Compton Mayor Wins Reelection by 6-1 Margin

Walter Tucker overwhelmed old friend and City Council colleague Maxcy Filer to win a second term as mayor Tuesday, but incumbents fell short of the required majority in two bitterly contested council races and face a June 4 runoff election.

Tucker, a 60-year-old dentist, took 79.4% of the vote in the four-man mayoral contest to gain what he saw as a strong mandate for the economic redevelopment and crime-fighting polices of the current City Council.

“I see it as a vote of confidence in progress,” said Tucker, an ordained minister who had expected a stiff challenge from Filer, a maverick councilman who has opposed numerous redevelopment projects.

If it was a mandate, however, it did not embrace incumbent councilmen Floyd James and Robert Adams, who also campaigned as architects of this city’s reconstruction efforts.

Patricia Moore, 36, a part-time aide to Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), almost won the tight and expensive District 2 race outright when she forced James into a general election showdown. Moore won 48.9% of the vote to James’ 43.3%.

And, in District 3, Compton Community College Trustee Emily Hart-Holifield, an admittedly cocky challenger who also received Dymally backing, led throughout a long evening of vote counting and finally received 41.8% of the vote to Adams’ 40.2% in a six-person race.

In the other municipal contests, City Attorney Wesley Fenderson Jr. easily won reelection, while City Clerk Charles Davis and City Treasurer Wesley Sanders Jr. were each given a fourth four-year term by large margins.

In all, 8,621 of 36,528 registered voters, or 23.6%, cast ballots for 19 candidates Tuesday--a far better primary turnout than the 14.9% in 1983, but down from 29% when the races on this week’s ballot were last contested in 1981.

Council seats held by Jane Robbins and Filer are not up for reelection until 1987, so Filer will retain his council seat.

Indicative of Support

The Tucker victory demonstrated again the extraordinary support he has received for two decades from Compton voters. A city resident since 1957, he was a school board trustee and councilman before defeating incumbent Mayor Lionel Cade with 61% of the vote in 1981.

Still, Tucker was surprised by the strength of his win over Filer, a councilman since 1976 and something of a local character because of his outspoken style and city boosterism that has earned him the nickname “Mr. Compton.”

“People had been telling me this was going to happen, but I didn’t know,” said Tucker as votes were counted late Tuesday evening in a City Council chamber packed with interested citizens.

“I didn’t see any of his campaign literature (around town), and I said, ‘Gee, did he walk the whole town?’ ” said the mayor, who said he spent about $25,000 on the campaign. Filer said he spent about $3,000.

Reached at what was to have been a victory party, Filer seemed stunned by the magnitude of his loss. “I thought I would win,” said Filer, who got just 12.8% of the vote. “I don’t know what happened. And I don’t have the slightest idea what this means.”

‘Overwhelming Mandate’

Tucker said, however, that voters clearly “like what they see is happening (with redevelopment). It’s an overwhelming mandate. But it takes a whole council team to make it happen.”

But he stopped short of endorsing fellow councilmen Adams and James, who were reassessing their new positions as campaign underdogs early Wednesday. “I’m remaining neutral,” said Tucker.

Adams and James each called his runoff opponent a “Dymally candidate,” alluding to the support the veteran congressman has given to Moore and Hart-Holifield.

Adams declined to mention Hart-Holifield’s name in an interview. “I’m running against the congressman, not the candidate,” he said, “and we haven’t revealed a lot of things about him that we’re going to deal with now. I’m not going to let Dymally control Compton politics. It’s bossism, and I don’t want people’s children to have to go to him to run for an office.”

Hart-Holifield, a college trustee for nine years, dismissed Dymally’s assistance as an issue. The congressman’s endorsement probably helped her in the primary and she welcomes it, though she received no monetary contributions from him, Hart-Holifield said. The real issues are the character of Robert Adams, redevelopment, crime, transportation for the elderly and youth recreation, she said.

Adams pleaded guilty last year to disturbing the peace after being charged with assaulting a woman at a city social function, she noted.

‘Youth Need a Symbol’

“Now that it’s just between the two of us, the citizens can see just who they’re voting for,” said Hart-Holifield, a special education teacher. “The issues are credibility and integrity. I feel the youth of this community need a symbol they can look up to.”

Hart-Holifield and Moore have each been sharply critical of the direction of the city’s redevelopment efforts, saying developers have received extraordinary deals while longtime businesses have been displaced and far fewer jobs have materialized than had been promised.

Like Moore, Hart-Holifield has said the Compton Police Department has not been responsive enough to citizen complaints about cocaine “rock houses” and street-corner drug sales.

If elected, Hart-Holifield said, she would give Police Chief James Carrington six months to show improvement and then consider asking the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to assist in law enforcement. Moore, president of Compton’s United Council of Block Clubs, a citizens’ crime-fighting group, said the problem is Carrington, not the Police Department, and she would not favor bringing in the sheriff.

“Councilman James has never said to the Police Department, ‘I’m with the citizens and we’ve got to rectify this situation,’ ” said Moore. “He’s never led anything on behalf of the citizens.”

‘Totally Misleading’

James, who like Adams is seeking a third term, said Moore has “sensationalized” the drug issue and ignored the progress local police have made in that area. He and Adams support Carrington.

“Now that it’s one-on-one, I will deal with Pat Moore,” said James, a self-described real estate speculator and owner of a dry cleaning business. “What she’s been telling people about crime and redevelopment is totally misleading. She talks about the city giving away land, which is totally untrue. Now we can have debates and really show what this City Council has done.”

James, who spent about $25,000 in the primary, said he expects to spend at least that much during the next seven weeks. Moore said she wasn’t sure how much she might spend, although she expected continued support from Dymally, who has said he helped her raise about $17,000 for the primary.

At least a bit shaken by Hart-Holifield’s showing, Adams said he will do much more door-to-door campaigning for the general election. He spent about $25,000 for the primary but would not estimate additional expenditures before June 4. Hart-Holifield said she expects to spend no more than $2,000 on the general election after spending $8,000 on the primary.

Tuesday Results

Compton Primary* MAYOR 33 of 33 precincts (FINAL)

Vote % Walter Tucker, (Inc.) 6,588 79.4 Maxcy Filer 1,065 12.8 Edward Loney 446 5.4 Willie Bobbit 196 2.4

CITY COUNCIL District 2

Vote % Patricia Moore 3,989 48.9 Floyd James (Inc.) 3,532 43.3 James Hays Jr 636 7.8

District 3

Vote % Emily Hart-Holifield 3,378 41.8 Robert Adams Sr. (Inc.) 3,243 40.2 Fred Cressel 784 9.7 Walter Goodin 280 3.4 Seth Francois 212 2.6 Cleophas Dunlap 176 2.3

CITY ATTORNEY

Vote % Wesley Fenderson (Inc.) 6,513 80.8 Frank Bazadier 1,543 19.2

CITY CLERK

Vote % Charles Davis (Inc.) 7,367 97.6 Louis Johnson (write-in) 179 2.4

CITY TREASURER

Vote % Wesley Sanders Jr. (Inc.) 6,541 81.6 Delores Zurita 1,477 18.4

*A candidate must receive more than 50% of votes to win, otherwise the top two will be in a runoff election June 4. Runoff candidates in Italics .

Winners in Bold Type.

(Inc.) designates incumbent.

(Voter turnout 23%)