State GOP Ousts Man for Endorsing Clinton

If Paul Stepanek had been in the mob he would either be in the witness protection program or at the bottom of Santa Monica Bay.

An unsuccessful GOP candidate for Congress two years ago, Stepanek is living proof that his party never forgets.

Stepanek has been officially ousted from the California Republican Party for endorsing Bill Clinton, the first time in recent memory that a former Republican nominee has been handed such a punishment.

“The reason why it is so rare and infrequent is that it is so rare to find someone who would do such a thing,” said Mike Madrid, deputy political director for the party. “This is a slap in the face of the party.”

Stepanek was banned Sunday by the party’s executive committee, which met in Burlingame. He is excluded from participating in all party functions, such as voting on the state’s Republican platform.

But on Tuesday Stepanek, 37, said the whole thing was a misunderstanding. He said he never endorsed Clinton, but simply backed the president’s program to increase funding and research for breast and ovarian cancer. “The distinction was that I was endorsing the president’s position, [but] to the state party, that is the same as endorsing the president,” he said.

The dispute dates back to November 1996 when Stepanek, a Westside public relations man, was running a longshot bid to unseat veteran Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

Although Stepanek insists he did not openly endorse Clinton, a press release issued by his campaign in the waning days of the race seemed to indicate otherwise.

Dated Oct. 23, 1996, the release said Stepanek had “endorsed and will begin campaigning for Clinton/Gore ’96.” The release, which was exhibit A against Stepanek in the proceedings Sunday, states that Stepanek decided to break ranks with Dole because he felt the Republican party was pressuring him to seek campaign funds from the tobacco industry.

“I will not be pressured into taking large sums of tobacco special interest dollars, and I will not be a part of pushing tobacco on our children,” Stepanek said in the release.

The party’s bylaws explicitly forbid GOP-sponsored candidates from endorsing office-seekers registered in another party. Punishments range from censure to ouster.

The GOP has little tolerance for violators. In 1995, the Orange County GOP Central Committee voted to condemn Republican Assembly Speaker Doris Allen of Cypress for allying herself with Democrats to win that office.

The committee endorsed a recall that ultimately forced Allen out of office.

Timothy Morgan, chairman of the party’s rules committee, said Stepanek’s punishment fits the crime: “It’s the worst thing you can do. It’s a direct assault on the two-party system.”

Stepanek said he didn’t realize there was a ban on endorsing candidates from other parties and was simply expressing his views on a subject he felt strongly about. He said several women in his family have been stricken with or died from breast or ovarian cancer.

“I’m disappointed that the issue I was working on can’t have a home in the Republican party,” he said.

But the punishment may have little effect other than to send a strong message. The banishment lasts until another Republican nominee is chosen in June to challenge Waxman.

Stepanek said he has no plans to run for office. He is still registered as a Republican, but he now considers himself a private citizen more than anything else.

But he may not be completely out in the cold. Bob Mulholland, a campaign advisor for the state Democratic party, said the Democrats may be willing to take him in.

“I’ll be glad to send him a voter registration card,” Mulholland said.