Pringle, on the Upswing, Sets Sights Higher

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

After his freshman term in the Assembly, the Orange County Republican was knocked off in 1990 by a Democrat. He licked his wounds and returned two years later to capture an Assembly post in a redrawn district again centered on Garden Grove.

By last year, he had jumped to the highest perch, Assembly speaker, then tumbled after Democrats recaptured the lower house in the November election. But 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 has his sights set on a higher target in next year’s election--state controller. Pringle’s prospects, by most accounts, are mixed.

The incumbent, Kathleen Connell, is uncommitted to 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.”

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

“I think it’s 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 that 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 his even running for a statewide office. He 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 trial.

He 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 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 summer’s long budget stalemate.

That relationship proved fruitful in the final days of the legislative session. Pringle scored high marks by acting as a shuttle diplomat between Lockyer, who has emerged as the most influential Democrat in Sacramento, and the Senate leader’s 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 special Assembly election that allowed the GOP to recapture the lower house.

Before that, Pringle was slammed for a GOP decision in 1988 to station uniformed security guards outside voting sites 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 resonate with Latino voters, a point that is not lost on Pringle partisans. His backers say he will need to garner at least three of every 10 votes from this ethnic group to win statewide (in the 1996 presidential race Bob Dole got fewer than two of 10 Latino votes in California). Pringle hopes to blunt criticism by highlighting his work with Latino lawmakers in Sacramento as well as minority voters in his district.

Some pundits say the negatives won’t matter to much of the electorate.

“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 such as 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 is a long way from the $3.5 million he hopes to spend in the primary and general elections.

There is a chance that the courts will throw out Proposition 208, 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 that 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 is 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, it’s a tougher race for Lungren,” Pringle said, adding that her decision is “a big one” for his prospects.