State GOP Sees Red Over Push to Center

An Orange County-led push to loosen the Republican Party’s ideological moorings was met with suspicion and dismay at this weekend’s state convention, chiefly by activists worried about hurting the GOP’s chances in the November elections.

Much of the anger was focused on a group of wealthy Orange County Republicans called the New Majority Committee, which has pledged to raise $500,000 to back Republicans who are “open-minded” on such issues as abortion rights and gun control.

They’ll focus on candidates for legislative offices and 42 key elective seats on the GOP Central Committee, the party’s organizational arm that handles voter registration and turnout.

Longtime Republican Party activists accuse the newcomers of squandering money that should be used for Republican gains in a state that sorely needs them. New Majority leaders respond that they fear permanent minority status for the GOP without immediate changes in leadership and the party’s public image.

Some said the struggle was more about power and personalities than principles.

Former state party Chairman Michael Schroeder of Irvine said many of the Central Committee candidates backed by the New Majority group have run before and lost--and blame those losses on current Orange County Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes, a conservative who has led the county party since 1984.

“From a Republican point of view, it’s a tragedy that they’re wasting their money,” Schroeder said.

The divisions marred an otherwise harmonious gathering of state Republicans at their biannual convention this weekend in Burlingame, attended by about 1,100 voting delegates.

Assembly Minority Leader Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) spent much of Saturday talking into an ever-ringing cellular phone, reportedly trying to devise a strategy for getting both sides talking. Though a staunch opponent of abortion--an issue that drives many party stalwarts--Baugh is well liked by Democrats in Sacramento and is seen as a consensus builder.

Baugh refused to say Saturday how he was involved in the imbroglio. But it was clear that the focus on Orange County Central Committee candidates was taking Baugh’s time away from planning election strategies for key GOP races.

Republicans trail Democrats by 15 votes in the state Assembly and 10 votes in the state Senate, and they lag by four votes in the state congressional delegation. Statewide, the GOP accounts for only about a third of all registered voters, with just under 50% GOP registration in Orange County.

Baugh said he’s hoping for unity come November.

“I hope that all Republicans will turn to fighting Democrats in the fall,” Baugh said.

Though generally overlooked, next month’s elections for county Republican central committees have become ideological battlegrounds across California. The fight over the party’s core principles is being waged there because the local committees choose many of the 1,400 members of the state party committee.

The state party then chooses the party platform, passes resolutions and decides where to spend resources throughout California.

Orange County’s GOP committee has even greater importance because many of the state party leaders were groomed here and rose to prominence.

Besides Orange County, movements are underway in 10 counties to cement more moderate control of local committees, said Bob Larkin, president of the California Congress of Republicans, a statewide group overseeing the push toward a more flexible party. About 21 counties have a majority of members considered moderates, he said, while the remaining 37 counties have majorities composed of social conservatives.

The intramural fighting is unfortunately typical among Republicans, particularly at conventions, where such differences are hammered out, said state party Chairman John McGraw. He added that the squabbling wasn’t all bad.

“What’s encouraging is that you have a group of individuals who haven’t been involved [in local politics] before,” he said of the Orange County donors, many of whom have become wealthy in new technology businesses. “My techie colleagues generally have been taking a pass [on politics], and they need to be involved.”

Anger at Fuentes is misdirected, some conservatives at the convention said.

Brian Park, chairman of the state Young Americans for Freedom, said Fuentes puts the party first and has refrained from “smashing liberals” in the party for the sake of GOP unity. Several years ago, for example, Fuentes effectively stopped the county Central Committee from passing a resolution condemning then-Gov. Pete Wilson, seen by some as a more moderate Republican.

“At times, he hasn’t been conservative enough for me, but Orange County is the best Republican Party in the state and it’s because of Tom,” said Matt Zandi, former national vice chairman of Young Americans for Freedom.

What happens in the Orange County Central Committee races next month could reverberate statewide because of the county’s prominence in GOP affairs, said Assemblyman Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton), chairman of Unity 2000.

“The rest of the state is watching this battle,” Ackerman said.

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Staying the O.C. Course

An attempt by two Republican groups to elect more moderate members to the Orange County GOP Central Committee on March 7 prompted an opposing group, Unity 2000, to rally around Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes and fellow incumbents. Below are candidates supported by Unity 2000:

67th Assembly District

* Russell C. Paris*

* Larry Crandall, Fountain Valley City Council member

* Matthew Harper, Huntington Beach Union High School District board member

* E.F. Sanford*

* Loretta A. Molino*

* Wendy Baugh*

68th Assembly District

* Marjorie Carolyn O’Neill, adoptions social worker

* Cynthia L. Crowe*

* Ed Royce Sr.*

* Steven J. Sarkis, businessman

* Lucille Kring*

* Mark Leyes, Garden Grove City Council member

69th Assembly District

* Jennifer Vitela, independent businesswoman

* Robert L. Richardson*

* Brad Wilkinson*

* Timothy Whitacre*

* Jim Morrissey, former Assembly member

* Margaret E. Morrissey, retired

70th Assembly District

* David R. Olson, financial manager

* Darin M. Henry, businessman

* Christina L. Shea, mayor of Irvine

* Patricia A. Garrett*

* Chuck DeVore*

* Jo Ellen Allen*

71st Assembly District

* Phillip E. Yarbrough, Rancho Santiago Community College District board member

* Marcia Gilchrist*

* Eric H. Woolery*

* Ken L. Williams Jr.*

* Mark W. Bucher*

* Thomas A. Fuentes*

72nd Assembly District

* Bob Zemel, former Anaheim City Council member

* Jamie Morris Spitzer*

* Claire A.P. Duffie Jr.*

* Bruce Whitaker*

* Linda Ackerman, independent businesswoman

* Stanley Interrante, deputy sheriff

73rd Assembly District

* Greg Cox, small-business owner

* Crystal Kochendorfer, Capistrano Unified School District board member

* Linda Lindholm, Laguna Niguel City Council member

* Mimi Walters*

* Anna Bryson, business executive

* Sheila J. Benecke*

* Incumbents

Source: Unity 2000