Assemblyman Gil Ferguson

In a move that could send shock waves through Orange County's Republican Party, Newport Beach Mayor Pro Tem Evelyn Hart said Tuesday that she is seriously considering challenging Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) in the June 7 primary. Hart said she will take out declaration-of-intention papers by the 5 p.m. deadline today. To be on the ballot, she must return the papers by March 11.

Jeffrey A. Perlman's recent commentary (July 28) on the causes and consequences of the decision by Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel to terminate the moratorium on oil drilling in the offshore waters of Orange County was excellent but not quite complete. And the comments (Aug. 4) by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) and the letters to the editor underscore that omission. The other factor which made it almost a foregone conclusion that coastal Orange County would get the brunt of the drilling is that Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach)

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson has misrepresented the facts concerning an incident during his campaign (Letters, June 3). Ferguson says in his letter that he refuses to apologize for referring to a group of homosexual activists with a diminutive (sic) term. He cites as his reason for this the accusation that he was cursed by those people and his car was spat on as he left a church where he had just spoken at an anti-gay forum. As a participant in the events of that day, I want to emphasize that Ferguson is attempting to obscure the truth.

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) has been representing the 70th District for nearly six years. That's long enough. He has an acceptable opponent in the Republican primary this year: Phyllis Badham, a 30-year-old public relations manager. Badham, the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), is politically inexperienced, but has energy and ambition.

For now, there is no election date set--or any official candidates running--to replace Marian Bergeson, who just left her Senate seat to be sworn in as an Orange County supervisor. Yet, I've already received in my mailbox a slick and sleazy piece of political attack mail from the "Ross Johnson for Senate Committee." This brochure was postmarked less than two months after Johnson was reelected to the Assembly. I guess he's decided now is the time to reveal that he had no intention of serving in the office, which he asked voters to entrust him with and in which he led them to believe he would represent them.

As chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, I would like to commend the support for privatization contained in the Commentary by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson ("County Needs Latitude to Contract Out Jobs, Save Tax Money," Jan. 31). His support of Senate Bill 84 and the legislative effort begun by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) this past year to remove unnecessary barriers to the use of private contracts by general-law counties will enhance our continuing efforts to cut costs while being responsive to local needs.

Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Rancho San Diego) on Friday verbally confronted--some witnesses say even slapped--an Orange County colleague who accused him in a public letter of voting to "keep pornography available to your children." The shouting match erupted early Friday in a Capitol corridor when Peace ran up to Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) and began shouting about Ferguson's letter, published in that morning's San Diego Union.

Saying that they did not mean to violate state election laws and will make amends, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) promised Wednesday to give a detailed accounting of money they spent on the Irvine City Council race last June. Meanwhile, Irvine City Atty. Roger Grable said he will ask the state's Fair Political Practices Commission and the Orange County district attorney's office to investigate whether state laws were violated.

Former Assemblyman Gil Ferguson on Wednesday blasted Orange County's Republican Party establishment--which he called the "Orange County mafia"--for purportedly destroying political careers, including his own and that of Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress). In a luncheon speech to a Republican women's group here, Ferguson said local GOP leaders will lie and deceive to ruin the career of any Republicans who do not do what they are told. "They will say anything, anything to hurt you," said Ferguson, a staunchly conservative Republican and former Marine lieutenant colonel who spent 10 years representing Newport Beach in the Assembly and was defeated in his bid for the state Senate.

The City Council has passed a resolution endorsing a proposed state law that would make it illegal for vendors to sell sexually explicit material from vending machines in unsupervised public places. The council action supports a bill by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) to help restrict the sale of "harmful materials" to minors.