School Runoff Foes Must Work to Lure Voters to Polls

What if an election were held but nobody voted?

That’s the problem strategists for David Armor and Elizabeth Ginsburg are wrestling with now that the glow of their strong showings Tuesday in the race to represent the West San Fernando Valley on the Los Angeles school board has worn off. Armor and Ginsburg will meet in a runoff on June 4.

Without strong emotional issues, such as mandatory busing or school closures, there are few concerns the two candidates can use to lure voters.

What’s more, there isn’t a “grabber” at the top of the election ballot.

There is one ballot measure that may raise the political temperature--”The 1,500 Plan.” This proposal would raise property taxes in order to add 1,500 officers to the Los Angeles Police Department. There is also the runoff in the city controller race between Dan Shapiro and Rick Tuttle.

Large Turnout Unlikely

But neither the ballot measure nor the city attorney race is expected to draw large numbers of Valley voters to the polls.

So, in the next few weeks, Ginsburg, a 60-year-old government teacher at Chatsworth High, and Armor, a 46-year-old education consultant, will be trying to formulate a plan to ensure that the voters most likely to support their candidacies are the ones who vote.

Defining likely constituencies should not be difficult for the candidates in this nonpartisan race.

Armor is well-financed, well-advised and has his roots in Republican politics. In 1982, he ran for Congress in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles). Armor is a former Rand Corp. social science analyst and a former professor of education and sociology at Harvard University and UCLA.

Desegregation Role

Throughout the primary, Armor stressed his role in ending mandatory desegregation in the Los Angeles school district and his desire to expand automatic expulsion policies to include participation in illegal gang activities and serious acts of vandalism. He also is opposed to future school closings and suggested the creation of alternative junior high school programs for problem students. These so-called continuation schools are offered to high school students.

Armor also was endorsed by several conservatives, including Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge), Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, outgoing Los Angeles school board member Tom Bartman and board member Roberta Weintraub, who was reelected Tuesday.

Ginsburg, on the other hand, can probably expect many Democrats who sat out the primary because of fellow Democrat Betty Blake’s candidacy to come to her aid during the runoff. Ginsburg has been a teacher in the Los Angeles district for 20 years. She holds a master’s degree from Teachers’ College at Columbia University and a special-education credential from California State University, Northridge.

In her primary campaign, Ginsburg stressed her role as “an insider,” saying that her classroom experience gives her insight into the problems of the district. She advocated reducing class sizes and reducing the number of students assigned to individual counselors, updating curricula and improving what she called “deteriorating” conditions on school grounds.

Ginsburg’s major endorsement came from United Teachers of Los Angeles, the city’s largest teachers’ union. Ginsburg also received help from members of the San Fernando Nuclear Freeze Committee, an organization with which she has been actively involved. She was also endorsed by the Municipal Elections Committee of Los Angeles, an influential political organization concerned with promoting gay rights.

Ginsburg had also sought the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee, but that group declined to endorse anyone in the primary. It is very likely that Ginsburg will seek the group’s endorsement again.

Absentee Ballots

The easiest--and one of the most expensive--ways for a candidate to ensure that likely supporters vote is to send out absentee-ballot applications to voters in the same political party of the candidate. Claude Parrish, one of the seven primary candidates in this week’s school board contest, was somewhat successful using absentee-ballot strategy. Parrish sent absentee ballots to all registered Republicans in the West Valley. When these ballots, the first to be counted, were tallied, Parrish had garnered 22% of the vote. He ended with a total of 11%.

Armor also used an absentee technique in last Tuesday’s election, only he mailed absentee-vote applications to those Republicans who had voted absentee in the November, 1984, election. Armor garnered 39% of the absentee vote and ended election evening with 40% of the total vote.

Last-Minute Blitz

Ginsburg did not send applications for absentee ballots to potential voters.

Both candidates can be expected to put together a strong campaign with an emphasis on a last-minute, direct-mail blitz, endorsements from major local, state and possibly national politicians and loads of volunteers.

“I talked from the gut level during the primary and I’m going to continue doing that,” said Ginsburg.

“It should be a tough battle,” Armor said.