Dornan’s Libertarian Mailing Met With Ire

Most minor-party candidates in Orange County get used to drawing scant attention during the election season, thanks to the small number of votes they ultimately get.

Not so with Libertarian Thomas E. Reimer, whose voters have been targeted by former Republican congressman Robert K. Dornan in his race to unseat Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove).

Dornan mailed letters to about 500 registered Libertarians in central Orange County’s 46th Congressional District urging them to vote for him, not Reimer. There are about 1,000 registered Libertarians in the district.

“Tom is a wonderful guy, but a vote for him will probably elect Sanchez, the least worthy of the four of us on the ballot,” Dornan’s letter said. “When you go to the polls, please don’t make your vote a spoiler vote.”

He noted that Reimer, who also ran in 1996, got 2,500 votes out of 106,000 cast. Reform Party candidate Larry Stafford got 3,000 votes. Dornan lost to Sanchez by 984 votes.

Reimer, of Anaheim, is more than a bit miffed at Dornan’s Libertarian outreach. He said Dornan called him and asked him not to run because he would pull votes from Dornan’s challenge to Sanchez.

“I said, ‘Absolutely not,’ ” Reimer recalled. “I said, ‘Come on, Bob, I’d look like a total fool.’ He didn’t pay any attention to me until he lost in the last election.”

Mark Dornan, who works as his father’s campaign manager, said Reimer hasn’t made enough of an effort to be taken seriously as a viable candidate.

“If he cared enough to campaign and raise money, maybe he wouldn’t be just obstructing the Libertarian-hearted Bob Dornan,” Mark Dornan said.

Reimer said he hasn’t been able to raise much money because most donors focus on major-party candidates. But that doesn’t mean he’s writing off the race.

“Bob Dornan is not accomplishing one single thing by sending this to Libertarians,” Reimer said. “He’ll probably get 12 [Libertarian] votes.”

Mark Dornan said the campaign had no plans to send similar letters to Natural Law Party members. Natural Law candidate Larry G. Engwall also is a candidate for the 46th District on the Nov. 3 ballot.

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Send No Money: Irvine university professor Mark Petracca got a surprise call last week from Dale Dykema, president of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a Republican fund-raising group.

In a twist, Dykema called to tell Petracca that the club wouldn’t be spending money in the upcoming Irvine city elections.

The call was prompted by a complaint filed by Petracca, a Democrat, with the Orange County district attorney’s office protesting an Oct. 13 closed meeting of the City Council called by Irvine City Atty. Joel Kuperberg.

According to the complaint, Kuperberg told council members that the club wanted to make “substantial expenditures” on behalf of two city candidates--including Councilman Greg Smith--but thought it would violate the city’s campaign ordinance. The complaint alleges that Howard Klein, the club’s vice president, told Kuperberg that the club was prepared to challenge the law.

Petracca said Dykema assured him that the conversation was merely a “what if” and didn’t constitute a commitment by the club to spend money in the race. Eight years ago, the Lincoln Club spent about $25,000 toward the defeat of then-Mayor Larry Agran. Agran, also a Democrat, is running Nov. 3 for one of two council seats.

The upshot of the conversation was that Petracca and Dykema agreed to have lunch. But Petracca isn’t dropping his complaint. He still contends that Kuperberg violated the state’s open-meeting law with the closed session and that Smith--as a potential funding beneficiary--should have excused himself from the meeting to comply with state law.

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Endorsement Tale: Did Dist. Atty.-elect Anthony J. Rackauckas endorse Laguna Niguel Councilman Eddie Rose’s reelection? Rackauckas says no, but Rose insists that he did and won’t remove a statement saying so on his campaign literature.

The political dust-up prompted a back-and-forth of letters between Rackauckas and Rose over who promised what to whom. Laguna Niguel Mayor Linda Lindholm, frequently at odds with Rose, read Rackauckas’ letter denying his endorsement of Rose into the record at last week’s City Council meeting.

The problem for Rackauckas goes beyond mere preference. As a judge, he’s not allowed by law to involve himself in politics or to endorse candidates. But Rose insisted that at a meeting before the June primary, the two agreed to provide each other reciprocal endorsements.

Rose stood by his statements last week and said he would provide anyone who asked with Rackauckas’ letter and his response.

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Upcoming events:

* Monday: Candidate forum with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Democratic challenger Patricia W. Neal; 6:30 p.m., Huntington Beach Library, Rooms C and D, 7111 Talbert Ave. Sponsored by American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

* Tuesday: Candidate forum with Rohrabacher and Neal; 2 p.m., Huntington Beach Library, 7111 Talbert Ave. Sponsored by the American Assn. of Retired Persons.

* Tuesday: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot. Applications must be received at the county registrar of voters office, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Building C, Santa Ana.

* Thursday: Candidate forum for 2nd District Supervisor Jim Silva and challenger Dave Sullivan, and 4th District hopefuls Cynthia P. Coad and Lou Lopez; 7:30 a.m., Hyatt Regency Irvine, 17900 Jamboree Road. Cost is $30. Reservations: Orange County Business Council at (714) 794-7296.

Compiled by staff writer Jean O. Pasco, who covers politics for The Times, with contributions from staff writer Esther Schrader. Pasco can be reached at (714) 966-7712 or by e-mail at Jean.Pasco@latimes.com. Information can be faxed to Campaign Journal at (714) 966-7711.