Davis-Fiedler Feud Casts Shadows Over 2 Assembly Races : Elections: Political insiders say the candidate lineup in two primaries gives credence to the idea that the 4-year-old GOP schism underlies both campaigns.

In the sound-bite world of politics, where complex events often get reduced to a cynical quip, it was an election-year incident that pundits quickly tagged “the murder-suicide.”

Amid the hard-fought 1986 campaign for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, a top aide to one candidate, state Sen. Ed Davis of Santa Clarita, contacted local prosecutors with a startling allegation: Davis had been offered a $100,000 contribution to get out of the race by supporters of another candidate, then-Rep. Bobbi Fiedler of Northridge.

The resulting scandal drew national attention and badly damaged the campaigns of Fiedler and Davis--and, some GOP observers say, created bitter personal feelings that have hardened into the San Fernando Valley’s longest-running Republican political feud.

Davis and Fiedler both say they are not conducting vendettas against one another. But as local Republicans prepare for hotly contested primary battles June 5 in two adjacent Valley-area state Assembly districts--which cover most of Fiedler’s old congressional district--some observers say the Davis-Fiedler schism is casting long shadows over both races.

A fiery former housewife who rose to Congress on the strength of her opposition to court-ordered busing in Los Angeles, Fiedler was indicted in January, 1986, on charges of offering the contribution. A judge later threw out the indictment but by the time the election was over, Fiedler--who had given up her congressional seat to run for the Senate--had finished a disappointing fourth; Davis was fifth.

Fiedler, who now refuses to comment on Davis, nevertheless says the notion of a continuing feud between them is largely a fiction perpetuated by the press.

“So, as long as Ed and I are alive, whenever we do something on opposite sides, this story is going to be retold?” she asked. “It’s really disgusting. The press is just using it to fill up space. It’s not a credible charge.”

Davis also pooh-poohed the idea of a feud. But in the same breath, the blunt-spoken former police chief of Los Angeles denounced Fiedler in terms that are harsh even by political standards.

“I have no feud with her, I just wouldn’t recommend her for anything that requires scrupulous adherence to the law,” he said.

Such remarks serve to confirm the belief among Republican observers that the feud is more than myth.

“It is real and it is very intense,” said GOP political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who said he has friends in both camps. “The feelings run deep.”

Davis, Fiedler and many of their allies maintain the 4-year-old split has little or no practical political significance now. It has become, however, an open campaign issue in at least one of the two Assembly primaries. And political insiders said the candidate lineup in the two races gives credence to the idea that the feud underlies both.

In the 37th Assembly District, incumbent GOP Assemblywoman Cathie Wright, a longtime Fiedler ally, faces the stiffest primary challenge of her 10-year career from Hunt Braly, Davis’ chief of staff.

In the 38th Assembly District, Granada Hills real estate broker Paula Boland, a close friend of Fiedler’s, is up against Rob Wilcox, a one-time Davis staffer and longtime aide to GOP Assemblywoman Marian La Follette of Northridge, a Davis ally. La Follette announced March 1 that she is retiring from her seat in the GOP-dominated district, prompting Wilcox, Boland and three other Republicans to run.

Davis has endorsed Braly and Wilcox, and both candidates have drawn on longtime Davis supporters for money for their campaigns. Similarly, Fiedler has endorsed Wright and Boland and has pledged to do “everything I can” do to help raise money for Boland, a longtime grass-roots activist making her first run for public office.

Davis and Fiedler deny that they are fielding proxy candidates against one another, but at least one candidate running against those backed by Davis and Fiedler is trying to turn their schism into a campaign issue.

Bob Scott, a business attorney from Granada Hills, refers to his competitors in the 38th District--Boland and Wilcox--as “hand-picked surrogates of the Davis and Fiedler camps.”

“In a time when we are trying to limit the terms of office and stop improper campaign influence, I feel certain that these blatant attempts to ‘pass the baton’ to political puppets will be rejected by the voters,” he said.

But the Davis- and Fiedler-backed candidates heatedly reject the theme that they are waging political war on behalf of their better-known patrons.

“Every time I hear about this feud I get angry,” Boland said, “because it’s nobody’s life, nobody’s name and nobody’s business on the line in this campaign except mine . . . I’m a brilliant businesswoman. I’m not stupid. I’m not anyone’s puppet.”

The Davis-Fiedler split, however, isn’t the only difference underlying the two races. There are also substantive philosophical disagreements.

In both races, the Fiedler-backed candidates have won the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly, a volunteer organization that represents the GOP’s right wing, while the Davis-backed candidates have not. Moreover, the Davis-endorsed candidates have staked out more moderate positions on some high-visibility issues than those supported by Fiedler.

For example, Wilcox supports abortion rights but Boland opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the mother’s life.

In some respects, the feud has been kept alive less by Davis and Fiedler than by some of those who worked for them during the 1986 campaign. These aides and former aides, many of them still involved in politics, are eager to give unflattering opinions about one another to reporters--off the record, of course.

But in at least one recent case, a former Fiedler aide actively tried to damage the campaign of a Davis-supported candidate. The ex-staffer, Stephen R. Frank, publicly accused Braly of advocating the legalization of marijuana in 1980 while he headed a college Republican group.

Frank, now a Simi Valley public affairs consultant and CRA member, sent press releases denouncing Braly to 47 newspapers and other media outlets in the 37th Assembly District.

Braly said he didn’t recall if his college group ever took a formal position on legalization but that he never supported it. Frank said he is supporting Wright because he believes she is a superior candidate, not because he harbors any dislike for Davis.

The appointment of Martha Zilm as Wilcox’s campaign manager also has revived unpleasant memories of 1986 among some of those who worked for Fiedler then. Zilm, then Davis’ campaign manager, secretly tape-recorded conversations with Fiedler and her aides that led to Fiedler’s indictment.

But even those who acknowledge bad blood between Davis and Fiedler said there is little likelihood that their break will weaken the GOP candidates enough to open the door to a Democratic victory in the November general elections. Both Assembly districts have been held by Republicans since 1980.

Scott, however, said the feud has turned off some party loyalists and discouraged grass-roots political participation. Fiedler and others in her camp rejected that idea, saying Scott is trying to manufacture an issue to use against stronger candidates backed by her and Davis. Nevertheless, both Fiedler and Davis could gain politically depending on the outcome of the two Assembly contests.

If Boland and Wright win, Fiedler would have two well-placed allies to help her if she ever acts on her stated interest in running for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council or the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

If Wilcox wins, Davis will have a close ally to replace his friend La Follette in the 38th District. If Braly wins, Davis would be rid of Wright--a longtime antagonist who considered running for his Senate seat in 1988--in the 37th District.