Democrats Flag Mondale Forces to Sign Up Voters

Orange County Democratic leaders hope to stop the worst party registration slide in decades by turning to 1984 supporters of Walter F. Mondale--rather than those of U.S. Sen. Gary Hart--to sign up new Democrats.

The Democrats’ voter registration plan, a copy of which was obtained Friday by The Times, also calls for targeting two Assembly districts, a state Senate seat and a congressional district for a stepped-up registration effort this year.

The decision to recruit Mondale supporters to walk precincts and call on prospective Democrats comes despite Hart’s current status as front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination and the Colorado senator’s near-sweep of Orange County and the state in the 1984 Democratic primary, an effort aided by hundreds of young, new volunteers.

Claims Greater Commitment

But former state Democratic Party Chairman Richard J. O’Neill, a San Juan Capistrano rancher and restaurateur, said Mondale supporters are expected to make better registration workers because they are more committed to the party.

O’Neill, a Mondale supporter, declared: “You had to be a very dedicated Democrat in order to vote for Walter Mondale in 1984.”

Supporters of Hart in 1984 participated in drawing up the registration recruitment plan, O’Neill said.

“After the 1984 campaign, the Mondale staff gave us all of their local lists and files, but for some reason the Hart people didn’t,” O’Neill explained. “The Hart people have given us a list of money donors, but not regular volunteers. So even those officials who support Hart knew we had to start using Mondale people to get the work done.”

The Democratic voter registration plan calls for using paid registration workers only after volunteer efforts fail. Republican registration efforts include paying a bounty to Republican women’s clubs for GOP sign-ups.

Registration Figures

As of Dec. 22, the last date for which figures were available late Friday, 52.7% of Orange County’s voters are registered Republicans, 36.6% are Democrats, and the rest are either independents or members of small parties.

Targeted for special registration efforts are the 38th Congressional District represented by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), the 32nd State Senate District whose seat is being abandoned by incumbent Ed Royce (R-Anaheim) for a congressional bid, the 72nd Assembly District where incumbent Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) will forgo a reelection bid in an attempt to unseat Dornan, and the 71st Assembly District where incumbent Doris Allen (R-Westminster) is seeking to move to the state Senate.