Local Reform Party member stays strong in face of split

Alex Coolman

LONG BEACH -- Ray Mills is walking a tightrope.

The chairman of California’s Reform Party, who is also a Costa Mesa

cab driver and a candidate for the 70th state Assembly District, has been

watching his party spread apart over the last few days.

Torn by a disagreement over whether to support Pat Buchanan as a

presidential candidate, the party has split into two factions, holding

separate, simultaneous conventions in Long Beach.

Mills says he’s still supporting Buchanan. But like many Reformers, he

has mixed feelings about the candidate.

“I don’t think Buchanan is perfect,� he said. “I don’t agree with some

of his social issues myself.�

Despite certain misgivings, Mills says has not been tempted to join

the protesters.

“I’m mostly a party person first, so I would not condone any action

that splits us,� he said. “If people disagree on candidates, going off

and holding separate conventions is not the answer.�

Mills characterized his stance as a necessity of pragmatic politics.

“Buchanan is the best option because of his experience and notoriety,� he

said.

Mills has been attending the Reform Party convention in Long Beach,

though he was not there Wednesday when a splinter group -- which opposes

Buchanan and favors John Hagelin -- stormed out of a meeting at the

Westin Hotel. The Hagelin supporters set up camp in the nearby Long Beach

Arts Center.

Now that the splinter group is gone, he said, the convention, which

runs through Sunday, seems curiously harmonious.

“There’s not disagreement with much of what’s going on,� he said.

Jim Benson, former chair of the greater Orange County chapter of the

Reform Party, has also been attending the convention. He said the warring

sides seemed to be evenly split in terms of their numbers.

“My perception is that on one side, the Buchanan people feel that they

have it won, and on the other side, since they feel that no compromise is

possible, they just have to go forward and announced Hagelin,� he said.

The 70th Assembly District, in which Mills is running, covers Newport

Beach, Costa Mesa and other areas in Orange County. Marilyn Brewer, the

current representative, cannot run because she has reached the end of the

term limit.