Wilson Nets $400,000 for Presidential Run at Irvine Fund-Raiser : Politics: He is fourth in the GOP money derby. He’s been bedeviled by a late start, slow recovery from throat surgery--and a strong O.C. contingent that backs others.

IRVINE — Gov. Pete Wilson raised about $400,000 Thursday for his presidential campaign at a dinner attended by nearly 370 people.

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The money will be added to his thin campaign treasury, which had $3.8 million as of June 30, putting him fourth among GOP presidential candidates.

Wilson campaign officials, who boasted of having $15 million in pledges earlier this year, had predicted the Republican presidential hopeful would have $6 million in hand by the mid-year reporting deadline.

Wilson’s national fund-raising efforts have been bedeviled by the late start of the campaign, as well as the governor’s slow recovery from throat surgery in April, which stymied his ability to make speeches and raise money.

John J. Cronin, Wilson’s state finance chairman, said earlier this month that the campaign’s goal was to raise $500,000 at the $1,000-a-plate dinner Thursday at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine.

In his 25-minute address, Wilson hit on recent campaign themes about changing welfare, staffing the border to slow the tide of illegal immigration and ending affirmative action. He did not mention the bankruptcy crisis that has gripped Orange County.

The Wilson fund-raiser likely set a county record of sorts. The previous top fund-raiser by a federal candidate, who wasn’t an incumbent President, was a dinner in March for Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, which raised $150,000. In June, Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole took in $75,000 at a breakfast in Newport Beach.

Wilson has powerful backers in the county, including Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren, who is the governor’s national finance chairman.

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Tom Malcolm, a lawyer and vice president of the politically influential Lincoln Club in Orange County, predicted that the Wilson’s stock will rise dramatically if Dole falters in New Hampshire.

“Wilson is in a good position,” he said. “He needs a little indication that Dole is vulnerable.”

However, a strong contingent of county Republicans are not backing the governor.

At last month’s GOP Central Committee meeting, more than a dozen Orange County Republican leaders supported a motion that took issue with Wilson’s candidacy, pointing out that he had specifically pledged during his gubernatorial campaign to serve four years in Sacramento.

Dale Dykema, a businessman and vice president of the Lincoln Club, is sharply critical of Wilson’s presidential run. Dykema, who has given to Wilson campaigns, now wears a button that says Wilson should stay in Sacramento.

“I certainly feel that Wilson made a commitment to people of California and feel he should follow through on it,” he said.

Nationally, Wilson faces an uphill battle for recognition and funds in the race for the Republican nomination. So far, his campaign has been handicapped by Dole’s domination in the polls and fund-raising.

As of June 30, Dole had raised $13.4 million, Gramm had $12.1 million and former Gov. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee had amassed $7.6 million.

Dole also has held center stage in the headlines because, along with House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich, he is the nation’s highest elected Republican and the leading foil for Democrat President Clinton.

Wilson managed to seize some of the national spotlight this month when he spoke out against affirmative action programs and then last week led the University of California Regents in its vote to abolish the race-based preferences in hiring, admissions and contracting.

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Wilson is walking a fine line in Orange County, where Gramm, a fiscal and social conservative, has attracted significant backing from the right-wing of the party. He drew in many GOP stalwarts by announcing early in the presidential contest.

Since launching his own presidential bid this spring, Wilson has been running toward the political right on affirmative action, taxes, the environment and immigration as part of his strategy to appeal to the bulk of GOP primary voters.

Nevertheless, Howard Klein, an Irvine patent attorney and member of the county GOP central committee who is backing Gramm, said he believes that Orange County’s conservative bent puts Wilson at a disadvantage.

“I’d say it’s Gramm, Wilson and then Dole among Republicans in Orange County,” Klein said. “Gramm was out here early, had an extraordinarily successful fund-raiser in March, made major inroads and garnered a lot of support.”

Several big-time donors to GOP politicians said that not all of Wilson’s former supporters will flock to him now. There is a difference between giving money to support Wilson against a Democrat and preferring him to other Republicans, they said.

“Wilson was not always received with open arms here,” said Buck Johns, a Republican activist and Gramm’s county chairman. “This is the first time in forever that Pete Wilson has run in a Republican primary. In addition, his fund-raising is being handicapped because he is the underdog to Bob Dole and because this is a federal election with a $1,000 contribution limit.”

However, Klein pointed out that Wilson is still the governor. “For that reason, even if you gave some money to Gramm or Dole, you want to be seen with Pete,” he said. “There’s no law that says you can’t contribute to them all.”

Times staff writer Len Hall contributed to this report.