‘New’ Simon Effort Looks Lot Like Old

Nearly two weeks after a court victory gave his campaign new life, Republican Bill Simon Jr. is still struggling in the race for California governor, trying to turn an uptick of optimism into a more tangible boost in money and momentum.

His best ally--in a manner of speaking--may be Gov. Gray Davis, whose own tepid support keeps the race a contest.

Simon’s campaign headquarters is split into hostile camps. Major GOP donors remain deeply skeptical of the candidate and his campaign team. Perhaps most significant, Simon has shown little sign of expanding his support beyond the roughly 33% of the California electorate that comprises the rock-ribbed Republican base--and he has made little effort to do so.

For all of that, Democrat Davis has yet to run away with the contest, which gives even the most dour Republican some grounds for faith. “There’s a roiling undercurrent here that spells trouble for Davis,” said Ken Khachigian, a political veteran of 30 years who is one of the more bullish about Simon’s chances. “Assuming he can gather the resources ... yeah, I think it’s doable.”

With just over six weeks left in the campaign, each passing day gains import, as voters increasingly focus on their choices and, more crucially, GOP donors decide whether to commit the money Simon needs to stay financially competitive with the richly endowed Davis.

Next weekend’s state party convention in Anaheim will give Simon a chance to rally Republican ground troops. A week after that, Simon and Davis are scheduled to meet in Los Angeles in their first--and so far only--debate of the general election campaign.

All the while, Davis continues to blitz the television airwaves with campaign ads, many of them now positive in an attempt to lift his sagging approval ratings and engage dispirited Democrats.

Republicans, who also seem uninspired, would love to summon some enthusiasm for Simon, said one party strategist in Sacramento. The reversal of a multimillion-dollar fraud verdict against his family-owned investment firm was an enormous relief. But before major GOP donors commit to the party nominee and open their checkbooks, the strategist said, “They want to see the Simon campaign have two or three weeks of looking like it has its act together, putting together successful press events, staying on message and avoiding negative stories as much as possible.”

Even that wait-and-see attitude is “different from two or three weeks ago,” the party insider said, “when there was a growing sense the race was over.”

Sentiments shifted when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge tossed out a $78-million verdict against Simon’s family investment firm. The elated candidate and his staff called the day a new start to the governor’s race and predicted that fence-sitting Republicans would soon swamp the campaign with contributions.

That has not happened. In the week after the verdict was tossed out, Simon raised about $270,000, enough for little more than a day of statewide television ads. Of that amount, $50,000 came from the campaign’s own finance director and another $52,000 from the state Republican Party.

In contrast, Davis collected $651,000 over the same period. The money, however, comes at a price, giving Simon new ammunition for his running critique of the governor’s aggressive money-gathering techniques.

On Friday, the governor abruptly canceled a Santa Clara fund-raiser put on by boosters of a state high-speed rail system after Simon and others questioned the timing. The event was scheduled a day after the governor signed legislation asking voters to approve a $9.9-billion bond for the project.

“Just when we think we’ve seen the worst from this governor, we find a new bottom,” Simon said, assailing “a pattern we have seen from Davis and his cronies throughout his career.”

Yet it was a rare day on the offense for Simon, who has spent the better part of the last several months dealing with assorted campaign missteps and controversies. The latest arose on Wednesday after he disclosed that he had loaned $4 million to the campaign.

The infusion was desperately needed. Simon was forced off the television airwaves at the start of last week after a brief ad run, and some campaign staffers have recently been grounded, to save on travel expenses.

However, by ignoring some advisors and lending his campaign the money, rather than giving it outright, Simon did little to assuage the concern of many in the GOP donor community, according to one prominent Republican Party giver. Simon, the co-chairman of an investment banking firm, has lent his campaign roughly $9 million since launching his candidacy last year.

“People question why it was a loan rather than a direct contribution,” said the donor, who has raised millions of dollars over the years for GOP candidates and causes. “The feeling is, ‘You’re asking me to put in my money, why isn’t your money in?’ ”

At the same time, Simon drew criticism from campaign-finance watchdogs who noted that, if elected, California’s new governor would be taking contributions and putting them directly into his pocket to pay himself back. On Thursday, Simon pledged to donate any repayments to charity.

When he announced his candidacy last November, aides boasted of a $60-million campaign budget and implied much of it could be covered by the candidate himself. But more recently, the campaign has been operating on a far more modest budget, with the bulk of money being sought from outside contributors. So far, Davis has raised more than $62 million toward his reelection, none of it from his own pocket.

Sal Russo, a Simon strategist, said the meager flow of contributions over the last week or so is deceiving because the campaign has received numerous pledges for upcoming fund-raising events. “The commitments are certainly real,” he said.

But promises and hard currency are two different things, as campaign veterans will attest. In 1995, then-Gov. Pete Wilson reported $8 million in pledges for his ill-starred presidential campaign in just one day of fund-raising. He ultimately collected less than that--$5 million--over the entire course of the campaign.

“A pledge is an easy way to get off the phone,” said one longtime Republican fund-raiser, who has snubbed the Simon campaign. “It’s a long way from a pledge to a check.”

Apart from money worries, Simon strategists continue to fight internally over the tone of the campaign and the content of TV advertising. A recent spot featuring footage of Simon and President Bush was broadcast without a review by the campaign’s full complement of strategists, sources said, resulting in bruised feelings and renewed bickering.

The Simon camp remains split between advocates of a pugnacious approach and strategists who believe that being well-liked is more important when facing an opponent as personally unpopular as Davis. The candidate himself is caught in the middle.

But for all Simon’s difficulties, the incumbent Democrat has political problems of his own. Along with continued questions about his fund-raising tactics, the governor faces several tough decisions between now and the Sept. 30 deadline for signing or vetoing legislation.

Davis is expected to sign a controversial family leave bill today. But two others await his verdict--one on farm worker rights and another on whether the state should issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Whatever he decides, Davis is almost certain to alienate one or more of his constituencies, whether it is the business interests he has carefully cultivated, Latino activists or key allies in the labor movement.

All of that, along with Davis’ stubbornly tepid popularity ratings, leaves Republicans with a sense of measured optimism they might otherwise lack, given Simon’s persistent troubles.

“We see this as a winnable race, primarily because the Democrat is in such poor shape,” said Mindy Tucker, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee.

“Simon is a candidate with a great message,” she continued, adding pointedly that “the key for him between now and Nov. 5 is execution: getting that message out and turning his voters out.”

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Times staff writers Michael Finnegan and Jeffrey Rabin contributed to this report.