Davis Ad Uses Deukmejian to Attack Riordan

In the latest twist in an increasingly strange campaign, former Republican Gov. George Deukmejian surfaced Tuesday in a new TV ad attacking Richard Riordan--an ad sponsored by Democratic Gov. Gray Davis.

The spot, airing statewide, renews Davis’ attacks on Riordan over the death penalty and abortion. It also broadens the assault to suggest that Riordan has “flip-flopped” on taxes.

Then it quotes Deukmejian--no friend of Davis--questioning Riordan’s character.

“Former Gov. George Deukmejian says Riordan tries to be all things to all people and questions his commitment to principles,” the ad intones.

The spot began airing statewide as Riordan campaigned on education reform, Jones attacked the former Los Angeles mayor’s party credentials and the third major GOP candidate, Bill Simon Jr., picked up the endorsement of a gun owners’ group.

It is odd--if not altogether unprecedented in California--for a candidate of one party to feature such a prominent figure from another in his advertising.

Odder still, Deukmejian is being showcased in an ad touting his preferred candidate, fellow Republican Bill Jones. Secretary of State Jones, however, is struggling financially and paid less than $100,000 for his first round of advertising, in Fresno, Bakersfield and San Diego.

By contrast, Davis has sunk $1.5 million into the new anti-Riordan ad--meaning it will get more than 10 times the exposure of the pro-Jones spot with Deukmejian.

“We have a lot of respect for the former governor of California,” said Garry South, chief strategist for the Davis campaign.

Asked about the advertisement’s strange-bedfellows nature, South replied, “When is the last time a former governor of California publicly came out and said he could not vote for his party’s front-runner?”

Deukmejian, in Jones’ ad and in a series of appearances across the state, has repeatedly criticized Riordan for his generous support of Democratic candidates and causes over the last two decades. “Riordan is a man I couldn’t vote for,” Deukmejian says in Jones’ limited-run advertisement.

Davis has been aggressively attacking Riordan on the airwaves for the last several weeks, well before the March 5 primary that will decide the GOP nomination. The unusual strategy is an attempt to undermine Riordan and possibly tip the race to one of the opponents that Davis would prefer to face in November--or failing that, weaken Riordan in advance of the general election.

As Davis stepped up his television assault, Riordan sought to keep the campaign focused on education, challenging the state’s school district administrators to make their budgets public.

Citing a study from a Claremont McKenna College research institute, Riordan complained that districts throughout the state waste money that could be better spent in the classrooms.

“Show us the money,” said Riordan, making a short campaign stop at a school in Bell. “If we know how much is spent in the classroom for essentials, then school officials will have to explain where the rest of the money is going.”

Riordan said that California now spends more money on education than the annual state budgets of Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona combined--almost $54 billion. But, according to the study, some schools spend less than 40% of their funds on classroom expenses. The rest of the money is used for “bloat,” Riordan said. “It has become impossible to determine how much money is being spent in the classroom versus funding to support inefficient bureaucracy,” Riordan said.

He added: “You’re going to need a strong accounting arm in Sacramento to make sure they’ve got it right. For years bureaucrats have been experts at hiding what they’ve been doing.”

As Riordan challenged school administrators to open their ledgers, Jones continued to attack Riordan’s party loyalty.

“I think he’s running in the wrong primary,” Jones told about 25 members of a Los Angeles County Republicans’ club at a luncheon in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Simon was campaigning in the Central Valley--Fresno, Sacramento and Chico--to tout his endorsement by the Gun Owners of California. The far larger National Rifle Assn. has endorsed Jones.

Simon called for a moratorium on new gun laws and said that if elected he would study whether existing laws are feasible. “Our most important gun legislation [is] the gun laws that are designed to keep guns out of the hands of bad people,” Simon said, citing the three-strikes and the 10-20-life laws that allow enhanced penalties for felonies committed with firearms.

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Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.