Prosecutor Announces Run for Congress

An Orange County prosecutor who served in the Reagan administration will join Assemblyman Gary Miller in challenging embattled Rep. Jay Kim in June’s open primary.

Beginning Monday, about 17,000 households in Kim’s 41st Congressional District will be mailed an introduction to Peter W. Pierce, a deputy district attorney since 1993. Pierce is asking voters to return a resolution urging Kim to resign before he is sentenced Feb. 4 for accepting more than $200,000 in illegal campaign donations from Taiwanese and Korean nationals in 1992 and 1994.

Kim (R-Diamond Bar) and his wife, June, pleaded guilty last year to five misdemeanor counts for the donations. His campaign committees face felonies for concealing the contributions on reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

“These illegal donations made the difference between Congressman Kim winning or losing his seat in Congress in 1992--a victory that Kim, a former Democrat and Gov. Jerry Brown appointee--won by less than 1,000 votes,” Pierce, 37, says in the mailer.

The mailer will be distributed only to Republicans who voted in the last four elections, though all voters will be able to cast ballots in the state’s first open primary. The top party vote-getters then will face each other in the November general election.

Calls to Kim’s campaign manager and treasurer weren’t returned. His district office referred calls to the campaign office.

“More power to him,” Miller’s chief of staff, Bill Blankenship, said earlier this week when told of Pierce’s intent to enter the race. Candidates can begin obtaining candidacy papers next month.

Miller (R-Diamond Bar) has been endorsed by most of Orange County’s legislative delegation and dozens of local elected officials. He declared last November that he would run for the seat, a move that was urged, he said, by GOP leaders fearful that the politically wounded Kim wouldn’t survive a Democratic challenge. Miller, a developer, has pledged to spend $500,000 on the race.

The 41st District is made up of areas of three counties. About 20% is in northeast Orange County, 30% in southeast Los Angeles County and half in San Bernardino County. Kim and Miller are from Diamond Bar, where both served on the City Council; Pierce lives in Yorba Linda.

Pierce’s political consultant, Frank Caterinicchio, said his message will revolve around his Christian faith, conservative views and strong law-and-order background. This will be a return engagement for Caterinicchio, who assisted Orange County attorney and former Reagan official James Lacy when he challenged Kim in 1992. Lacy, who came in third, trailed by only 1,200 votes.

“We’re getting to the point where the only qualifications for office are incumbency or wealth,” Caterinicchio said. “Voters expect better than that.”

Despite the open primary, Republican officials said they intend to stay out of contested races in June with the exception of the governor’s race. Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, so far the only GOP candidate hoping to replace outgoing Gov. Pete Wilson, is expected to receive the party’s first-ever endorsement at its February state convention.