"There was no blood," he said. "No one was arrested."
In a scene symbolic of the divisions in the GOP, revelers at what was meant to be a GOP victory party at the Sutton Place Hotel in Newport Beach were treated to the spectacle of a shoving and shouting match involving Fong supporters, relatives of defeated Orange County congressional candidate Robert Dornan and various security guards.
The fiery Dornan, who was scheduled to speak for only six minutes, was wrapping up a rambling 25-minute speech in which he refused to concede defeat to Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez.
During the speech, he tore into fellow Republican Bill Jones, the California secretary of state, over Jones' handling of allegations of voter fraud in Dornan's Orange County district. Dornan has insisted that fraud cost him his congressional seat against Sanchez in 1996.
Dornan's charges brought an immediate reply from Jones aide Alfie Charles, who said: "Bob Dornan has obviously snapped and is blaming everybody but himself."
Then things degenerated. Fong had been kept waiting backstage to concede to Boxer. According to several witnesses, as Dornan finished, one or more Fong supporters behind the podium began chanting "Fong! Fong!"
Dornan's son Bob Jr., 42, said he began arguing with the Fong group. When one of the Fong backers said, "Your dad's the reason Fong lost," the elder Dornan's 38-year-old daughter Kate tried to tussle with the Fong backer, reaching past a security guard, according to Bob Dornan Jr.
Then a security guard knocked Kate Dornan "flat on her ass," according to her brother. Her boyfriend, Pete Carolyn, was briefly handcuffed but was released, several witnesses said.
Party officials described the altercation as a minor incident magnified by the emotions of the moment. Party spokesman Tony Bell did his best to look on the bright side for the GOP.
"There was no blood," he said. "No one was arrested." |
