Huffington Considering Congress Bid

In a potential comeback bid that has fellow Republicans reeling, former Santa Barbara Rep. Mike Huffington is gauging support for a run at his old congressional seat.

The move has intensified efforts by party leaders from House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) on down to coax Assemblyman Brooks Firestone (R-Los Olivos) into the contest to block a Huffington campaign. Firestone, a moderate in keeping with the relatively centrist district, is a declared candidate for lieutenant governor.

“The entire California congressional delegation would like to see him run,” said one Republican strategist, describing near-panic within the state’s GOP contingent over the prospect of a return of Huffington, last seen sinking nearly $30 million into an unsuccessful 1994 U.S. Senate bid against Dianne Feinstein.

The machinations follow the death Tuesday of Democratic Rep. Walter Capps, 63, who served only 10 months before suffering a fatal heart attack.

Within 48 hours, according to Republicans on both coasts, Huffington was making telephone calls sizing up potential support. In a brief interview, he declined to confirm or deny his interest in the congressional contest, saying “a few days of peace and quiet” were appropriate in deference to Capps’ widow.

But other Republicans weren’t waiting. Early Thursday, GOP leaders on Capitol Hill were scrambling to orchestrate an endorsement of Firestone to prevent what one strategist called “a disaster for the party” if Huffington were to win the Republican nomination.

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The 50-year-old transplanted Texan left a strong residue of bitterness in the 22nd Congressional District, in no small part because he spent $3 million in 1992 to defeat a longtime incumbent, fellow Republican Robert Lagomarsino, only to give up the seat two years later to run for the Senate.

Huffington spent $28 million of his personal fortune in that nasty 1994 contest, which he narrowly lost to Democrat Feinstein. He barely carried his own congressional district against Feinstein, pulling less than 50% of the vote.

“From the polling data I’ve seen in the last year, there’s only one person more unpopular than Newt Gingrich in the 22nd Congressional District,” said John Davis, a GOP strategist in Santa Barbara. “And that’s Michael Huffington.”

Since losing to Feinstein, Huffington has largely retreated from public view. In December 1995, he announced plans to sell his Montecito estate and move to Los Angeles, where he now lives along the Wilshire corridor.

After ruling out a run for governor next year, Huffington has increasingly focused on a career in film production.

Earlier this year, he and his wife of 11 years, Arianna, divorced. They share custody of their two daughters.

Summing up Huffington’s political comeback prospects, Republican consultant Allan Hoffenblum put it succinctly. “Money wouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “Getting votes could be.”

A special election to fill Capps’ seat will probably be held in December or January, followed by a February or March runoff, if necessary.