By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
Some UCLA students went to a huge party Tuesday night, but there
was no keg involved ““ they brought their political views
instead.
More than a thousand Republican supporters, including many Bruin
Republicans, packed the LAX Westin Hotel to cheer on their
candidate hopefuls at the California Republican Party election
night, and for many it was a grand old party.
“This is one important evening politically active students
look forward to,” said Chey Tor, a third-year political
science student.
Balloon arches and campaign banners lined every visible wall,
consisting mostly of state gubernatorial candidates Bill Jones,
Richard Riordan and Bill Simon. There was even a pro-Riordan
Charlie Chaplin impersonator silently rooting on the former Los
Angeles mayor.
Alcohol flowed freely, and lieutenant governor candidate Ellie
Michaels broke out into song for the crowd. For many the night more
closely resembled a social event than a political forum.
“I’m here to meet men,” said first-year math
student Ariana Haig, who then went off to chat with nearby male
Republicans.
But the people attending the bash did find a way to fit in some
political discussion. Bruin Republicans did not endorse a
gubernatorial candidate for the primary, though many admitted they
leaned toward frontrunner Simon, a Los Angeles-based
businessman.
“He is a true conservative Republican,” Tor said.
“Political moderates like Riordan don’t always win;
look at (Arizona senator) John McCain.”
Simon Perng, chair of the Bruin Republicans, said he was
disappointed in former frontrunner Riordan’s campaign
finish.
“He treated it like a general election and forgot about
the Republicans who have to nominate him first,” Perng
said.
When the party formally named Simon the Republican nominee for
governor, Perng said his group would wholeheartedly make the
endorsement.
Some attributed current governor Gray Davis’ negative ad
campaign against Riordan for dissipating the latter’s
election momentum.
“They must have had some impact because people responded
at the polls,” said attorney Jim Renton, a 1964 UCLA
alumnus.
Some Democrats disagreed, saying people underestimated the
effect of the ads.
“He was trying to be strategic, and probably calculated
the effects,” said Bruin Democrats president Katie Drake
Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t think the (ads) really had
an effect on the primary.”
With reports from Dexter Gauntlett, Daily Bruin Staff.