Wilson, Gramm Lead in Congressional Delegation Support : Politics: In presidential race, five GOP legislators have endorsed the governor while four back Texas senator. But 14 members remain uncommitted.

As GOP presidential contenders train their gaze on California’s mountain of electoral votes, an early reading of endorsements from the state’s Republican members of Congress shows Gov. Pete Wilson neck and neck with Texas Sen. Phil Gramm--with a large pack of undecideds ready to swing the balance of home-state congressional support.

A survey of the 25 GOP House members completed Monday shows Wilson with five endorsements, Gramm with four and 14 members not ready to announce publicly which candidate they support.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas has attracted one endorsement, and Rep. Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove, who made his presidential aspirations official last week, is throwing his support to none other than himself.

Wilson, who has not declared his candidacy but is widely expected to do so, would enter a crowded field of eight declared GOP hopefuls in his bid for the White House.

Ready to back the governor, assuming that he takes the presidential plunge, are Republican Reps. David Dreier of San Dimas, Brian P. Bilbray of San Diego, Howard P. (Buck) McKeon of Santa Clarita, Jerry Lewis of Redlands and Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley.

“That’s about what we would expect, prior to an actual announcement,” said Dan Schnur, a Wilson campaign spokesman. “We expect to have a much longer list of endorsements, not just from Congress, but from elected officials from across the country after an announcement.”

In Gramm’s camp are Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach, John T. Doolittle of Rocklin, Richard W. Pombo of Tracy and Jay C. Kim of Diamond Bar.

Rep. Sonny Bono of Palm Springs has endorsed Dole, who national polls have shown to be the comfortable GOP front-runner. But that strength is not translating into congressional endorsements among Californians--at least not yet.

Likewise, the relatively few endorsements for Wilson are noteworthy, given that he is atop the state Republican Party and riding a crest of popularity after his come-from-behind gubernatorial victory over Kathleen Brown in November.

Gramm, considered one of the most conservative Republicans in the hunt, has had considerable success in nailing down support in California. Last month, 20 Republican state lawmakers signed letters of endorsement for him. Earlier, at the state GOP convention in Sacramento, Gramm vowed that he would win the California presidential primary, to be held next year on March 26.

Wilson’s decision to hold off on officially declaring his candidacy is forcing some potential backers to remain silent to keep their political options open. But the governor has received strong encouragement to run from organizations of corporate executives, which are a major source of campaign contributions.

While the efficacy of political endorsements is debatable, a large bloc of support from California’s GOP House members could give Wilson a considerable advantage in fund raising and party organization--plus help provide the momentum that separates him from the crowded field.

But if Wilson cannot pull together most of the state’s Capitol Hill endorsements, his candidacy could suffer from a lack of credibility on his home turf.

“Let’s face it, there is symbolic importance in getting these endorsements,” said Norman J. Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. “It would be an embarrassment if he doesn’t get most of them from his own state delegation.”

On the other hand, Ornstein said, “the dynamic of the California primary is such that a lot of other factors may be more important.”

One wild card is Dornan, the combative Orange County conservative. While promising to support the eventual GOP nominee, Dornan has trained his fire on Wilson, accusing him of being a “country club” Republican who has flip-flopped on key issues. Dornan also compared Wilson’s 1994 pledge not to run for President in 1996 to President Clinton’s 1990 pledge not to run for President in 1992.

Dornan’s capacity to move the political debate to the right and his penchant for attention-grabbing comments could alter the campaign by bringing conservative issues into sharper focus.

But elections are not won on pluralities of endorsements. “If you have a lot of members (of the California delegation), especially Orange County conservatives, endorse Gramm or Dornan and then Wilson becomes a front-runner, the endorsements won’t matter,” Ornstein said. “But if Wilson doesn’t do well (in primary elections) in Iowa and New Hampshire, it won’t make any difference if he has the endorsement of every single state elected official.”

Peter Roberson of States News Service contributed to this article.