GOP’s Right Is Cool on Riordan

Phyllis Dustman has made up her mind about Richard Riordan’s quest to be the next Republican governor of California.

“He is not my pick, I can tell you that,” she said. “I don’t like people that ride the fence.”

The trouble for Riordan is not that Dustman is the Republican leader of Modoc County, on the state’s northern edge; it’s that she’s not alone among stalwarts of the party’s influential conservative wing.

John Gallagher, the GOP chairman in nearby Plumas County, is appalled by Riordan’s frequent donations to Democratic candidates. He’s dumbfounded by Riordan’s reliance on Democratic strategists. And he thinks the former Los Angeles mayor is wrong to support abortion rights and gun control.

“I’m not going to suggest politics in L.A. are the same as politics in Plumas County,” said Gallagher, a member of the National Rifle Assn. “But it’s difficult for us to even consider him.”

Riordan’s struggle to rally the party’s conservative base is a growing concern in his race for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Gray Davis. It’s also the main backdrop for the state Republican convention today in Los Angeles.

Riordan remains the front-runner in the March 5 primary, with more money and name recognition than his two major opponents. But his donations to Democrats and recruitment of Democratic advisors are a major line of attack for Secretary of State Bill Jones, one of his GOP opponents.

And even the former mayor beats Jones and businessman Bill Simon Jr. in the primary, strategists say, Riordan’s deep ties to Democrats risk alienating GOP conservatives, whose support he would need in the November 2002 general election.

“It’s certainly going to create heartburn for a lot of activist Republicans who will be uncomfortable,” said Ken Khachigian, a longtime GOP strategist based in Orange County. “But arguably, this is part of a larger strategy on his part: He’s going to make the case for a nonpartisan governorship.”

So far, Riordan’s effort to appeal to his party’s right wing has been minimal. He touts his management experience as mayor. He promises to “stop anti-business policies in Sacramento” and says he’ll rescue California from “the ruins of an impending recession.”

But Riordan’s early attempts to reach beyond the party’s conservatives--a must for GOP candidates in a state with 1.7 million more Democrats than Republicans--only underscore the gulf between him and them.

Ambivalence on Abortion Issue

In speeches to Republican crowds, Riordan draws attention to his support for gay rights--not a popular cause among conservatives--by urging them to “love and respect all people regardless of their race, creed, color or sexual orientation.” His views on abortion, another bedrock conservative issue, are ambivalent.

“I’m anti-abortion, but I support the ability of women to make their own choices,” he told the California Republican Federation of Women in San Luis Obispo. “In other words, I’m pro-choice. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t respect people who even vehemently disagree with me. I respect people who are pro-life. I think they have a point.”

It’s not the first time Riordan and his party have been at odds. In his 1993 campaign for mayor, his strongest base of support was Republicans in the San Fernando Valley, but Democrats dominated the rest of the city. So he took a shot at California’s Republican icon, former President Ronald Reagan.

A Riordan campaign mailing to Democrats cited the words of an African American supporter, Stan Sanders: “I’ve known Dick Riordan for 25 years--and Dick Riordan is no Reagan Republican.”

For now, some Riordan supporters--from members of Congress to the White House political team--have cast aside doubts about his party loyalty in their quest to end the GOP’s dismal string of losses in recent California elections.

“There’s a certain segment of the Republican Party that’s tired of getting beat; I’m part of that segment,” said Kern County GOP Chairman Charles Mitchell.

But others gathering at the Republican convention today see little distinction between Riordan and a Democrat.

“I think he’s running for the wrong party,” said Glenn County GOP Chairman Don Toenjes, a Central Valley almond grower.

Most disturbing to Riordan’s Republican critics are his donations to Democrats. Over the last two decades, the former mayor has made $1 million in contributions and loans to Democratic campaigns, according to his spokeswoman, Carolina Guevara. He also has given about $660,000 to Republicans, she said.

Support for Democrats Questioned

Riordan has explained his support for Democrats by saying it was in the best interests of Los Angeles for the mayor to back elected officials in Sacramento and Washington.

But he was giving money to Democrats long before being elected mayor. Among them were California gubernatorial candidates Tom Bradley, John Van de Kamp, Dianne Feinstein and Kathleen Brown--all of whom ran strongly partisan races against Republicans.

Former GOP Gov. George Deukmejian recalled with bitterness Riordan’s $500,000 in loans to Bradley in their heated 1982 and 1986 campaigns for governor. Riordan, who built his fortune as a lawyer and venture capitalist, was Bradley’s biggest financial supporter.

“Here I was, the incumbent Republican governor, and he was contributing to defeat me,” said Deukmejian, now chairman of the Jones campaign.

Guevara said the loans were repaid. But to Deukmejian, what mattered was that Riordan gave Bradley money when he needed it.

In 1991, Riordan donated to both the GOP incumbent governor, Pete Wilson, and to Brown, his Democratic rival in the next election.

“The mayor supported Wilson publicly, and Kathleen was an acquaintance,” Guevara said.

Riordan donated money before he was elected mayor to the House campaigns of Democrats Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi and Mel Levine, all devoted liberals. For the U.S. Senate, he supported Democrats Feinstein, Bill Bradley of New Jersey and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. At the same time, he donated to conservative Republicans, including Jack Kemp of New York state and Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach.

“The mayor was setting up strong relationships, and has donated across party lines to build those relationships,” Guevara said. “To what benefit, I can’t speculate on that.”

Garry South, the top political advisor to Davis, called Riordan “a back room wheeler-dealer.”

“Dick Riordan is neither a principled Republican nor a principled Democrat,” South said. “He is an opportunistic plutocrat.”

For now, the pit bull hounding Riordan over his Democratic ties is Jones. Around the state, he blames Riordan’s money for the loss of GOP seats in the Legislature. A few weeks ago in the San Joaquin Valley, Jones told a Republican group that money raised in “Dick’s own Brentwood home” had led a local favorite to defeat.

Even amid the attacks, Riordan this month pledged another donation that Jones criticized: $25,000 for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s Voter Improvement Fund. The fund registers union members, the bulwark of the Democratic Party in California. The fund solicited the money as part of a Beverly Hills dinner tribute to former President Bill Clinton--a decidedly unpopular figure among conservatives.

It is “a wacky, wacky world we live in when the Republican who seeks the nomination for governor is funding an organization that is getting out the vote to elect his Democratic opponent,” said Jones’ deputy campaign manager, Sean Walsh.

Guevara said Riordan’s private foundation will fulfill his pledge to the labor federation only if it confirms that the fund is nonpartisan and nonprofit.

Seeking Advice From Diverse Sources

Another sore point for conservatives is Riordan’s reliance on Democratic advisors who have made their names skewering Republicans. Clint Reilly, a San Francisco Democrat who led Brown’s failed 1994 campaign to unseat Wilson as governor, is one of Riordan’s two chief strategists, albeit unpaid, Guevara said. The other is Don Sipple, a veteran Republican consultant.

Though Riordan has hired several GOP aides, including his political director, Kevin Spillane, and consultant Wayne Johnson, he also is turning to Democratic pollster Pat Caddell for advice. And Spillane said Susan Estrich, who managed the 1988 presidential campaign of Michael S. Dukakis, “will ultimately be involved in Democrats for Riordan.”

Among the conservatives torn by Riordan’s Democratic ties is Yuba County GOP Chairman Sidney Trulove.

“If Mr. Riordan keeps doing these kinds of things, I’m certainly going to have a problem with that,” Trulove said. “I personally--if it was me--I try to stick with my own kind. But I want to see a Republican governor get elected in the worst way.”