Brown Opens Headquarters in Santa Ana : Politics: Candidate emphasizes UCI poll indicating Wilson’s support in Republican stronghold is waning. She still trails him locally.

Buoyed by a recent UC Irvine poll that indicates Gov. Pete Wilson’s popularity in Orange County has stalled, state Treasurer Kathleen Brown came to town Saturday to open her local campaign headquarters before a crowd of more than 100 supporters.

Brown repeatedly assailed the governor’s record on crime, education and the economy during a spirited 20-minute stump speech. The Democratic challenger said she is determined to have a strong showing in Republican-rich Orange County.

“We’re going after Republican votes, independent votes, Perot votes,” Brown said to cheering supporters who crowded into the vacant law office downtown--one of a dozen campaign offices Brown opened around the state Saturday. Orange County was the only one she visited.

A UC Irvine poll released last week showed that Wilson’s voter support in Orange County is below the 2-to-1 ration he needs on Election Day to offset Democratic strongholds elsewhere in the state.

But Wilson is leading Brown in Orange County by 18 points among all registered votes and by 22 points among likely voters, according to the poll.

“The goal is to cut down Pete Wilson’s lead and to succeed in building a strong Democratic base (in Orange County),” Brown said in a brief interview after the rally. “That is the issue in this campaign. (Wilson) is weakest in his base.”

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Wilson campaign spokesman Dan Schnur downplayed the significance of the poll Saturday night and called Brown “brave” for opening a campaign headquarters in Orange County.

“Kathleen Brown has got to be the only candidate who is encouraged by a poll that shows she is 22 points behind,” Schnur said. “We expect to win Orange County by a 2-to-1 margin.”

During her speech, Brown mentioned a recent comment by Orange County Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, a Wilson supporter, who called the treasurer “gutsy” for coming to the county last month to campaign.

“I am gutsy!” Brown said. “I’m going to be one gutsy gov!”

She urged supporters to “get in Pete Wilson’s face. Be a gutsy Democrat in Orange County like Kathleen Brown.”

Brown later said she thinks the top three concerns of Orange County residents are “good jobs, good schools and a safe community. That’s what Pete Wilson has taken away.”

Brown was introduced by Santa Ana Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr., who stepped in at the last minute because state Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) had to leave before Brown arrived almost an hour late.

During a brief speech, Umberg, who is the Democratic nominee for state attorney general, urged supporters to register and educate voters, and to make sure to get the vote out on Election Day.

“Orange County is extraordinarily important,” Umberg said. “It’s very, very important that we do well right here in the belly of the beast.”