Decoy Plan No Secret, Aide Testifies

Seven Orange County legislators, including the top GOP leaders in the state Senate and Assembly, knew that Republicans had placed a decoy Democrat on the ballot during a critical 1995 election, the chief campaign aide for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher testified in court Tuesday.

“It was common knowledge” among legislators who took part in an election strategy session in early November, said Jim Righeimer, campaign chairman for Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach). “I was aware that everyone in the meeting knew.”

Righeimer said Assembly GOP leader Curt Pringle and Senate GOP leader Rob Hurtt, among the legislators at the session, knew that a spoiler candidate, Laurie Campbell, had been placed on the Nov. 28 ballot. GOP Assembly members Marilyn Brewer, Dick Ackerman and Jim Morrissey, and state Sens. John Lewis and Ross Johnson also attended and were aware of the effort, Righeimer testified.

Campbell was recruited by GOP campaign workers to dilute the Democratic vote in an election to replace Assemblywoman Doris Allen and assist the candidacy of Republican Scott Baugh, a Rohrabacher protege, prosecutors allege. Allen was the subject of a simultaneous recall election critical to Republicans’ hopes to regain control of the Assembly.

Pringle (R-Garden Grove) and other legislators denied the allegations Tuesday.

“These are lies,” Pringle said.

Ackerman (R-Fullerton) and Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) said they learned that Campbell was a friend of Baugh’s from newspaper accounts after the election.

“There is no way in the world I knew anything like that was going on,” Morrissey said.

A spokesman said Rohrabacher would not comment to The Times. Rohrabacher has previously said he found out about the plan beforehand and advised his staff not to get involved.

Other legislators did not return telephone calls for comment.

Righeimer made the statements during a preliminary hearing into prosecutors’ allegations that Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) falsified campaign finance reports, in part to conceal his friendship with Campbell and a $1,000 contribution from her. Prosecutors contend that Baugh feared he would lose the election if voters learned of his links to Campbell’s candidacy.

Baugh is charged with five felony perjury counts and 13 misdemeanor violations of the Campaign Reform Act for allegedly falsifying five campaign and officeholder financial disclosure forms.

Baugh has denied any wrongdoing. He has insisted that he had nothing to do with Campbell’s run for office and that public knowledge of his ties to Campbell would not have cost him the election.

Although it is not illegal for members of one political party to recruit someone from another party to run in an election, it is a felony to fraudulently fill out any part of a nomination paper or to knowingly file a falsified nominating petition.

Three GOP aides pleaded guilty last year to single misdemeanors for collecting signatures for Campbell but failing to sign as circulators. Campbell was removed from the ballot in October by a Superior Court judge who found she had falsified her nominating papers.

Despite repeated questions from prosecutors, Righeimer was unable to describe the sources of his information. He could not say why he was so certain that the legislators at the meeting knew of the deliberate effort to recruit a Democrat, knew that Baugh and Campbell were friends, or knew that Baugh had received and returned the $1,000 contribution from Campbell.

Righeimer, the unpaid campaign chairman for Rohrabacher, testified that Pringle learned in advance of the effort to get Campbell on the ballot.

“It had been communicated to Mr. Pringle that a Democrat who knew Scott Baugh would be willing to run for this seat,” Righeimer said, adding that “[Pringle’s] staff had contacted Laurie Campbell to get her on the ballot.”

Pringle said he learned of Campbell’s $1,000 contribution to Baugh from news stories after the election.

Righeimer is “putting words in my mouth and thoughts in my head, and he has absolutely no idea of the accuracy of those ideas,” Pringle said. “He is completely wrong in his reference to me. He is a minor player in Orange County politics and there is absolutely nothing I would confide in Jim Righeimer.”

Pringle has maintained since 1995 that he did not learn until after the election of a staff member’s involvement in placing Campbell on the ballot.

Righeimer said the November session with Pringle, Lewis, Hurtt, Johnson, Brewer, Ackerman and Morrissey was called to discuss which of two Republicans--Baugh or Huntington Beach businesswoman Haydee V. Tillotson--should receive the group’s endorsement.

Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) was the only member of the Orange County delegation who was not part of the November strategy session, Righeimer said.

Righeimer’s disclosures came as he was testifying that Baugh had no motive to conceal the Campbell contribution.

The preliminary hearing continues today with Campbell on the stand.