Hurtt Warns of More Gifts to Democrats

Senate Republican Leader Rob Hurtt on Wednesday warned Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer that he intends to make more surprise contributions to Democratic candidates for the upper house.

Hurtt, a wealthy conservative Orange County manufacturer who wants to replace Lockyer as leader of the Senate, refused to identify potential Democratic recipients in next Tuesday’s election but teased that “the week isn’t over yet.”

Last week, Lockyer and other Democrats were caught off-guard when it was disclosed in campaign filings that Hurtt had quietly given $40,000 in a Democratic primary. He gave the money to the Senate campaign of Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood), who is seeking to oust Sen. Teresa Hughes (D-Inglewood), a Lockyer ally.

In a rare side-by-side but friendly appearance with Lockyer at the Sacramento Press Club, Hurtt was asked if he also intends to finance other Democrats.

“Probably, in the future,” he said. “I think there always will be an opportunity--occasionally, not very much.” He added such case-by-case contributions “wouldn’t be a steady stream.”

Hurtt insisted that he crossed party lines because he likes Tucker’s record on creating jobs, an explanation Lockyer said he found “difficult to believe.”

“The policy rationale doesn’t convince me,” said Lockyer, who frequently attacks Hurtt as a “right-wing religious extremist.” Lockyer asserted that the only jobs Tucker “might be creating are in the tobacco and gambling industries.”

Tucker has carried various gambling and tobacco bills.

Hurtt clearly delighted in the shock waves he created by contributing to Tucker. “My strategies and tactics are going to be different, have been different, will be different,” Hurtt said.

Tucker, in an interview Wednesday, said his acceptance of Hurtt’s money did not mean he had “sold out” the Democratic Party, his district or committed other political offenses, as alleged by Hughes.

“In order to be able to run a campaign against a candidate propped up by Bill Lockyer and the Democratic Party, I need money,” Tucker said in an interview. “Why would $40,000 from Rob Hurtt change me or make me any less a Democrat? That is horse----. I am a loyal Democrat even though the Democratic Party has not been loyal to me.”

Tucker complained that “no one is mentioning” a $50,000 contribution he received from Mayor Willie Brown of San Francisco or a $50,000 personal loan he said he took out for his campaign. “They just want to focus on the $40,000 I took from Hurtt in order to save [Hughes’] dying campaign,” Tucker said.

If elected, Tucker said, “I will not vote for a Republican for president pro tem of the Senate.” He said he would vote for a Democrat but it might not be Lockyer because Lockyer “is making it harder on himself the more trash he talks.”