Rohrabacher Looks Like Easy Victor

It may not have been the smoothest voyage to reelection for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, but the Republican from Huntington Beach appeared to have blazed to victory Tuesday anyway, the same as he has in every other race of his 10-year House career.

Rohrabacher, 51, was ahead of Democrat Patricia W. Neal, who pulled together a six-figure campaign war chest and a formidable fund-raising base in an attempt to upset the Republican’s reign.

But despite her apparent loss, Neal said late Tuesday that she was still proud to be the first viable candidate to challenge Rohrabacher, whom she has accused of being too arrogant about his past victory margins.

“We feel we’ve run a good race,” she said.

At a celebratory GOP event in Newport Beach, Rohrabacher was relaxed and cheerful, visiting with well-wishers who congratulated him on a wide and early lead.

“These voters know who I am,” he said. “I’ve been a congressman for 10 years and people know what I stand for.”

Rohrabacher acknowledged Neal’s aggressive, well-financed campaign but accused her of misrepresenting facts and waging insensitive attacks on him and his family, particularly after the death of his father two weeks ago.

“That made me withdraw from the campaign, but she stepped up her vicious ads,” he said, adding that Neal used mailers and television advertisements to take “negative swipes” at him whenever possible.

But judging from the latest returns Tuesday, the tactic didn’t work, he said.

“If I get more than 55% of the vote, it will indicate that the voters just didn’t believe her or her mean-spirited campaign,” Rohrabacher said.

Neal’s campaign was bolstered by endorsements from the California Federation of Labor--a coalition of 150 unions--and the building and construction trade unions of the AFL-CIO.

It was the first time the union federation had made an endorsement in the 45th Congressional District, which covers Orange County’s northern beach communities. Typically, the federation helps fund only candidates it believes can win.

A past president of the California Assn. of Realtors, Neal had hoped to use the same campaign strategy that worked for Democrat Loretta Sanchez when she defeated nine-term Rep. Robert K. Dornan in 1996: forming a coalition of Democrats, minorities, moderate Republicans and voters who support abortion rights.

She also focused on the convictions last year of Rohrabacher’s wife, Rhonda, on charges stemming from her involvement in a GOP plan to assist a Democratic decoy candidate in a key state Assembly race in 1995.

The ultimate winner of that race, Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), is still fighting criminal charges that he misreported thousands of dollars in contributions.

Neal referred to the scandal often and reminded voters that “character counts.”

“A lack of character is all we’ve seen throughout the campaign,” she said Tuesday. “And the lack of attention to the needs of the district is all we’ve seen throughout his years.”

Her campaign was arguably the strongest attempt ever to end Rohrabacher’s decade-long winning streak, with Neal raising more than $300,000--half of which came from a personal loan she made to her committee. Rohrabacher raised about $100,000.

But Rohrabacher--whose history of voting against environmental, Medicare and Social Security funding was heavily criticized in Neal’s campaign mailers--remained confident of his standing in a district with a greater GOP voter registration.

He repeated his belief that his voting record reflects district preferences on both local and national issues, noting that voters have agreed with him enough to return him to office each time with nothing less than 61% of the vote.

“I’ve never believed someone so tied to the liberal left has a chance in a conservative Republican district,” Rohrabacher said.

There are about 144,000 registered Republican voters in the 45th District, compared with about 91,000 Democrats.

He admits to a strong antiabortion voting record in Congress but said a bigger focus has been a successful effort to eliminate federal funding for most programs benefiting illegal immigrants.

He also secured more than $900,000 in federal money for repair of the Slater flood control channel in Huntington Beach and helped change flood map designations, which resulted in lower insurance rates for thousands of district residents.

Incumbents in other House races appeared to have similar showings Tuesday, with Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) holding a comfortable lead over Democrat Christina Avalos in the 47th District. Reelection was also expected for Ron Packard (R-Vista) in the 48th District and Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) in the 39th District.

In the 41st District, Republican Gary G. Miller appeared to have won the seat held by former Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar), who was bounced from the race in the June primary by Miller. Kim had pleaded guilty to accepting $230,000 in illegal foreign campaign money.