This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press April 6, 2001.

By LISA WAHLA
Valley Press Staff Writer

A month ago, state GOP leaders Brooks Firestone and Shawn Steel were engaged in a no-holds-barred battle for leadership of the California Republican Party.

Steel, the darling of the party's conservative arm, took the chairmanship by 86 votes over the more moderate Firestone. This weekend, bygones will be bygones as the moderate California Congress of Republicans - Firestone's backbone of support - welcomes both men to speak at its convention in Anaheim.

"We're a unified party; that's what it means," said Lancaster attorney Larry Hales, who founded the Antelope Valley Congress of Republicans. "We're more or less in the role of loyal opposition, but our differences aren't that major."

The Congress and the more traditional California Republican Assembly both stand by Reagan-esque economic policies and a strong military, but they differ on social issues. The Congress takes a neutral stance on abortion and gun control and a "live-and-let-live" viewpoint on homosexual rights.

"We took people who got frustrated because we were losing a lot of Republican women over the abortion issue," local member Dean Henderson said.

Four of the local chapter's two dozen members will attend this weekend's convention in Anaheim: Hales, Henderson, attorney Richard Loa and Jan Davis, who works in Hales' office.

Davis said she is looking forward to hearing Firestone speak; she said he has a lot of energy and "thinks the way I think."

Though she has been to a number of conventions, Davis said she enjoys each one: "I don't think of it as giving up my weekends; I think of it as such a learning tool," she said. "I want to learn more and be more involved."

For Loa, this weekend will also be a learning experience. The Palmdale resident considers himself more conservative and is a member of the Antelope Valley Republican Assembly, which backed Steel for party chairman. But he said he's willing to listen to the Congress' views and hopes to help the party reach a consensus.

"Obviously the Republican Party in California needs to do something to regain the support of Californians," Loa said. "We should not make fundamental changes to our philosophical approach, but ... I don't want to relegate the party to the so-called dust bin of history if there are changes we can make that square with our conservative values."

At the convention, Hales said he expects to hear a lot about the energy crisis and the situation in China regarding the downed spy plane. Other major topics will include how to inject viability in the party, bring together its conservative and moderate members and win back the governorship and Legislature in 2002.

California Secretary of State Bill Jones, a likely candidate for the 2002 gubernatorial race, also will speak. Henderson said it is important to rally support for Jones, the Republican frontrunner, because Gov. Gray Davis has a substantial head start in fund-raising.

Current California CCR President Bob Larkin said he has "good news" to share with attendees: the addition of approximately 20 new chapters (for a total of approximately 60) and the upcoming opportunity to expand beyond California's borders.

Larkin will turn the organization's reins over to Dennis Catron, an Orange County Republican who once led the California Republican Assembly.