Doris Allen Vows Fight to Become Assembly Speaker

Orange County Assemblywoman Doris Allen, fed up with feuding in the Republican caucus and irked by the party’s Assembly leader, announced Tuesday that she will seek to become Speaker of the Assembly.

Republicans and Democrats alike reacted with a mixture of shock and amusement at the announcement by Allen, who finished third earlier this year in a tight battle for the 35th Senate seat’s Republican nomination.

Allen (R-Cypress) told colleagues of her plans during a lunchtime gathering of the Assembly Republican caucus. During a short speech, she voiced anger that many Assembly Republicans backed Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-Placentia) in the Senate race and accused him of hatching a deal with the California Teachers Assn. to mute its support for Allen’s candidacy.

Most lawmakers suggested that Allen, a 13-year veteran of the Assembly, would be a long shot to get the top position, which has been held by Democrat Willie Brown of San Francisco since the early 1980s.

“I like Doris, but the last time I checked there wasn’t a vacancy,” said Assemblyman Phil Isenberg (D-Sacramento), a Brown ally. “But who knows, circumstances can change. Stranger things have happened.”

Assembly GOP leader Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga) could not be reached for comment, but a spokeswoman said he plans to remain a candidate for the post when Republicans eventually gain full control of the Assembly.

Allen told reporters that she is convinced that Johnson struck a deal with the California Teachers Assn. that caused the powerful labor organization to scale back its support for her Senate bid. Allen had hoped the CTA would spend about $100,000 for advertising on her behalf, but the group spent about a quarter of that.

She maintained that Johnson agreed to leave the Assembly within days of Tuesday’s final election for the Senate seat in exchange for the CTA pulling back. Allen said the deal amounted to “skulduggery.”

A visibly angry Johnson said Tuesday night that the charge was “utterly absurd. I had no conversation with the CTA or anyone else along those lines.”

Many Republicans had hoped Johnson would stay on for several more weeks, giving the party a chance after the May 16 recall vote on Assemblyman Paul Horcher (I-Diamond Bar) to make a run at unseating Brown.

Allen said she envisioned the speakership battle coming to a head in mid-June, when a replacement is picked for former Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), who jumped to the Senate earlier this year.

Though members of both parties predicted that Allen faces long odds, she wasn’t giving up on anything.

“There are a lot of people unhappy” in the Republican caucus, Allen said Tuesday. “I’m there as an alternative.”

Allen held out hope that she could gain the support of Democrats as well as Republicans. But if her own attempt failed, Allen insisted she would not support Brown or any other Democrat. As for the chances she would back a Republican other than Brulte for speaker, she said, “We’ll have to see what happens.”

After her defeat in the Senate race by Johnson, Allen was named chairwoman of the Assembly Health Committee, but quickly got into a tussle with Brulte and his Republican lieutenants over their refusal to send about a dozen bills dealing with Health Maintenance Organizations to her panel. Allen’s committee is considered tougher on HMOs, and the GOP wanted the bills heard instead in the more lenient Assembly Insurance Committee.

“Doris has some beefs out there,” said Assemblyman Tom J. Bordonaro Jr. (R-Paso Robles). “Maybe she’s venting anger.”

“I was surprised by it,” said Assemblyman Jim Cunneen (R-Cupertino). “Doris is a superb legislator and a good person, but we’ve got one leader, and that’s Jim Brulte. While Doris is a superb legislator, Jim will be a superb speaker.”

Tom Fuentes, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party, was also surprised.

Fuentes said he had heard nothing of Allen’s plan, though he has been working with her staff on a June fund-raiser to retire her campaign debts. The guest of honor--Brulte.

“I don’t know how that scheduling is going to be impacted,” he said, then chuckled. “I hope they remain friendly in all this.”

Fuentes said Brulte earned his shot at the leadership position through his success in helping the GOP capture eight Democrat seats in the November election and nearly topple Brown from the Assembly’s top spot.

For their part, Democrats seemed provoked to humor.

“My guess is she is frustrated with leadership in the Republican caucus,” Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) said. “She doesn’t feel she or others have been treated fairly. . . . I think she feels it is important to have a more moderate spokesperson for the caucus.”

Katz rejected the idea that Allen may have been jockeying for favors.

“No, I don’t think so. . . ,” he said. “Once you do it, you open yourself up for charges and countercharges. The Republican Party has not shown a lot of tolerance of people who don’t go with the party line.”

Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco), meanwhile, rejected the idea that Speaker Brown or other Democrats had conspired with Allen to block Brulte’s election to the speakership. He also denied that Democrats might vote for her.

“My speaker is Willie Brown,” he said.

Times staff writer Len Hall contributed to this story.