotson. Englander also led the successful campaign of Marilyn C. Brewer, the 70th Assembly District Republican nominee. Moulton Patterson, a Democrat who is facing a tough fight against Republican Jim Silva in a Nov. 8 runoff election, says Englander’s involvement underscores the “nonpartisan nature” of her campaign.

*

School tests: County school board members who are up for reelection in November recently received questionnaires from the Orange County Pro-Family Candidate Campaign asking for their positions on abortion rights, sex education and other issues traditionally watch-dogged by conservatives. The questionnaire raised some eyebrows because it asked about issues that school board members don’t vote on, such as abortion and laws banning euthanasia.

And unlike two years ago, when similar groups surveyed the candidates closer to Election Day, the incumbent school board members were asked to respond by July 6, a dozen days before the start of the candidate filing period. Some school officials see the move as an effort by the conservative group to target incumbents who disagree with its positions so that more conservative candidates can be recruited.

Paul E. Black Jr., a member of the group, says there is no concerted effort to find opponents for the school board members, only an attempt to know the views of the incumbents in case they pick up opponents. The questions about non-school-related issues are “part of the world we live in,” Black says. “The school board member now may become a city council person, and somewhere down the line may be an Assembly person. You give them an opportunity to get educated early in their career.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday: This is the first day for candidates to file nomination papers for election to city offices, some school districts and special districts. The filing period runs through Aug. 12.

Saturday. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) will be the special guest at a reception sponsored by the Orange County chapter of the California Republican League, at the Yorba Linda home of Judith Ryan, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday.