Gloves Off in GOP 46th District Race

The 46th District primary race ignited last week as the Republicans vying to run against Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) ended their detente and began attacking one another.

Former Rep. Robert Dornan and Superior Court Judge James P. Gray directed the sharpest barbs at lawyer Lisa Hughes, accusing her of concealing her pro-choice abortion views from conservative voters.

Hughes has described herself variously as pro-choice and as “pro-life.” When questioned carefully, she said she supports abortion in the first trimester for “mature women,” but favors reversing the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion, so that each state may decide the issue.

“That’s not a position, that’s rhetoric,” Gray said of Hughes’ stance after a debate Tuesday on a Christian radio station, in which Hughes talked about the issue but never mentioned her backing for first-trimester abortions.

Bill Wachob, a consultant to Sanchez, who favors abortion rights, said Hughes is “in a real box” because, among Republican voters, conservatives generally dominate the June primary.

“She can’t get anywhere without getting out of the primary. And she’s dead [with conservative Republicans] if she doesn’t characterize herself as pro-life,” he said. “She is trying to get as close to having both sides of the issue as she can.”

Hughes’ campaign spokesman, John Theiss, said abortion is not a front-burner issue in the district. When Hughes goes out among voters, they are more interested in her views on lowering taxes and saving Social Security, he said.

Dornan has also been a target for his GOP opponents.

Last week, Hughes called Dornan “an embarrassment” to the district for being excluded from the House floor for berating a Democratic congressman last year. A fourth candidate, former Cypress Councilman Chuck Coronado, declared that “Bob [Dornan] is finished” and “has created a lot of harm” by alienating Latino voters from the GOP.

The House rejected Dornan’s effort to overturn Sanchez’s election because of alleged voting by noncitizens, and he and the GOP were accused of targeting Sanchez because she is a Latina.

All three of his GOP opponents say Dornan’s image is so tarnished that he cannot beat Sanchez in a rematch.

That is also the view of the conservative Lincoln Club, which last week took the unusual step of endorsing a candidate in the primary, in this case Hughes. Club president Dale Dykema said the Republican political action committee has backed Hughes because as a woman she presents “the best opportunity” to retake the seat.

“It will be a different race with Lisa and Sanchez,” he said. “There will not be the emotionalism that would be generated by claims of voter fraud [if Dornan runs]. They can run a campaign based on other issues.”

Other Lincoln Club members said Hughes would neutralize Sanchez’s advantage with women voters, especially Republican women who deserted Dornan because of his opposition to abortion.

Dornan belittled the endorsement, noting that few--if any--of the club’s wealthy members live in the central Orange County district. And he and Gray pointed out that neither does Hughes.

“Big deal,” Dornan said. “Lisa Hughes was the Lincoln Club’s treasurer. They are endorsing one of their own, and she can’t even vote for herself in the race.”

The Hughes campaign, however, believes few voters care that she lives in Orange, in the district of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach). There is no requirement that members of Congress live in the districts in which they run.

Hughes said that Dornan, who owns a house in Garden Grove, actually lives in his larger house in Virginia.

“This is the district I match,” she said. “I am not a Newport Beach congressman.”

Hughes said she has numerous ties to the district. It is where she bought her first home 20 years ago and owns two condominiums, she said, and where her daughters attend private high school. She said she would move into the district when she and her husband sell their home. It is listed at $2,995,000.

The major dispute, however, centered on where Hughes stands on abortion and whether she is tailoring her views to fit her audience.

In a debate last month before the county GOP Central Committee, Hughes presented herself as an anti-abortion candidate to the sharply conservative audience, which frequently condemns candidates not in line with its strong anti-abortion sentiments.

Hughes told committee members she would “carry a conservative message” on abortion because at “19, unmarried and pregnant, I chose to keep my child, and it is a decision I have never regretted a day in my life.” She described herself as against government funding for abortion and in favor of parental consent laws. The delegates applauded.

Hughes repeated the story of her pregnancy Tuesday on the Jane Chastain show on KBRI-AM. Chastain, however, defined “pro-life” in her question as being “against abortion except to save the life of the mother.”

Hughes answered: “I cannot say that I would ban abortion in all cases,” such as rape and incest. “My position is, I am pro-choice, I choose life.” Again she did not mention her support of first-trimester abortions.

Afterward, both Gray and Dornan criticized her response. “In the pro-life movement, we call that the ‘but’ position,” Dornan said.

Gray’s abortion position is similar to Hughes’. He supports choice in the first trimester, but said abortion after fetal viability “would be murder.” He opposes government funding of abortion and supports parental consent laws.

Dornan told Chastain he opposes all abortions except to save the life of the mother. Coronado added an exception for rape and incest. All the candidates said they oppose partial-birth abortion.

In an interview that evening, Hughes said she is “very much pro-life, but I believe women have choice.

“You don’t tell me what to do,” she said. “I make up my own mind.”

Hughes’ views are buttressed by her belief that first-trimester abortions will remain legal, because of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. “I don’t think we will have a constitutional amendment in my lifetime that will ban abortions,” she said.

Asked if she would support such an amendment, she answered: “I don’t know.”

Sanchez backs abortion rights and last year voted against a bill outlawing partial-birth abortions because it did not include an exception for the health of the mother or gross deformity of the fetus. The bill passed both houses and President Clinton vetoed it.