3 Rivals Court Latino GOP Leaders, Activists

Appearing together for the final time in their gubernatorial campaign, the three leading candidates for the Republican nomination on Saturday refrained from the intramural attacks that have characterized the race in its final weeks and instead directed their ire at incumbent Gov. Gray Davis.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, businessman Bill Simon Jr. and Secretary of State Bill Jones each addressed a Latino Republican summit in Los Angeles, and each argued that California Latinos, who have moved heavily toward the Democratic Party in recent years, should reconsider the state GOP and its gubernatorial standard-bearers.

Riordan was particularly emotive, citing his efforts on behalf of Latinos as mayor and accusing Davis of secretly working to undermine the anti-bilingual education initiative, Proposition 227.

The State Board of Education, which Davis appoints, is drafting rules on how to implement the initiative. Some proponents are suspicious because Davis opposed the 1998 ballot measure.

Riordan stood with a woman who said her English-speaking 5-year-old son was being kept in a Spanish-language class in elementary school against her will. Riordan blamed the governor.

“Gray Davis, in the name of God, in the name of our children, stop this!” Riordan shouted.

He then joined his rivals inside the ballroom of the LAX Marriott to address about 300 Latino leaders and activists. All three candidates argued that their Republican vision would be better for Latinos than the policies pursued by Davis, whom they accused of letting schools and the state’s budget fall into disrepair with his free-spending ways.

“Gray Davis has never signed the front of the check, like many of us,” Simon told the crowd. “He signs the back of the check.”

The summit was the latest effort by the Republican Party to woo back Latinos, who have deserted the GOP in droves since the party backed the anti-illegal immigration measure Proposition 187 in 1994. In 1998, Davis won 71% of the Latino vote against Dan Lungren, the Republican candidate that year.

Davis spokesman Roger Salazar dismissed the attacks, taking particular issue with Riordan’s assertion that Davis, who vetoed legislation that would have overturned Proposition 227, is now working to undermine the measure.

After largely ignoring his Republican competition for months, Riordan last week unleashed a negative ad against the financier, a friend. Simon parried with his own spot. Jones, who has raised less money than Simon or Riordan, has had little presence on television. Simon and Riordan are expected to launch more spots before the March 5 primary.

Salazar, meanwhile, was equally dismissive of the GOP’s pitch to Latinos.

“It’s nice for the Republican Party to finally come in and try to appeal to Latinos,” said the governor’s spokesman. “We’ll see if there is any substance behind their sound bites.... It’s not just rhetoric from the governor. He’s actually done things.”

State Republican Party chair Shawn Steel acknowledged that the GOP has a long way to go to win the support of Latinos. Outlining a program to recruit top Latinos to run for local positions on city councils, water boards and other offices, Steel estimated it could take 10 years before Latinos were solidly in the Republican column. “At the end of the day, it’s trench warfare in the neighborhoods,” Steel said. “That’s the only way I see us becoming a majority party.”

The three candidates tried to tailor their themes to a Latino audience Saturday.

Riordan, who drew 62% of the Latino vote in his second race for mayor against liberal Democrat Tom Hayden, unveiled a Spanish-language television spot that began airing Saturday outside Los Angeles. In the 30-second ad, a series of Latinos praise Riordan’s mayoral record.

Davis last week began airing a Spanish-language spot on television featuring Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante.

At his news conference before addressing the gathering, Riordan presented three Latinos whom he appointed to various Los Angeles city commissions, and he noted that Latinos held high positions in his administration.

Inside the banquet hall later, he drew the loudest applause from the crowd after gleefully mispronouncing the words: “Buenos tardes, yo soy el ex-alcalde de la ciudad de Los Angeles, Ricardo Riordan.” (“Good afternoon, I am the ex-mayor of the city of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan.”)

“Latinos represent the future of the Republican Party, as well as the future of our state,” he added.

Simon put in a far briefer appearance at the event, leaving directly after his speech. In a brief interview in the hall, he said Latinos would support him because his policies on education, the budget and the state infrastructure would help them.

“The policies I’ve been talking about--empowerment--are very important to Latinos,” Simon said.

In his speech, Jones cited his support from two Latino groups and said that the reapportionment plan he helped push through the Legislature in 1991 helped Latinos win state office.

“Republicans did that,” Jones said. “We did not do it just for ourselves.”

In response to a question from a reporter after the speech, Jones criticized Simon for voting only once between 1983 and 1988. Simon said it was his record of “community service” that mattered. The secretary of state, who is in charge of California elections, disagreed. “It’s appalling,” Jones said. “Totally unacceptable.”

But Jones, who usually laces his stump speech with digs at his two wealthier rivals, refrained from those attacks Saturday.

“It wasn’t necessary today,” he said. “This was a different message today. This was a message to the people who were there to keep them coming back.”