3 GOP Senate Contenders Reportedly Millionaires

WASHINGTON —  Three of the seven major contenders for the Republican senatorial nomination in California appear to be in the same millionaire class with incumbent Democrat Alan Cranston, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the Senate.

And all three--economist Arthur B. Laffer, state Assemblyman Robert W. Naylor (R-Menlo Park) and U.S. Rep. Ed Zschau (R-Los Altos)--are banking hefty investment earnings.

Zschau received between $205,000 and $600,000 in dividends, interest, rent and capital gains last year. The precise figure could not be determined because candidates are required to report individual items only in broad categories, such as $5,001 to $15,000.

Naylor received between $87,000 and $222,000 in such earnings last year.

Laffer’s Report

Laffer’s report has yet to arrive, but an aide said that there would be little change from the last report. It showed that, in addition to his $46,000 USC professor’s salary and $511,000 in income from his consulting firm, Laffer receives between $108,000 and $355,000 a year in dividends, interest, rent and capital gains.

The other reports disclosed that:

- State Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), whose finances appear to be the most modest of the group, supplements his $33,732 state legislator salary with an $84,000 Los Angeles police pension. He was formerly the chief of police.

- If Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich were to move up to the U.S. Senate, he would have to take a cut in official pay. His $77,624 county salary compares with Cranston’s $75,100.

- Radio-TV commentator Bruce Herschensohn, who received $15,265 in honorariums last year, is paid more than $170,000 a year by the American Broadcasting Co.

- Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge), who received no honorariums, says she declined $1,500 from a couple of groups, asking that the money be donated instead to a shelter for battered women and to a drug rehabilitation center.

Net Worth Estimated

The reports showed that Laffer’s net worth could be more than $2.2 million, Zschau’s more than $1.3 million, Naylor’s up to $1.9 million, Antonovich’s up to $575,000, Herschensohn’s up to $355,000, Fiedler’s up to $185,000 and Davis’ up to $80,000.