Rep. Radanovich Picked to Head GOP Freshmen

Freshmen Republican congressmen, refocusing their gaze on the November elections, picked a low-key Californian and self-described consensus-builder as their new class president Thursday.

Rep. George P. Radanovich, a Mariposa winemaker with a heretofore low congressional profile, takes the reins of one of the most fabled classes of first-termers in recent political history.

Heralded as unbending crusaders for a balanced budget, the 74-person class is now faced with internal disagreements over its future role in the mammoth tug of war over trimming the federal government.

Some freshmen members are openly worried that their zealotry is frightening voters--and they fear a payback at the polls.

Radanovich’s election indicates that “the militant, butt-kicking attitude” is waning, said freshman Rep. Sonny Bono of Palm Springs. “Everyone has kind of decided to work a little softer. The tough, assertive attitude is burning out, and Radanovich certainly doesn’t convey that sort of personality. He’s more of a diplomat.”

Radanovich, emerging from a Capitol meeting room to announce his victory over more aggressive challenger Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.), seemed eager to signal the less confrontational approach.

“We want to maintain our focus as the changing force in Washington,” Radanovich said. “But our first priority is to make sure that every one of us is reelected and back here for the 105th Congress.”

Radanovich promised to pursue the goals of a balanced budget and smaller government, but his candid call for attention to electoral politics bespoke a new reality dawning on many GOP freshmen.

One of his first tasks will be “incumbent-retention organization” along with developing a legislative agenda that “will benefit the freshman class,” he said.

Such overt reelection pragmatism struck some observers as out of step with the reformist fervor that made the class’s reputation.

“That’s incredible,” said Thomas E. Mann, a congressional scholar at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “ ‘Incumbency-retention’ seems the absolute antithesis of what this freshman class is all about. Maybe it should be called the ‘education of the freshmen revolutionaries.’ ”

But freshman Rep. Brian Bilbray of San Diego, one of Radanovich’s supporters, sees no contradiction in the focus on reelection.

“This class cares less about being in Washington than any class of the century,” Bilbray said. “The trouble is that the primary goal of changing the institution takes time, and that means you have to be reelected to finish the job.”

Despite the differences between the two contenders, the Thursday morning speechmaking and subsequent vote were genial, Bilbray said. “There wasn’t a single negative thing said about either one. It was pretty disgusting how nice they were to one another.”

“Our goals are the same,” said Scarborough afterward. “We agreed on so much that we want to do that [the outcome] was more a matter of style. We are coming up to the time when we need a consensus-builder like George. But on reform of Congress and balancing the budget, we’re on the same page.”

Viewed as the more pugnacious of the two contenders, Scarborough has called for the elimination of federal agencies such as the Education Department and pledged an aggressive fund-raising effort to aid freshmen in vulnerable seats.

“George has been more low-key . . . he has not gotten out in front on as many issues,” Scarborough said.

Radanovich takes over from Rep. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, who was well-regarded for his handling of the volatile class and had announced earlier that he only wanted to serve one year.

Radanovich got to Congress by knocking off former Rep. Richard Lehman, a Democrat who had held the seat for 12 years. Attacking Lehman’s 73% vote-loyalty to the Clinton administration, Radanovich branded the incumbent as an insider and went on to a 57%-40% victory--the biggest defeat of a non-freshman incumbent in 1994.

Radanovich’s 19th Congressional District includes most of Fresno and spreads over the farm country below the foothills of the Sierras from Visalia to mountainous Mariposa County. Parts of Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks are within its borders.

The son of Croatian immigrants, Radanovich, who is single, opened the first winery in Mariposa County, which annually ships 4,000 cases of wine to mostly Northern California markets.

He has served on the county Planning Commission and the County Board of Supervisors, and made an unsuccessful run for Lehman’s seat in 1992.

In Washington, Radanovich has compiled a conservative voting record but has toiled in the shadows--until his decision to run for class president.

The office comes with no perks, receives no aid from the House GOP leadership and is not known as a springboard to higher office.

But with his victory, Radanovich will have access to the highest party leaders and have an opportunity to display his leadership style.

Though clearly liked by his colleagues, Radanovich’s one brush with notoriety involved an administrative decision that still astonishes many veteran members.

In June, in a cost-cutting move, he started sending form letter responses to most of the constituent mail that pours into his office. The change was considered risky and revolutionary because many believe that personalized responses to even mundane constituent inquiries are a political necessity.