Challenge to Wayne Grisham : 3 Democrats May Seek GOP Seat in Assembly

Three Democrats are being mentioned as possible challengers to Assemblyman Wayne Grisham, a Norwalk Republican who won a spectacularly expensive campaign two years ago.

The most visible of the possible Democratic challengers is Norwalk City Council member Bob White, who said in an interview that he is seeking the nomination. White, 65, is an 18-year council veteran.

The other possible Democratic candidates for Grisham’s 63rd Assembly District are Peter Ohanesian of Downey, 29, a former legislative representative for the county Transportation Commission, and Marshall Story, 48, of Cerritos, legislative chairman of local 111 of the International Assn. of Machinists and a technician for TWA.

Ohanesian and Story ran unsuccessfully in the 1984 primary for the 63rd Assembly District. In an interview, Story confirmed he was running for the nomination while Ohanesian could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, the Democrat who beat 10 other candidates to win the primary in 1984, Dianne Xitco, said she does not plan to seek the nomination this year.

Personal Reasons Cited

In an interview, Xitco, president of the ABC school board, said she would not be a candidate because of personal reasons. She said she also is still paying off debts from her last campaign, which includes $110,000 in loans from her family.

In the 1984 campaign, Xitco spent $182,000 to win the Democratic primary, but lost the general election to Grisham after she spent $383,000. Grisham, who has announced he is seeking reelection, spent $35,000 to win a three-way Republican primary and $288,000 in the general election two years ago.

So far, there are no announced GOP challengers to Grisham.

Of the three possible Democratic candidates, two--Ohanesian and White--have visited Democratic leaders in Sacramento to seek support, said Richie Ross, chief of staff and chief political operative for Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

While no decision has been reached on whether to support a candidate in the June 3 Democratic primary, Ross said, “I’m more interested after my two meetings with Bob White than in the abstract.”

‘Big Commitment’

In an interview last week, Ross added that “people are close to making a very big commitment” to White, although he would not say which people he was talking about. Asked what he liked about White, Ross said: “He’s not a smooth, sharp-talking young politician. He’s just like the people in that district.”

The 63rd Assembly District, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 81,205 to 44,336, includes Norwalk, Downey, Artesia, Santa Fe Springs, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, South Whittier, part of Lakewood and two precincts in Long Beach.

Candidates have until Feb. 5 to file notices of intention of be a candidate. So far, only Grisham and Story have filed, said a spokesman for the county registrar-recorder’s office.

Grisham, 63, a former real estate agent and two-term area congressman from 1978 to 1982, won 55% of the vote in 1984 to win a seat formerly held by Bruce Young (D-Cerritos), who retired in 1984.

This year, Grisham said, he already has raised at least $40,000, and that he planned to spend at least $250,000 in the general election. White, however, said he planned to spend only about $50,000 on the primary and about $200,000 in the general election.

All-Democrat Council

White has the backing of at least three of his fellow council members, all of whom are Democrats. In separate interviews, Mayor Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez, and council members Lou Banas and Cecil Green said they would support White against Grisham, while Peg Nelson could not be reached for comment.

In an interview, White, a 6-foot-7 former minor league baseball player, took a few practice swings against Grisham.

“My concern is the lack of attention this district has received the past two years,” White said. “I’m not a carpetbagger, I was born and raised in Norwalk in this district and I know the district well and the needs of the citizens.”

The issue of Grisham’s residency had been raised unsuccessfully in the last campaign. Grisham had lived in La Mirada, just outside district boundaries, before taking a Peace Corps assignment in Kenya in 1983. But the secretary of state declared Grisham eligible for the 1984 election, ruling that he was in the process of moving into a Norwalk apartment in the district at the time he was called overseas.

Two Terms as Congressman

In an interview, Grisham said he expected to win the Nov. 4 election because he is well-known in the district. His two terms as an area congressman ended when he lost to Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne) in the reapportioned 33rd Congressional District in 1982.

“I’ve been there for 30 years and people know what I’m like and what I stand for and they like the way I vote,” Grisham said.

In an interview, Story also was critical of Grisham, saying the district needed a representative who understood “the problems of working people.”

Because the 63rd Assembly District has so many Democrats, state Democratic leaders in Sacramento plan to make a concerted effort to recapture the seat, Ross said, adding, “That district should be ours.” Ross would not say how much money Assembly Democrats have allocated for the race.

According to one Democratic Assembly member, however, the Democratic leadership in Sacramento may not be able to spend a large amount in the 63rd District because money may be needed elsewhere.

This year, four Democrats including Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower) are retiring or leaving the Legislature, and several others face tough reelection campaigns.