<i> A behind- the- scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Ferguson Continues to Draw GOP Fire Over Horcher’s Defection

Gil and Paul II: The furor over the role played by former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson in the defection of Assemblyman Paul Horcher (I-Diamond Bar) only got hotter last week.

Ferguson’s acknowledgment in last week’s column that he had talked to Horcher and advised him to get the best deal he could before Horcher voted for Willie Brown over Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga) for Assembly Speaker made local Republicans irate.

Their ire led to “death threats,” according to Ferguson. Ferguson does not deny he met with Horcher, but he says he told Horcher to “go to Gov. Wilson and get the best deal you can get.”

“I would never do anything for Willie Brown. I’ve fought against Willie Brown throughout my entire political career, for goodness sake,” said Ferguson, who is now seeking the state Senate seat being vacated by incoming County Supervisor Marian Bergeson. He is in for a bitter fight against Assembly members Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton), a powerful Republican leader.

Ferguson added that people in the party are trying to destroy him over the issue.

Assembly GOP leader Brulte then jumped into the fray, saying he and others have “heard rumors” about Ferguson “putting his own personal Senate agenda above the collective goal” of dethroning Willie Brown. “Frankly, I think Republican members of the state Assembly are shocked that a former Assembly Republican would conspire with Paul Horcher and Willie Brown for his own personal ends,” Brulte said.

Finally, Horcher scoffed at the entire uproar, saying he didn’t vote for Brown because Ferguson told him to. What’s more, Horcher said, Ferguson was destroyed by the party bosses months ago “when they sent Johnson down to take over Bergeson’s Senate seat.”

*

More help for Brown: Oddly enough, it appears that state Senators William A. (Bill) Craven (R-Oceanside) and John Lewis (R-Orange) will have played key, although inadvertent, roles if Brown gets reelected as Assembly Speaker.

It happened earlier this month during the fight over who should be the Republican representatives on the powerful state Senate Rules Committee. Craven, a moderate who has been a member of the committee, wanted to keep his seat but was ultimately voted out by the conservatives, who preferred Lewis.

To ensure Lewis’s victory, the conservatives called on Richard Mountjoy, a Republican from Monrovia who in November was elected simultaneously to the Assembly and Senate. But because Mountjoy voted for Lewis in a Republican caucus meeting, Democrats will claim on Jan. 4 that he acted as a state senator, thereby disqualifying him from his Assembly seat.

If the argument holds, the Democrats would enjoy a 40-39 majority and Brown should win again, said one Republican who asked to remain anonymous.

“It’s a done deal,” the Republican said.

*

Orange County bound: The county may be crumbling under the weight of its financial crisis at the moment, but there will certainly be better times ahead, at least politically.

Thanks to the shift of California’s 1996 presidential primary to March, the parade of national political figures to the county is on its way. The recent announcement that San Diego will be the site of the 1996 Republican convention will only intensify the onslaught of visiting politicos, local insiders say.

“We’re going to have an exciting year, a heck of a lot more fun than we’ve ever had,” said William Buck Johns, a Republican activist and member of the powerful, conservative Lincoln Club. Because California’s primary will now be so pivotal, the politicians can no longer just drop in on private jets for fund-raisers and slip away. This time they’ll have to stump too.

“Because of the sheer size of California and the importance it will play in the election, this time they’re going to have to raise money and talk to activists too,” said Johns, adding that Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) will be the Lincoln Club’s dinner speaker in February. “They can no longer come here quietly. You won’t see them flying in without taking the opportunity to stick a flag in Republican-rich Orange County.”

*

Merry Christmas: Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) didn’t have to look under the Christmas tree this morning to find his most-wished gift. He received it earlier this month when his Republican colleagues voted him in as the GOP Policy Committee chairman, making him the fifth highest-ranking Republican in the House.

But it was really no “gift.” It required a lot of campaigning to line up the votes for his first run for a leadership position.

Before the vote was taken, Cox said he repeatedly contacted each of the 230 Republican members of the incoming Congress, and he hosted a breakfast for the 73 incoming freshmen, including some he had campaigned for before the Nov. 8 election, which resulted in a Republican sweep.

“I have not worked as hard in any election as I did for this since my first campaign (for Congress) in 1988,” Cox said. “From a campaign strategy standpoint, I viewed it very much as running for president of a homeowners’ association.”

*

From Bishop to Cardinal: The Republican sweep also helped Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) land a prime assignment as chairman of one of the 13 subcommittees of the House Appropriations Committee. Because they are the group that controls what government projects get funded, the 13 subcommittee chairmen are known as the College of the Cardinals.

That new title led Packard, a bishop in the Mormon Church, to quip to a local service club: “I’ve been a bishop before, but I’ve never been a cardinal.”

Compiled by Times staff writer Len Hall, with contributions from staff writers Gebe Martinez and Eric Bailey.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday. Items can be mailed to Politics ‘94, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or faxed to (714) 966-7711.