Pringle, With Eye on State Race, Has a New Look

Curt Pringle has always been a catlike campaigner, clawing his way back from what seems certain political death.

After his freshman term in California’s Assembly, the Orange County Republican was knocked off in 1990 by Democrat enemies. He licked his wounds and returned two years later to capture a Garden Grove Assembly post.

By last year, he had jumped to the highest perch, Assembly speaker, then tumbled after Democrats recaptured the lower house in last November’s election. Out of power, Pringle turned around this year to enjoy probably his best season in the Legislature, helping produce a $1-billion tax cut for middle-class Californians.

Now he’s got his sights set on a higher target in next year’s election, the office of state controller. Pringle’s prospects, by most accounts, are mixed.

The incumbent, Controller Kathleen Connell, is uncommitted on a reelection bid and has been eyeing the governor’s race. Pringle would be waging an uphill fight should she stick around.

“If he’s running against Kathleen Connell, he ought to save his money,” said Bill Carrick, a Democratic consultant. “I can’t imagine a set of circumstances where Curt Pringle would have a shot at her.”

But if Connell chucks reelection, Pringle would be a front runner.

With his up-and-down campaign record, Pringle isn’t taking anything for granted.

“I think it’s a real tough either way,” Pringle said. “If I’m running against the incumbent, it’s a battle on the natural. If not, it’s still a battle to get my name out.”

Some upbeat Republicans believe Pringle can do well no matter what Connell decides.

“Curt comes out of a strong Republican base where he’s very well known,” said Wayne Johnson, a Sacramento-based GOP consultant. “I would think he can run up the score very high in Orange County. Kathleen Connell should be worried.”

Orange County is one thing. But can Pringle score big statewide?

When he broke into the Legislature, pundits would have scoffed at the possibility of him even running for a statewide office. Pringle was a back-bench legislator of the lowest order, a skittish lawmaker who voted no on almost everything and was ridiculed by the majority Democrats as a rigid ideologue.

Pringle, or at least the perception of Pringle, has been wholly rewoven since then.

He has matured politically and shucked the cautious demeanor of a beginner. Though on occasion prickly and a back-room pugilist, Pringle can turn on the charm in the corridors of the Capitol and on the campaign trail.

Pringle also has won plaudits from Republicans and Democrats alike for his policy skills, swelling pragmatism and ability to build bridges to liberals.

It was Pringle, for instance, who fashioned a friendship with Senate Leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) after they discovered a mutual love for page-turner novels. The two policy wonks traded books and talked plot developments all through this past summer’s long budget stalemate.

That relationship came in handy in the final days of the legislative session. Pringle scored high marks by acting as a shuttle diplomat between Lockyer and his Republican rival, Gov. Pete Wilson. Today, both Wilson and Lockyer gush about Pringle.

“He’s smart, he’s a quick study, he’s pragmatic,” Lockyer said. “I find him to be a very fine guy and an excellent legislator.”

Sean Walsh, Wilson’s spokesman, said the governor considers Pringle almost a surrogate son. “The growth of Curt Pringle is really impressive in the last couple of years,” Walsh said. “He’s really come into his own. He’s more than ready for statewide office.”

But is California ready for Curt? Democratic Party leaders don’t think so. They say Pringle’s political ballast will sink his statewide bid.

“He doesn’t have a prayer,” said Bob Mulholland, a state Democratic campaign advisor. “Everywhere he goes, we’ll hit him with all this stuff in the closet.”

Pringle has been brushed by scandal over efforts by Orange County Republicans to put a ringer Democrat on the ballot for a key 1995 Assembly election that allowed the GOP to recapture the Assembly.

Before that, Pringle was slammed for a GOP decision in 1988 to station uniformed security guards outside voting precincts in his Assembly district on election day. Democrats said the poll guards were intended to scare off Latino voters. Republicans ended up paying $400,000 to settle a civil lawsuit brought by several Latinos angered by the incident.

A decade later, the episode could still resonates with Latino voters, a point that isn’t lost on Pringle partisans. His backers say Pringle will need to garner at least three of every 10 Latino votes to win statewide. (Bob Dole got less than two of 10 in the 1996 presidential race.) Pringle hopes to blunt criticism by highlighting his work with Latino lawmakers in Sacramento as well as with minority voters in his own district.

Some pundits say the negatives won’t matter to many voters.

“No one outside Orange County knows much about those problems or cares,” said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican consultant. “Poll guards in particular is old news. There’s so much Curt has done since then, including getting defeated and reelected.”

Another potential problem could be money. Under new campaign rules ushered in by last year’s Proposition 208, Pringle and others are hard-pressed to raise cash, giving incumbents like Connell an even bigger advantage in the name-recognition war. (It is Connell’s name, for instance, that adorns every tax-return check issued by the state.)

Pringle acknowledges that fund-raising is tough, with $1,000 limits per individual donor each election. So far, he has raised about $150,000, aides say. That’s a long way from the $3.5 million Pringle hopes to spend in the primary and general elections.

There is a chance that Proposition 208 will be thrown out by the courts, opening up the prospects for big checks from major Republican donors in the business community and special-interest groups such as gun owners. Pringle is also looking to broaden his fund-raising base with the help of Wilson, who has introduced him to big Republican donors such as Alex Spanos, the San Diego Chargers owner.

Money aside, Pringle’s fate could rest with the whims of an unlikely ally: Dianne Feinstein.

Pringle is hoping the U.S. senator from California won’t run for governor. If Feinstein throws her hat in, Connell would almost certainly back down and seek reelection as controller.

In addition, Feinstein would probably prove the most formidable opponent to the presumptive GOP nominee, state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren. That’s important because tight “down-ballot” races such as the controller and treasurer contests often hinge on the results at the top of the ticket.

“If Feinstein runs, its a tougher race for Lungren,” Pringle said, adding that “Feinstein’s decision is a big one” for his prospects.