Clinton Competes for the Votes of Business : Election: The Democratic candidate has persuaded a lot of staunch Republicans, but Bush appears to have the loyalty of most large- and small-business owners.

While Gov. Bill Clinton has been able to convert a significant number of lifetime Republicans in the business community, President Bush still appears to hold the lead among large- and small-business people who say they favor his stand on controlling taxes and spending.

Fear of uncertainty may also be bringing some business people back into the Bush fold as the campaign comes down to the wire, says N. Richard Lewis, president of a public relations firm that represents large accounting and real estate firms.

“A month ago, what we were seeing were guys who’d been voting Republican all their lives saying, ‘I’ve had it up to my eyeballs with this Bush thing,’ and they were ready to vote for Clinton. But in recent days they’re wondering, ‘Where is (Clinton) going to go with taxes?’ ”

Somewhat improved economic indicators in recent weeks may be persuading the business community that the economy has bottomed out. And an eleventh-hour swing back to their natural conservatism may also be at work, Lewis says. He says clients who were going to vote for Democratic Senate candidate Barbara Boxer have recently changed their minds--”They think she’s a fruitcake now”--and say they’re supporting Republican Bruce Herschensohn.

Despite this partial return to the GOP, Bush’s support among the business community remains unusually lukewarm for a Republican candidate. And Clinton’s roster of business supporters includes some surprising names: John Scully, chief executive officer of Apple Computer, John Young, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and Roger Johnson, CEO of Irvine-based Western Digital Corp.--all registered Republicans. Clinton has published a list of 400 CEOs, including 55 CEOs of Fortune 200 companies, who support him.

Typical among converts is Roger Salquist, chief executive of Calgene, known for its plans to market a genetically engineered tomato. Salquist calls himself “an Orange County Republican by genetics and upbringing” who never voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in his life.

Salquist says he cast an absentee ballot for Clinton on Friday. “I think we need a change in leadership. I don’t believe George Bush has an economic plan for the country; his group of advisers is tired and not particularly effective, and we need a spiritual renewal as well as different thinking.”

High-tech executives in general seem to be more open to the idea of a Clinton presidency. While Silicon Valley and the leadership of the biotechnology industry remain split in their loyalties, many believe that the federal government should have a more active role in supporting high-tech research and favor Clinton.

The National Coalition for Advanced Manufacturing says Clinton’s support of a “national industrial extension service”--a consulting service similar to the highly successful agricultural extension service--matches their agenda.

The group also likes his support for targeted investment tax credits for factory machinery and equipment. The organization, which represents large and small manufacturers and research institutions, wants the federal government to shift emphasis in the $76-billion federal R&D; budget--60% of which now goes to defense, with only 1.5% to industrial technology.

Leo Reddy, president of the group, says Clinton is more likely to make that shift. However, he gives Bush somewhat higher marks than Clinton for his ideas on worker training.

Small-business people appear to favor Bush, but give significant support to both Clinton and Ross Perot. An informal poll of 219 leading entrepreneurs in late October by accounting firm Ernst & Young found 51% for Bush, 15% for Clinton, 18% for Perot, and 16% undecided.

While many small business owners have been hard hit by the recession and disappointed by Bush’s response, others say they fear that Clinton will raise taxes and increase regulations. Many share the views of Theresa Chang, 34-year-old president of a small oil and gas engineering firm in Houston.

“Bush has been supportive of small business . . . he has outreached to diverse groups to find what our needs are.” She praises Bush for his policies on international trade. “We have to learn to export more,” she says.

Among executives of large corporations, Clinton has won unusual support for a Democrat. “Clinton is a different kind of Democrat,” says Michael Peevey, president of Southern California Edison and a Clinton supporter (though he stressed his company makes no endorsements).

At a Chicago lunch with 100 executives in September, Clinton impressed many with his ideas on education and tax incentives.

“When I talk with him, he almost finishes my sentences instead of his eyes glazing over. I think as governor of Arkansas, because it’s a small state, he did a lot of the dealing himself,” says Johnson of Western Digital.

But overall, leaders of the Fortune 500 in general appear to retain their traditional loyalty to the Republican Party. In a July poll of 184 executives in Fortune magazine, 85% supported Bush and only 9% Clinton.

In June, the National Assn. of Manufacturers raised “serious concerns” about Clinton’s economic plans, citing fears that taxes and spending would rise unduly and that he had no agenda for alleviating the regulatory burden on business.

More recently, with the likelihood of a Clinton presidency appearing to rise, the group on Thursday voiced anew these fears and reported that its directors overwhelmingly oppose a short-term economic stimulus package that would increase the deficit.

Times staff writer Donna K.H. Walters contributed to this story.