Dannemeyer Vows to Run Against Feinstein in 1994

Just as he was retiring from 14 years in Congress, conservative Orange County Rep. William E. Dannemeyer announced Tuesday that he hopes to go right back into the Capitol by defeating U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 1994.

Dannemeyer’s announcement almost two years before the election would mark his second consecutive bid for the seat since he gave up his congressional office last spring to attempt to unseat appointed U.S. Sen. John Seymour in the June Republican primary.

Democrat Feinstein, who was sworn into office Tuesday, defeated Seymour in the election last week. She will be on the ballot in 1994 for election to a six-year term.

“My preference is to limit Diane (sic) Feinstein to no more than two years in the United States Senate,” Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) said in a statement. “She and (Sen.-elect) Barbara Boxer are truly the J.E.T. twins--Job Elimination Twins.”

Dannemeyer, 63, is an outspoken conservative backed by the GOP’s religious right, who is best known for his support of mandatory disclosure laws for AIDS victims and his opposition to anti-discrimination rules for homosexuals.

At a press conference in Santa Ana Tuesday morning, Dannemeyer said he considered--but abandoned--an idea to run for the state Senate in an upcoming special election in Orange County. And he announced that he would launch two statewide initiatives that he hoped to place on the 1994 ballot along with his name.

Both initiatives are intended to improve the economy by reducing regulations affecting business. One would target workers’ compensation laws and the other would make air quality districts elected bodies instead of appointed ones.

Keeping his focus on a conservative solution to the economy, Dannemeyer also told reporters that he wrote President-elect Bill Clinton a letter Tuesday proposing tax law changes and suggesting that--if they were available--he would be a candidate for a job in the new Administration as Treasury secretary or director of the Office of Management and Budget.

“He said he wanted Democrats and Republicans and independents to serve in his Administration,” Dannemeyer said, adding that he was not expecting an appointment.

The veteran congressman’s decision to run for the U.S. Senate, however, is likely to get a response from other prospective Republican candidates and party leaders who don’t want to hurt their chance at unseating Feinstein because of intraparty fighting.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) said Tuesday that he is considering a bid for the Senate seat. And while Dannemeyer is a friend and a conservative soul mate, Dornan said he was “flabbergasted” that Dannemeyer hadn’t consulted him.

Dornan, who ran for the Senate in 1982 and said he has stepped aside in recent races so other conservatives could unite in a campaign, said he is now “overly seasoned” and would no longer avoid a race against a fellow Republican.

“If anybody steps out of the way for somebody else, it’s not going to be me,” Dornan said. “I don’t know what to make of this, but obviously he should have given a courtesy call to me and (other prospective candidates, Reps.) Chris Cox (R-Newport Beach) and Dave Dreier (R-La Verne) since all of us are friends and colleagues.”

When Dannemeyer was asked about the possibility of running in the primary against Dornan, he said: “It’s a free country.”

Dannemeyer said his Senate campaign earlier this year failed because Seymour was an incumbent who could raise more money with help from Gov. Pete Wilson and President Bush.

Dannemeyer said he thought that his fund raising would be more successful in an open Republican primary. At the same time, however, the congressman said he would be the leader of the two statewide initiative campaigns at the same time he is running for office.

Other statewide candidates have used the same initiative strategy to associate their campaigns with a popular issue. But the results have been mixed since some campaigns are stretched too thin trying to generate resources for a candidate as well as an initiative.

Dannemeyer’s workers’ compensation proposal aims at a hot issue in Sacramento, although GOP strategists said Tuesday that they were uncertain how successful it would be with voters.

Dannemeyer said the goals of his plan would be to increase benefits for injured workers; reduce the money paid to doctors and lawyers and decrease employer premiums. The congressman said the details of his plan have not been worked out, but his outline was similar to a proposal made in Sacramento last month by Wilson.

“There’s nothing (Dannemeyer) said that’s inconsistent with what we’re trying to do,” said Dan Schnur, spokesman for the governor, when told about the plan.

Both Wilson and the Democrat-controlled Legislature proposed workers’ compensation reform plans in a special session last month and each sought to increase benefits and reduce employer premiums. The state plans failed, however, when the two sides could not agree on regulations for insurance companies.

Schnur said the governor would try to pass the plan through the Legislature again, and, if it fails, he will consider whether to include the reforms in a ballot initiative.

Dannemeyer’s other initiative would target the South Coast Air Quality Management District, a regulatory agency responsible for adopting rules to clean the air. The congressman and many other Republicans have criticized the agency as a burden to businesses.

Dannemeyer said his initiative would seek to make the group more accountable by forcing its directors to seek election.

“The goal on electing persons serving on air quality districts . . . is to rein in some of these districts which have engaged in excessive regulation and fines to the point where job providers have begun voting with their feet and moving to other states,” Dannemeyer said.