Candidates Line Up to Fill Fiedler Vacancy

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) and Simi Valley Mayor Elton Gallegly said Tuesday that they plan to run for the 21st District congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge).

Fiedler announced Monday that she was entering the Republican race to oppose Democratic U. S. Sen. Alan Cranston in the November general election.

Fiedler’s announcement is expected to touch off a game of musical chairs for politicians interested in her congressional seat. McClintock said he has scheduled a press conference on Friday in Thousand Oaks to formally enter the race. Gallegly, also a Republican, said he will enter the contest at a press conference today.

In turn, McClintock’s anticipated departure from the Assembly has triggered a scramble among politicians for the 36th District Assembly seat he has captured in the last two elections.

GOP Holds Edge

McClintock’s and Fiedler’s districts are heavily Republican. In the congressional district, 50% of voters are registered as Republicans and 39% as Democrats, with the remainder split among minor parties and independents. The district includes Sunland-Tujunga, Northridge, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, part of the Santa Clarita Valley, Agoura Hills, Westlake Village and Catalina Island in Los Angeles County. It also covers Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Newbury Park, Camarillo and Port Hueneme in Ventura County.

McClintock’s Assembly district overlaps a large part of the congressional district in Ventura County. McClintock, 29, said he believes that his brand of conservative politics is tailored to the congressional district.

McClintock grew up in the district, attended UCLA and went on to become an aide to Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) before his election to the Assembly in 1982.

In Sacramento, he is known as a stickler for parliamentary procedure and as a solid vote behind Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale).

McClintock said he wants to be in Congress to have greater influence on national affairs. He said he wants to help institutionalize President Reagan’s programs in the last two years of Reagan’s term.

McClintock said he also wants to promote jobs in the district. In an interview in his Sacramento office, he said one way to accomplish this would be to allow more oil drilling off the coast. He also said he would seek more federal highway funds to improve the Ventura Freeway.

Gallegly, a 41-year-old real estate broker who has been Simi Valley’s mayor for six years, also describes himself as a conservative.

“Reagan needs all the help he can get,” he said.

Goals Cited

His first goals, Gallegly said, would be obtaining more contracts for local defense firms and passing a constitutional amendment for a balanced federal budget.

He said that, as of the end of December, he has raised $82,000 for the race, which he anticipates will cost $400,000. McClintock said he has raised more than $100,000.

Among other potential candidates is former Rep. Barry Goldwater Jr., who represented much of the district for 14 years. He could not be reached for comment.

Former Assemblyman Charles Imbrecht (R-Ventura), now chairman of the state Energy Commission, said he is “looking seriously” at the congressional and assembly races but will not make a decision for at least a month.

McClintock’s district includes Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Newbury Park and Westlake Village, as well as Ventura, Oxnard and Camarillo. Nearly 48% of the voters are registered Republicans, 40% are Democrats and the remainder are split among smaller parties and independents, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Potential Candidates

At least two candidates are planning to enter the race to succeed McClintock.

Marlee Means, 26, McClintock’s chief of staff, said she plans to announce her candidacy around Feb. 1.

Means, who has never run for office, has lived in Camarillo about three years. She attended UCLA and was a regular panelist on a KNBC public affairs program, “Free For All,” for about a year.

Means described herself as a conservative Republican whose politics are similar to McClintock’s. She said she hopes to raise $150,000 for the primary.

Another potential candidate is W. B. (Sandi) Bush, 46, mayor of Camarillo and former head of the Ventura County Republican Party.

“I am a potential candidate for Tom’s seat,” Bush said, adding that she has been awaiting Fiedler’s and McClintock’s decisions before making her own.