Sanchez, Dornan Trade Barbs but Not Face to Face

WESTMINSTER —  In a campaign filled with the unusual, it was another bizarre moment.

Democrat challenger Loretta Sanchez, a Rotarian, was about to give a lunch talk Thursday to the Westminster Rotary Club, when her opponent, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) walked in and sat down.

It looked like Dornan, after skipping at least five debates in the last month, had finally decided to confront the upstart, who is mounting a well-funded challenge to the nine-term incumbent in this predominantly Latino and Democratic district.

But then it didn’t happen. Instead of the two squaring off, Dornan ordered lunch.

One of the strangest races in this political year is also one of the most important and could determine which party controls Congress for the next two years.

The Dornan-Sanchez race has included accusations of campaign-sign stealing, outrageous political mailers and even a citizen’s arrest of Sanchez’s husband by Dornan’s son, Mark, for allegedly tearing down Dornan campaign signs.

With two dozen Rotarians and their guests wondering what would happen next, Sanchez, 36, gave a 15-minute version of her usual stump talk. It included attacks on Dornan’s opposition to the Brady Bill gun control measure and the Clinton administration’s effort to put 100,000 cops on the street.

Without mentioning Dornan’s name, she closed, taking a shot at him.

“We only get one representative in Congress and people judge us by who we send,” she told the gathering. “We should show we are not afraid of women in the work force or . . . of minorities. People have their eyes on this district and are looking to see if good or evil will prevail.”

After Sanchez left, Dornan, 63, was asked to the podium.

He talked about the need to cut taxes, his support for local police and his opposition to women in combat.

He also spoke about his opposition to Proposition 209, saying affirmative action often means that “if you are a white male you are the scum of the Earth” and for “Asian students with a natural aptitude for math” it means getting “frozen out of Berkeley.”

The two opponents neither shook hands nor said a word to each other.

With both sides spending a combined total of $1 million to take shots at each other through their advertisements, it is curious that Sanchez and Dornan don’t talk about the issues face to face.

Sanchez said she would gladly meet Dornan, but he does not want to discuss things that matter to the constituency in central Orange County. “He doesn’t because he is wrong on the issues,” said Sanchez, a financial analyst who stopped working last year to run full time for Congress.

Dornan has said he does not debate her because of her association with a convicted felon, Howard Kieffer. “It is beneath the dignity of the office to share a platform,” he said.

Sanchez in 1995 had a business relationship with Kieffer, a one-time member of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee, who went to prison for federal tax fraud in 1989 and has previous convictions for grand theft and forgery. She also ran her primary campaign this spring from an office she rented from Kieffer, who contributed $1,000 to her campaign.

Pamela Ezell, an assistant professor at Chapman University, tried to produce a televised debate between the candidates. She said Dornan and other elected Republicans refused to appear with Sanchez.

“They would have no part of it,” Ezell said. “They did not want to give her a platform.” However, when Sanchez, a Chapman alumnus, visited a forum on the campus, Mark Dornan, the congressman’s 37-year-old son, was there to ask her questions.

If Republican officials have been shunning Sanchez, that is not the case with her party. President Clinton appeared with Sanchez during a recent rally in Santa Ana, and the White House and the Democratic Party have been pouring money and resources into the effort to oust Dornan, the leading Clinton basher in Congress.

The Clinton administration’s two highest-ranking Latino officials, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and Transportation Secretary Federico Pena, will be in town Monday, said the Sanchez campaign, speaking to a rally at Santa Ana’s Rancho Santiago College and perhaps walking precincts.

Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole appeared at a rally in Anaheim last week with Dornan, who introduced him. “We need to reelect Bob Dornan, who has done a great job for America,” Dole said as he held Dornan’s hand before a crowd of thousands.

Today, GOP vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp will visit Dornan headquarters in Garden Grove about noon after attending a church service in Santa Ana, the Dornan campaign said.

The Republican Party has spent heavily on Dornan and helped create some of his mailers. He is also getting cash in small amounts from thousands of conservatives around the country who answer his nationwide direct-mail solicitations.

Between Oct. 16 and Friday,Sanchez raised $101,500, compared to $24,500 collected by Dornan, according to campaign finance reports that must be filed with the Federal Election Commission covering donations of $1,000 or more.

Dornan, who previously had reported raising $250,443, said his campaign will have raised close to $400,000 by Tuesday. The Sanchez campaign, which had reported raising $259,933, said it will have raised $600,000 by election day.

Entertainment celebrities and labor unions, women and gay rights groups are among Sanchez’s late contributors. Entertainment donors included singers Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt. The Democratic candidate also raised money from congressional colleagues. She is receiving support from the Sierra Club.

Last-minute contributions to Dornan’s campaign came from several congressmen, the Lincoln Club of Orange County, and Roberta Green Ahmanson, a wealthy contributor to Christian conservative causes. He is also receiving support from the National Rifle Assn., anti-abortion groups and the Christian Coalition.

The cash is fueling a massive mail campaign on both sides, with at least one Dornan and three Sanchez pieces arriving Saturday, and others from both candidates expected Monday.

Both candidates announced endorsements Saturday.

Dornan received the backing of the Garden Grove Police Assn., to go with those from the police groups in Anaheim and Garden Grove, and the Latino Peace Officers Assn., Orange County chapter. He also is backed by Anaheim City Councilmen Lou Lopez, Tom Tait and Bob Zemel.

Sanchez received the backing of Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly, Garden Grove Mayor Bruce Broadwater, the Green Party and William Dougherty, a retired Marine colonel who was elected to the GOP Central Committee last spring. Former Reagan Press Secretary Jim Brady and his wife, Sarah, also have endorsed Sanchez.

Both candidates predicted victory Saturday. Dornan said he would take 50% of the vote with Sanchez receiving 41%, the balance going to third-party candidates.

Those candidates are: J. Carlos Aguirre, 48, a marketing vice president, running on the Natural Law ticket; Lawrence J. Stafford, 69, a financial consultant with the Reform Party; and Thomas E. Reimer, 43, an electronics engineer and Libertarian candidate.

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writer Gebe Martinez and States News Service writer David Phinney.