Paul Clarke; Political Consultant for Wife

Paul A. Clarke, a political consultant who helped guide the career of his wife, former Republican congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler, died of lung cancer Friday at his Northridge home. He was 50.

Clarke, then a suburban insurance salesman, met Fiedler at a 1976 anti-busing rally in the San Fernando Valley, where opposition to the plan to desegregate Los Angeles city schools was intense. From that meeting, the two forged a team that powered her into public office.

He helped Fiedler win election to the Los Angeles school board in 1977. He also served as her campaign manager--and later as her chief of staff--when she was elected to Congress in 1980.

The duo ran into trouble in 1986 when a county grand jury indicted the pair for allegedly offering a $100,000 campaign contribution to lure then-state Sen. Ed Davis out of the GOP primary.

A judge dismissed the case, but the fallout may have hurt Fiedler. She was forced to give up her congressional seat in running for the Senate, and she lost in the primary to then-Rep. Ed Zschau.

Clarke later started a consulting business and wrote numerous opinion columns for The Times.

In addition to his wife, Clarke is survived by stepdaughter Lisa Fiedler Keating of Granada Hills; stepson Randy Fiedler of Northridge; parents Paul and Isabella Clarke of Rockville, Md.; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be Sunday at Eden Memorial Park, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills.