Gough Quits Race for U.S. Senate, Endorses Campbell

The race for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate narrowed Friday as Orange County businessman J.P. Gough withdrew from the March 7 contest and endorsed the front-runner, Rep. Tom Campbell of San Jose.

The decision by Gough, who cited problems raising campaign funds, comes two months after Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz dropped out of the race to concentrate full time on his campaign reform initiative on the March ballot.

Unz also abandoned the campaign to unseat Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein because he could not raise the money needed to wage a viable campaign. And although Unz had the added distraction of his campaign reform initiative, Gough’s announcement underscored the difficulty of running a statewide race in California without a substantial fund-raising machine.

Estimating that he raised and spent about $200,000, half of it his own money, Gough said that as a first-time candidate, he should have launched his campaign a year ago rather than last September.

“Because of the lack of funding, I ended up in the role of . . . spoiler, and that is not who I am,” Gough said later in an interview.

Although Gough’s name will remain on the already printed ballots, his announcement was expected to benefit Campbell. A moderate who does not agree with Gough on some social issues, Campbell was hoping to avoid vote-splitting in a race that includes two conservatives, state Sen. Ray Haynes of Riverside and San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn. Unz, also a conservative, said Friday he is not inclined to endorse anyone in the primary.

Horn could not be reached for comment, but Haynes dismissed Gough’s endorsement of Campbell.

“Quite frankly, [Gough] hasn’t been a factor up to this point. I don’t think most people can even pronounce his last name.”

Haynes touted his own recent endorsements from the nationwide American Conservative Union and political commentator Bruce Herschensohn, who defeated Campbell for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 1992. Herschensohn later lost the race to Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Campbell took the opportunity Friday to name Gough as the first honorary co-chairman of his campaign and a surrogate speaker at campaign events.

Meanwhile, the uphill battle facing the eventual GOP nominee showed in a poll released Friday. A San Francisco Examiner-KTVU poll of 644 voters found Feinstein supported by 56% compared to 11% for Campbell, 5% for Horn, 3% for Haynes and 2% for Gough.

The results are similar to a recent Field Poll that showed Feinstein’s support among Republicans rivaling that for Campbell.