GOP Derails Challenge to Long Beach Congressman : Politics: Rep. Steve Horn has angered conservatives. But House leaders persuade a potential rival to back off.

In an effort to keep Republican moderates in the fold, the House GOP leadership has derailed a primary election challenge to Rep. Steve Horn, a bookish Long Beach lawmaker whose voting record has riled conservatives.

Rick Dykema, an aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), had openly courted support among California conservatives since late last year. But top GOP leaders persuaded Dykema to drop his plan.

“I don’t remember the exact words,” Dykema said Thursday, “but it was some kind of statement about ‘don’t do this.’ There was never anything that I would consider a threat.”

The leadership maneuver was consistent with a policy enunciated earlier this year that all Republican incumbents would be endorsed for reelection.

And the GOP leaders, including Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Bill Paxon of New York and Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, made it clear that Horn would receive full-scale reelection assistance from the party hierarchy.

“It was explained to me that [Speaker Newt] Gingrich, [Majority Leader] Dick Armey and DeLay would all come to the district to campaign for Horn, raise money, make endorsements, and that the NRCC would make a major contribution to the Horn campaign,” Dykema said.

With that knowledge, Dykema folded his tent.

The episode points up an ongoing juggling act for Gingrich and his lieutenants. They need the votes of moderates to pass key elements of their more conservative legislative agenda.

The promise to support all Republican incumbents--despite their occasional defections from the party line--was a tactical decision to head off messy intraparty squabbles and ensure party discipline during key votes, such as the budget reconciliation bill under consideration on the House floor Thursday.

“They wanted to make sure that all the moderates feel like they are part of the team, and to do that they have to protect everyone who’s the incumbent,” Dykema said.

Horn would not comment on Dykema’s decision. Two Democrats have lined up against Horn--environmental lawyer Richard Zbur and Cerritos College teacher Peter Mathews.

For much of the year, Dykema, 42, had been encouraged by California conservatives to challenge Horn in the 38th District, which encompasses Long Beach, Downey and Lakewood.

The two-term Horn, a former president of Cal State Long Beach, has rankled conservatives on a number of issues--abortion, family leave, gays in the military, gun control--where his votes more often side with Democrats.

To Dykema, Horn’s gravest sins are on money issues.

“He’s been much more with President Clinton . . . on votes on fiscal issues and budget matters. He’s a liberal Republican. Any objective measure of his voting record shows he’s the most liberal Republican in the California delegation,” Dykema said.

At the state Republican convention in late September, Dykema got wind of the leadership “weighing in very heavily on behalf of Horn.” Back in Washington, he got the word face-to-face.

“It was something that I disagree with, but felt I had to yield to. But it would be good for conservatives to look at how it affects conservative primary challenges throughout the country,” Dykema said.

By wooing moderate votes for today’s legislative wars, Dykema reasons, the GOP leadership is frustrating the election of more obedient conservative members for tomorrow’s battles.

“That’s the trade-off,” Dykema said, “and they have come down on a different side of the trade-off than I do.”