Leonard Likely to Be Assembly GOP Leader

Assemblyman Bill Leonard of San Bernardino emerged Monday as the apparent winner of a three-way contest to replace Curt Pringle of Garden Grove as the next Assembly Republican leader.

The actual change at the helm of the Assembly’s minority party is not expected to take place until later in the summer, but a vote to install Leonard could come as early as today, insiders said.

Leonard, a 49-year-old conservative Republican with deeply held, Bible-based moral beliefs, stood alone at day’s end Monday as the likely next GOP Assembly leader after his known opposition collapsed.

Assemblymen Tom Bordonaro of Paso Robles and Keith Olberg of Victorville, who had been campaigning vigorously for the position, announced that they were withdrawing and throwing their support to Leonard.

Earlier in the day, Leonard said that if he is chosen he would stand by his pledge not to try to oust Pringle, but rather would wait for Pringle to step down willingly. He declined further comment.

Pringle has said repeatedly that he would give up the leadership position of his own accord after legislators and Gov. Pete Wilson enact the next state budget. That could happen next month.

Bordonaro substantially enhanced Leonard’s chances of gaining the leadership early in the day when he not only announced his withdrawal but swung the votes of about half a dozen of his supporters to Leonard.

Until then, the race between Leonard and Olberg had been handicapped as dead even.

On Monday afternoon, Olberg joined Bordonaro in announcing his support for Leonard. In a brief interview, Olberg said a counting of available votes led to his decision.

Needing 19 votes, he said he lost ground with Bordonaro’s decision and decided to end his campaign.

“I’m disappointed,” he said, but added, “I wish [Leonard] well.” In the end, he said, who wins the leadership is not nearly as important as Republicans winning enough votes in 1998 to retake the Assembly.

Republicans lost control of the house in elections last November after ruling for two years, following decades of Democratic dominance.

Olberg, 36, had campaigned the hardest for the leadership job--emphasizing proven abilities to raise funds for other Republicans, effective campaign strategies and a history of taking the lead on policy positions supported by fellow Assembly Republicans.

Leonard, considered less doctrinaire as a legislator, has been described as highly skilled in knowing the intricacies necessary to move legislation. With legislative experience spanning almost 20 years, Leonard served in the Assembly, then the state Senate. Facing Senate term limits, he returned to Assembly this year.

In recent weeks, with Pringle saying he would step down this summer, support for a new leader among the Assembly’s GOP members swung back and forth among Bordonaro, Olberg and Leonard, who was the last of the three to join the race.

Pringle’s decision to step down was driven largely by his role in running a campaign that resulted in the GOP Assembly defeat last year.

But facing an apparent ouster movement last month, Pringle called the bluff of insurgents in a closed-door meeting of Assembly Republicans. He put his leadership to a vote and won easily, reiterating his pledge to step down willingly after current state budget negotiations conclude.

Pringle said Monday that he anticipates “a smooth transition,” although he didn’t rule out the possibility Leonard might call for a leadership vote soon.

“It might happen, it might not,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter.”

Bordonaro said Monday he swung his support to Leonard with the understanding that a three-part agenda would be the top priority.

He said “the accord with Bill” is based on a strategy to retake the Assembly in 1998, develop a plan that all GOP members can support, and unite the Assembly members behind the new leader “as quickly as possible.”

Bordonaro said he agrees now, as he did when campaigning for the leadership post, that Pringle should not be removed by force.

“We need to pass the baton, not yank it out of someone’s hand,” he said.