ASHINGTON - The Reform Party's squabbling leadership splintered yesterday into warring factions when supporters of founder Ross Perot spun off a separate corporation designed to counter rivals loyal to Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.
Hours later, the two sides met in federal court as Ventura's supporters sought to stop Perot's leadership from holding the party's convention in California.
''It's a battle for control of the party, of the ideology of the party,'' said Donna Donovan of Connecticut, spokeswoman for the Reform Leadership Council, announced by Perot's supporters yesterday. The group representing 15 states, she said, is ''a way to show for sure that the major ity of this party joined because of the sentiments expressed by Ross Perot.''
On the other side, Jack Gargan, incoming party chairman, dubbed the council's formation a ''power grab,'' by Perot's supporters in an effort to dictate the party's direction after Gargan takes office Saturday.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Gargan warned the ''Dallas faction,'' to stop trying to control the party through attacks on its wings, or see it perish. The party grew out of Perot's 1992 presidential bid and was preceded by his United We Stand, America. Perot ran for president under the Reform Party banner in 1996, and the party's first national convention was in 1997.
''A little core of yappers from 15 states does not make up the Reform Party. Last I checked there were 50 states,'' Gargan said from his home in Cedar Keys, Fla., where he will maintain the party's new headquarters. ''If the party is to survive, the Dallas faction is going to have to cease and desist their incessant attacks on everything that the party is trying to do that doesn't suit their fancy.''
The battle also was being played out yesterday in a federal courtroom in Minnesota, where Rick McCluhan, state party chairman, sought an injunction against national party members seeking to hold the annual convention in Long Beach, Calif., instead of Minnesota.
The disputes have grown in number and intensity with the influence of the Reform Party in national politics. Because Perot received more than 5 percent of the presidential vote in 1992 and 1996, the Reform Party qualifies for $12.6 million in federal funding for its presidential nominee in 2000. It also boasts Ventura, the party's only statewide elected official.
But Ventura now leads the faction opposed to Perot on the eve of an election year, and the two highest-profile presidential hopefuls seeking the nomination already have taken sides. Columnist Patrick J. Buchanan has drifted toward Perot's supporters, while billionaire Donald Trump plans a meeting Jan. 7 with Ventura in Minnesota.
The disputes that keep the sides apart range from logistics to ideology. Pat Benjamin, a Perot supporter, said yesterday that she is angered by Trump's attacks on Buchanan in violation, she said, of the party's ban on negative campaigning.
Perot's supporters released a statement yesterday announcing the formation of the Reform Leadership Council.
''The party is at risk of becoming redefined by a very vocal minority which is challenging the consensus and democratic decisions of the majority,'' the statement said. ''We must unite in steadfast support of the principles of reform ... and articulate a vision for the future which reflects the vision of our founder, Ross Perot, and millions of like-minded Americans.''
