<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : GOP Stalwart Gus Owen Appears to Be Clinton’s Man for Commerce Post

Clinton calling: Orange County businessman Gus Owen, chairman of the conservative Lincoln Club, worked hard during the 1992 presidential election to maintain his GOP credentials while his wife, developer Kathryn Thompson, was being branded a turncoat for helping lead the Republicans for Clinton movement.

It now looks as if Owen weathered the political storm. Not only is he still a member of the inner circle of Republican bigwigs, but he’s also A-OK with at least one high-ranking Democrat. Word is that Owen is about to be asked by President Clinton to fill one of the Republican vacancies on the six-member Interstate Commerce Commission.

For his part, Owen is not confirming he is under consideration. But Republican insiders say Owen’s appointment is a fait accompli. The President wants him, he has passed his background check and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole is expected to give his approval.

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Newport Ross: Residents of Newport Beach and other tony haunts in the coastal 35th Senate District shouldn’t be surprised if they start seeing a husky figure who looks remarkably like inland Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-Placentia).

One of the worst-kept secrets among Republicans in the state Capitol is that Johnson, the former Assembly GOP leader and occasional country and western crooner, is seriously eyeing the state Senate seat that will be vacated later this year by Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who is running unopposed for a spot on the County Board of Supervisors.

The reasons for Johnson to look west are simple. First, he will have to leave the Assembly in 1996 because of term limits. What’s more, the inland region he represents already has a well-established Republican holding the area’s Senate seat--John R. Lewis (R-Orange).

Like any good politician, Johnson is keeping mum on his intentions. “Assemblyman Johnson’s primary focus this year is doing the job he was elected to do,” said Susie Swatt, the assemblyman’s chief of staff. “His second focus is running for reelection to the Assembly. That’s enough to worry about right now.”

If Johnson does run for Bergeson’s seat, it could set up a battle of the Republican titans. Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) is expected to jump in and Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) has already announced his intent to seek the Senate post.

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What endorsement? Orange County supervisorial candidate Linda Moulton-Patterson recently sent a letter to West Orange County Municipal Court Judge Dan C. Dutcher, demanding that he remove her name from his campaign materials. Dutcher said Moulton-Patterson had initially given him her OK.

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Internal warfare: The upstart group of moderate Republicans who recently banded together to take on the conservative majority of the Orange County’s GOP central committee have run afoul of party chieftains.

GOP Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes dispatched a letter to the Orange County Republican Majority Coalition, asking the moderate group to “cease and desist” from using the word Republican in its moniker. Fuentes explained that the California Elections Code specifies that the name cannot be used without a charter from the state and local Republican Party.

Mark Ishimatsu, chairman of the new group, contends Fuentes has the law all wrong. The name can be used, he argued, if his organization doesn’t raise funds in the name of the Republican Party. Although his group is collecting political funds, it is not trying to confuse donors into thinking they’re giving to the party itself, Ishimatsu said.

Ishimatsu also said the organization, which is running nearly two dozen candidates for the 42 open slots on the central committee in the June 7 election, will not be bullied by conservatives into changing its name. “They have done this to other moderate Republican groups,” Ishimatsu said. “They’re trying to prohibit moderates from participating in the party. This is their way of increasing the hassle factor.”

Fuentes was unavailable for comment, but Jo Ellen Allen, the GOP central committee’s first vice president, said the party is talking to its lawyers about possible legal action. “If they use the name Republican, the voters assume it has to do with the Republican Party,” she said. “That’s against the law.”

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Back-patting: In the 70th Assembly District race, Republican candidate Marilyn Brewer has been endorsed by former Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, who calls Orange County his “second home.” One of her rivals in the GOP primary, Tom Reinecke, won the backing of former Irvine city councilman Art Bloomer, who left Irvine last year to pursue business interests in Virginia.

In the 69th Assembly District primary, Republican Martin Ageson has won endorsements from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and County Supervisor Roger R. Stanton.

Candidates in the District 2 county supervisorial race also have picked up new endorsements. Huntington Beach Mayor Moulton-Patterson won the backing of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. Meanwhile, Haydee V. Tillotson announced the support of Richard L. Gann, president of Paul Gann’s Citizens Committee.

In the 46th Congressional District, where six Democrats have lined up to take on Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), the California AFL-CIO has decided to endorse Democrat Mike Farber.

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On good behavior: Orange County businessman and Republican fund-raiser George L. Argyros made a $13,000 New Year’s Eve contribution to Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown for his work last year on legislation aimed at easing the financial strain on California businesses. So will Argyros give again? “It depends on how he behaves,” Argyros said.

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Today: Republican U.S. Senate candidate and former Orange County congressman William E. Dannemeyer of Fullerton speaks to the Evangelical Free Church of Yorba Linda, 7:30 p.m.

* Wednesday: State Sen. Tom Hayden, Democrat candidate for governor, holds a fund-raiser at the Carpenters Union Hall, 1918 W. Chapman Ave., Orange, 6 p.m. Hayden will speak at the Orange County Common Cause meeting at the Irvine Holiday Inn, 7:30 p.m.

* Thursday: A fund-raiser for Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton) will be held at La Vie en Rose Restaurant in Brea, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Compiled by Times staff writer Eric Bailey, with contributions from political writer Gebe Martinez.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday.