Riordan to Visit Bush’s Kingmakers

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan plans to meet today with chief White House political strategist Karl Rove in a move that signals the mayor’s growing interest in running for governor of California.

For weeks, the Republican mayor has been meeting privately with strategists about a potential campaign. And in a speech on Friday to Republicans in Orange County, he tested some possible campaign themes, saying his accomplishments in Los Angeles “should serve as a model for the entire state.”

His White House meeting comes as Republicans are struggling to rally behind a candidate to unseat the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Gray Davis, and reverse the GOP’s dismal record in recent California elections. President Bush’s political team sees Riordan as the strongest contender for governor and has urged him to join the race.

Bush spokesman Ken Lisaius said Riordan would meet at the White House today with Rove and other administration officials from California.

“The mayor’s a longtime friend and ally of the administration, and he’s always welcome at the White House,” Lisaius said.

Lisaius declined to say whether the governor’s race was on the agenda. But California Republican Party Chairman Shawn Steel said it was likely to be “the primary discussion.”

Riordan, who flew to Washington on Monday, also plans to meet with GOP members of Congress. Traveling to Washington on Monday as well was Kevin Spillane, the Sacramento strategist who organized a “draft Riordan” campaign by GOP members of Congress from California. Spillane declined to comment.

Riordan, whose eight years as mayor will end Saturday, has said he expects to decide by September whether to run for governor. In the meantime, the speculation has kept him at center stage in California politics. Riordan has welcomed the attention, saying he was especially flattered that Bush had urged him to run.

“It’s quite an ego builder when the president of the United States encourages you to run for an office,” Riordan told reporters last week.

The White House has made no secret of its preference for Riordan, a moderate who is relatively well known statewide and can raise large sums of money quickly.

But the two declared Republican candidates for governor--Secretary of State Bill Jones and Los Angeles investment banker William E. Simon Jr.--have also met with top Bush advisors, and aides to both of them denied that Riordan’s White House meeting reflected favoritism.

“The president is not encouraging anyone special,” said Sal Russo, Simon’s chief strategist. “The president is encouraging one and all.”

Jones campaign manager Rob Lapsley said Rove was “very friendly” and “very professional” with Jones when they met in Washington earlier this year. Still, Jones, the only Republican holding statewide office in California, has been unpopular with the Bush political team ever since he backed John McCain last year in the GOP primary for president.

A California GOP strategist who is not involved in the race said it was “not kosher” for the White House to push Riordan as the top contender for governor.

“It’s unusual, and it’s going to raise eyebrows, and probably the president’s going to have some explaining to do when he comes into the state,” said the strategist, who declined to speak on the record.

“They’re playing with fire. There’s a considerable coterie of Republicans in this state who are not pleased with Dick Riordan’s active support for Democratic candidates over the years.”

Riordan’s campaign donations to Davis, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and other Democrats have already drawn fire from Jones.

That past support could make him an easy target in both a primary and in a general election race. But Riordan, a multimillionaire who ran for mayor as an outsider, could also turn his bipartisanship into an asset by casting himself as a candidate who can break through party lines.

Riordan has met with both Republicans and Democrats in recent weeks to discuss the governor’s race. Among the strategists he has consulted are Democrat Clint Reilly and Republican Arnold Steinberg. On Friday, Steinberg accompanied Riordan to a Newport Beach dinner of the Lincoln Club of Orange County.

In his speech to 200 enthusiastic Republicans, Riordan framed his frequent call for a “revolution in education” as something needed “from Orange County to Eureka to Kern County.”

He also touted the drop in crime on his watch at City Hall, along with the expansion of park and library services the city has provided “without raising taxes one penny”--a line underscoring his Republican credentials.

But Riordan also displayed some unease at public speaking, flubbing his words as he tried to broaden the scope of his 1993 mayoral campaign slogan: “Riordan: tough enough to turn L.A. around.”

“The success we’ve had in Los Angeles can and should serve as a model for the entire state,” he said. “We need to bring back strong leadership to California, Republican leadership that is tough enough to turn Los Angeles around.”

Riordan also hinted at possible lines of attack on Davis if he were to become the governor’s GOP challenger.

“California’s population is expected to grow up to 40 million in the next 10 years, and almost double in the next 40 years,” Riordan said. “Our infrastructure is not being prepared for this. From transportation to education to energy to water to housing, there is little vision and no implementation. The time is now. We must bring Republican ideas that work back to California.”