Patterson Backs Beam for County Supervisor

Declaring that he “can make a difference in the race,” former Rep. Jerry M. Patterson on Thursday endorsed Orange Mayor James H. Beam for county supervisor.

Patterson, who finished behind Beam and Anaheim Mayor Donald R. Roth in the June 3 primary and thus was eliminated from the November general election, said his backing of Beam “was a very clear and easy decision to make.”

“I have been lobbied by both sides, both campaigns,” Patterson said at a news conference. In addition, he said, some who supported him in the primary advised him to be neutral in the general election, since both Beam and Roth are Republicans and Patterson is a Democrat.

“I am not a factor anymore, other than I can make a difference in the race” through an endorsement, Patterson said.

Patterson still owes more than $100,000 from the campaign, but he said that his endorsement of Beam was not the result of a calculation that Beam supporters were more likely than Roth backers to help him pay off the debt.

“The endorsement of either (Roth or Beam) could have brought certain assistance toward retiring my campaign debt,” Patterson said.

‘Not a Surprise’

“I don’t know the value of a loser’s endorsement,” Roth said, adding that Patterson’s support of his opponent was “not a surprise.”

Roth said Patterson’s support eroded Beam’s claim that “he’s the true conservative” in the race, and amounted to “an unholy alliance” between two candidates who attacked each other in the primary election.

Beam shrugged off Roth’s statements and said he would not have accepted Patterson’s endorsement if he thought it would jeopardize his support from conservatives.

“I obviously think the Patterson endorsement is very valuable and is going to give me the victory,” Beam said.

The two mayors are running for the 4th District seat held since 1970 by Ralph B. Clark, a former Anaheim mayor who is retiring from the Board of Supervisors at the end of the year.

No Endorsement From Clark

Clark, the only Democrat on what is technically a nonpartisan board, represents the district including Anaheim, Orange, La Palma and Buena Park. Clark himself has not endorsed any candidate.

Patterson served in Congress for 10 years and was defeated in 1984 by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove). Dornan, who has been listed on Beam’s campaign stationery as a backer, endorsed Roth on Wednesday.

Dornan aide Brian O’Leary Bennett said it’s one thing for a conservative Republican like Beam to seek support from conservative Democrats, but it’s another “to embrace liberal Democrats and still maintain you’re a conservative.”

Beam was the first candidate in the race, publicly proclaiming his desire to succeed Clark a year ago when Clark said he would not seek reelection. But he was third of the three top-finishing candidates in the polls until shortly before the primary, when his door-to-door campaigning and political mailers boosted him past Patterson and Roth.

Beam wound up with 20,257 votes on primary night, to 19,543 for Roth and 15,343 for Patterson. Because no candidate got more than 50% of the vote, the general election pits the top two primary finishers against each other.