LOCAL ELECTIONS : 12 in GOP Scrambling for Choice Orange County Congressional Seat

Among conservatives, the 40th Congressional District in Orange County is one of the crown jewels of politics.

The district’s 500,000 residents are overwhelmingly white, educated and wealthy, and Republicans enjoy a decisive 2-1 edge in voter registration.

“It’s the kind of safe district that makes conservatives giddy,” said Thomas A. Fuentes, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party. “Win the seat, and it’s yours for a long, long time.”

With that prospect in mind, 12 Republicans rushed into the race when Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) announced in January that he would not seek a seventh term in the district, which stretches from Newport Beach to Laguna Hills. Badham is leaving politics, saying he wants to spend more time in California and has said he is interested in working as a consultant for a defense contractor.

Various Strategies

As the relatively unknown contenders campaign, strategies from high finance to low comedy have been employed in the scramble for voters’ attention.

One of the hopefuls serenaded an elderly crowd at a candidates’ forum with a rendition of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” and another impersonated sportscaster Howard Cosell and former President Jimmy Carter.

Still another candidate, who lacked endorsements and contributions, loaned himself $394,000 to underwrite his campaign.

“I want to win,” Newport Beach attorney William Yacobozzi Jr. said. “It was the only way I knew how to get my campaign off the ground.”

Because Republicans far outnumber Democrats in the district, the winner of the June 7 GOP primary is almost certain to succeed Badham, though there also are two candidates in the Democratic primary and one each on the Libertarian and Peace and Freedom tickets.

Leading Candidates

Nearly $2 million has been amassed in contributions, much of it by the three leading GOP challengers--C. David Baker, an Irvine city councilman; C. Christopher Cox, a Newport Beach attorney and former senior associate White House counsel, and Nathan Rosenberg, a Newport Beach businessman who ran a strong second to Badham in the 1986 primary.

Ideologically, it is difficult to distinguish the three from one another. They often seem almost to trip over each other at forums in their attempts to paint themselves as the most conservative. But their personalities do differ, and each has come under attack as the campaign has gone from cordial to cutting in recent weeks.

Baker, 35, a one-term councilman and former UC Irvine basketball star, was the early front-runner, having been endorsed by Badham and a host of county GOP party activists. That support has helped Baker position himself as the candidate who understands local issues. And that plays well in a district where traffic and development--not the federal budget deficit or arms control talks--are the overriding concerns.

‘My Roots Go Deeper’

“I’m the Orange County candidate,” Baker says often. “My roots go deeper, and I have a greater appreciation for what it’s like to go five miles in 30 minutes.”

Baker’s candidacy was shaken, however, when an unidentified man stood up at a candidates’ forum in Newport Beach and accused him of having had an extra-marital affair. Married for 13 years and the father of two sons, Baker has never denied the allegation. Instead, he has said only that he and his wife, Patty, have been “through some tough times” and now are “more committed than ever to each other.”

Cox, 35, a virtual unknown at the outset of the race, has raised more than $500,000 to push his way into contention. He has credited his Washington ties for his fund-raising success, including a dinner featuring U.S. Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork. Cox has actively courted the far right, and lists among his endorsements former Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and Nicaraguan Contra leader Adolfo Calero.

Time in the White House

A Harvard Law School graduate, Cox worked in the White House for two years before quitting in January to run for Badham’s seat. He has based his campaign largely on his longtime support of President Reagan, though it was disclosed recently that Cox failed to vote for Reagan’s reelection in November, 1984. Cox said he had intended to vote but was tied up in a business meeting in Los Angeles.

Rosenberg, 36, has had to spend time explaining his involvement with his controversial brother, Werner Erhard, and Erhard’s self-improvement programs, the now-defunct est and The Forum. Rosenberg, a partner in a Newport Beach firm that buys and manages small companies, has gone through est training and has led seminars for his brother.

In a recent mailer aimed at Rosenberg, Cox quoted a Los Angeles magazine article in which est was described as “destructive” and “cult-like.”

Two years ago, Rosenberg angered Orange County GOP leaders when he mounted a primary challenge to Badham, and much of that resentment lingers. This year, Rosenberg has taken his conservative fiscal message directly to the voters, walking many of the district’s 675 precincts along with an army of volunteers numbering close to 1,200.

Time for Mailers

In the end, many observers say, the outcome of the primary will turn on the wave of campaign mail now beginning to flood the district.

Cox alone has sent more than a dozen letters and mailers to voters.

“From the beginning, I have been concerned that this would be a mega-buck, multimillion-dollar contest, and apparently that is what is developing,” Fuentes said. “It is indeed one for the record books.”

Others in Race

Other Republicans in the race include John Hylton, 43, a Newport Beach pilot; John F. Kelly, 26, a Tustin councilman; Adam W. Kiernik, 38, a Huntington Beach salesman; Patricia G. Kishel, 39, a Laguna Hills consultant; Kathleen B. Latham, 46, an Irvine management consultant; Larry F. Sternberg, 60, a Santa Ana accountant; Peer Swan, 43, a Tustin corporate treasurer, and David M. Williams, 52, a Livermore businessman.

In the Democratic primary, Laguna Beach Councilwoman Lida Lenney, 55, is expected to beat George Margolis, 56, a Newport Beach hospital administrator.

Also on the ballot and unopposed are Libertarian Roger Bloxham, 49, and Peace and Freedom Party member Gretchen Farsai, 46.