Horcher Lashes Out at Brulte : Assembly: Diamond Bar independent says he may vote for a Republican Speaker to break deadlock, but not GOP leader or any from his cadre.

Independent Assemblyman Paul Horcher, who holds the balance of power in the Legislature’s lower house, says he might still vote for a Republican to break the partisan deadlock that has paralyzed the Assembly in a leadership struggle now in its second week.

But Horcher, a Diamond Bar attorney who bolted from the GOP to vote for Democrat Willie Brown on Dec. 5, says he will never side with Republican Leader Jim Brulte or any member of Brulte’s leadership cadre, whom Horcher termed too “immature and irresponsible” to be given the power to run the Assembly.

“I’m open,” Horcher said in an interview. “Anybody can deal with me who uses reason and logic and rational thought. I’m not open to being bullied or intimidated.”

Asked to respond, Brulte dismissed the notion of another Republican replacing him as the GOP candidate in the speakership fight when the Assembly reconvenes Jan. 4.

“I have made it abundantly clear to the Republican Caucus that if at any time they are unhappy with the job I’ve done as leader, I am more than willing to step down,” Brulte said. “I doubt whether the Assembly Republican Caucus will allow a Willie Brown supporter to determine the Republican candidate for Speaker.”

But there has been some talk, particularly among first-term Republicans, of finding a way to bring Horcher back into the GOP fold.

At one point, newly elected Republican--Tom Woods of Shasta--said he was trying to reach Horcher to open talks about an alternative to Brulte that Horcher would find acceptable.

“I’m willing to facilitate a dialogue between Mr. Horcher and the (Republican) caucus,” he said. “I am willing to go to them and bring them a proposal.”

Asked what his goal would be, Woods replied: “Electing a Republican Speaker--immediately.”

Later, after talking to Brulte, Woods said he had changed his mind and would only try to persuade Horcher to support Brulte.

“There is no one else who all 41 people could agree on except Jim,” Woods said.

Horcher, 43, said he feels “great” and is holding up well under the pressure--including death threats--he has been getting since he voted for Brown. He said calls to his office now are running about 3-2 in his favor, and he expressed confidence that he will defeat a Republican-backed effort to recall him early next year.

Horcher said his vote in the speakership battle--still deadlocked in a 40-40 tie--should not be seen as a vote of confidence in Willie Brown.

“It was a message to the Republican leadership that I’ve seen . . . how you operate on minimum power (and) I have no interest in seeing you operate under maximum power,” he said.

Horcher said Brulte never had much chance of gaining his support because the Republican leader treated him shabbily after Horcher defied the leadership and accepted a key committee position offered by Brown in 1993.

Even so, Horcher said, there was a time when he considered voting for Brulte for Speaker. But Brulte never directly asked him for his vote, he said.

“He kept asking me what I wanted,” Horcher said. “I told him I want respect. Apparently that was something they were unable to give me.”

Horcher said Brulte also showed little interest in the threats Horcher was getting after radio talk shows named him as the Republican most likely to vote for Brown.

“He knew about the death threats and didn’t inquire,” Horcher said. “He didn’t care whether I lived or died.”

Brulte said he did ask Horcher for his vote, and he noted that Horcher had voted twice to elect him Republican leader and showered him with praise a year ago when Brulte was the featured speaker at a political fund-raiser for Horcher.

“Assemblyman Brulte’s leadership this past year has produced the most successful legislative session in recent memory,” Horcher said in a news release dated Dec. 2, 1993. “He was responsible for developing an effective Republican agenda that resulted in an overhaul of the workers’ compensation system, a balanced budget by the constitutional deadline and a manufacturer’s tax credit.”

But Horcher has a different view now.

“Mr. Brulte and his leadership are too immature and irresponsible to be given that much power,” he said. “People who have shown little or no responsibility in the past should not be rewarded with power.”

Horcher said his problems with his fellow Republicans began in the summer of 1991, when he voted to oust former Republican Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra and replace him with Bill Jones of Fresno, a moderate.

“They demand that you go along to get along,” he said. “They just want power.”

The rift worsened, he said, when Brown named him vice chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which votes on the state budget and all bills that spend money. Republicans had wanted a more conservative member--Dean Andal of Stockton--to get the job.

After that, Horcher said, Republicans blocked money that had been earmarked to relieve traffic problems in his district, limited his staff’s access to the party’s computer database and generally made it difficult for him to enact legislation.

“It was endless harassment,” he said. “Every bill was a struggle to get off the floor.”

Horcher said much of the problem stemmed from the leadership’s desire to see Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy of Arcadia elected to the state Senate rather than Horcher.

“They didn’t want my district to have anything,” he said. “They did not want any rival to Mr. Mountjoy to have a decent position.”

Mountjoy defeated Horcher for the Senate seat and now is in the position of having been simultaneously elected to both the Assembly and Senate. He had intended to leave the Assembly after helping to elect Brulte Speaker but now says he will stay and renounce the Senate seat if need be to keep Brown from winning a record eighth term as Assembly leader.

Horcher said he hopes that some sort of “co-speakership” is arranged when the Assembly returns in January. He said his decision to prevent Brulte’s rise will lead to greater bipartisanship because neither party can seize power without compromise.

With 41 votes needed to pass any bill and 54 votes necessary to enact the budget, Horcher said, cooperation is essential.

“No Republican is going to get a bill out without Democrat votes, and no Democrat is going to get a bill out without Republican votes,” he said. “And the governor is not going to get a budget out without a lot of votes on both sides.”