Backer of California Recall Feels Heat Directed at Him | NY Times

Backer of California Recall Feels Heat Directed at Him
By CHARLIE LeDUFF


OS ANGELES, July 22 Most Californians have never heard of Darrell Issa, the millionaire congressman who is bankrolling the effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis. But chances are, many know his voice.

Before he embarked on a second career in politics, Mr. Issa, a conservative Republican from San Diego, made a $100 million fortune in the car-alarm business. That was his recorded voice on the Viper alarm system warning the interloper and stray dog alike to "please step away from the car."

"That's me," said Mr. Issa, raising his eyebrows, while sitting in his sparse campaign headquarters along the loop of John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, nothing on his desk but potato chips and a diet soda. "That made me a celebrity, sort of."

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In 1972 he was busted for a loaded gun and a stolen car.