Argyros in Line to Be Ambassador

George Argyros

Orange County businessman George Argyros, who headed a $30-million fund-raising effort in California last year for President Bush, is being considered for an unspecified ambassadorship.

Two local residents, who asked not to be named, said they were contacted recently by the U.S. State Department, which is conducting a diplomatic background check on Argyros--a routine step before any formal White House nomination.

Rumors have swirled for months that Argyros would secure some prestigious post in the new administration should he want one.

Long a prodigious fund-raiser for state and national Republicans, Argyros has repeatedly declined comment on his future since Bush defeated former Vice President Al Gore. He was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

He is the third Californian either named or under consideration for an ambassadorship in the new Republican administration. Bush announced Monday the nomination of Howard Leach of San Francisco as ambassador to France. Investment banker Rockwell A. Schnabel of California is being considered for ambassador to Italy, according to the Associated Press.

Leach is former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee. Schnabel was a deputy Department of Commerce secretary for former President George H. Bush.

Argyros took over the helm of Victory 2000, the state GOP’s major fund-raising push, in September 1999. The party was nearly half a million dollars in debt and had $262,137 in the bank.

At the time, state GOP officials said they hoped Argyros would reach a fund-raising goal of $18 million. By the time Bush won, Victory 2000 had raised nearly $30 million.

In September, Argyros co-hosted a Bush fund-raiser at the Newport Beach home of Ron and Sandy Simon that raised more than $1 million for the Bush campaign. He donated $105,000 from his company, GLA Financial Corp. of Costa Mesa, to the GOP, according to reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission, and gave an additional $18,000 to Republican candidates and committees, including Bush and presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

Argyros is chairman of the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda and of Chapman University in Orange, as well as Chapman’s major booster and benefactor. He is past chairman of Apria Healthcare in Costa Mesa and once owned the airline AirCal and the Seattle Mariners baseball team.

Argyros also has been the major private donor supporting Orange County’s plans to build a new commercial airport at the retired El Toro Marine base. He has contributed about $3.5 million toward the airport since voters narrowly approved it in 1994.