Polls Set for Expected 48% Voter Turnout

A bid to block a disputed slate mailing, candidate complaints to a campaign ethics panel and 11th-hour politicking set the stage Monday for today’s election in which 48% of Orange County’s 1,030,213 voters are expected to go to the polls.

Voters will select nominees for state and federal partisan offices, and determine winners and losers in a variety of nonpartisan races for county offices such as sheriff-coroner, supervisor and assessor.

In addition, voters in Santa Ana and Irvine will decide the fate of ballot measures that would restructure their city governments. Irvine residents will also pick two council members who could determine whether a pro-growth or slow-growth faction controls future development.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Today’s balloting involves the first test of the county’s new, $2-million vote-tallying system in a countywide election. The new computer hardware and software was used last November for local elections without a hitch except for a handful of balky ballot-punching devices. Said Registrar of Voters Al Olson on Monday: “We located and fixed or replaced all of the devices that showed up with the problem . . . about 1,500 of them.”

Serious Challenge

Meanwhile, this election also marks the first time in years that an incumbent Orange County congressman faces a serious, well-financed primary challenge. Former county Young Republicans chairman Nathan Rosenberg distributed about 40,000 flyers to 40th Congressional District voters Monday in his bid to topple five-term Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach). The flyers contained Rosenberg’s endorsements. Badham did not distribute any new campaign mail Monday.

Today also marks the first county primary in many years to involve a major write-in campaign. County Democratic Chairman Bruce Sumner is waging a difficult write-in bid against Art Hoffmann, a technical writer and follower of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. Democratic leaders were surprised to find Hoffmann had no opponent on the primary ballot when the filing deadline came last March.

There is another hotly contested Democratic primary in the 38th Congressional District where Superior Court Judge David O. Carter and Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) are fighting for the chance to face Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in November.

In a last-minute development affecting that election, Carter unsuccessfully sought a court order blocking distribution of a slate mailer that features Robinson. Entitled, “Primary Slate for Democrats,” the mailer was adorned with donkeys, the party symbol, and emblems containing the words, “Vote Democrat.”

Carter, a Superior Court judge on leave to campaign, argued through attorney Michael J. Naughton that the slate mailer violated the state election code because it too closely resembled an official Democratic Party mailing and contained no disclaimer stating that the candidates mentioned in the mailing have not been endorsed by the official party organization.

The list of candidates in the mailer, beside Robinson, include some Republicans who hold nonpartisan offices, such as Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates, who paid for their space.

But after two judges disqualified themselves from hearing Monday’s case, Superior Court Commissioner Ronald L. Bauer said, “I can conclude that is clearly not a violation.”

Although their complaints did not carry the same weight as a lawsuit, several candidates went before the county’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission on Monday seeking to discredit their opponents.

The panel voted 3 to 0 to inform the district attorney that county assessor candidate David J. Holbert had failed to file two pieces of campaign mail with the registrar’s office within three hours of mailing it as required by county law.

Holbert admitted the violations but pleaded ignorance of the law. He said that when he was told the requirements, he deposited a later campaign mailer in the prescribed time.

Took No Action

The commission refused to take action against Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs for not filing a “slate mailer” on which his name appeared until 24 hours after it was sent. Commissioners said the responsibility for filing might have been with Republic Media Group--which prepared the mailer--and not with Jacobs.

In a separate action, the commission ruled that a piece of campaign mail sent Saturday on behalf of Orange Mayor James H. Beam, a candidate for the 4th Supervisorial District post, was “false and misleading.”

The commission said the letter erroneously claimed that Orange was the first city in the county to adopt an ordinance requiring disclosure of toxic materials. Irvine actually was the first city with such a law.

Last week the commission made the same finding on the same statements sent out in earlier Beam campaign literature.

Meanwhile, Michael Schroeder, Beam’s campaign coordinator, said he had filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office, charging that the commission violated state law by not giving sufficient written notice of its meetings and the topics to be discussed. A deputy county counsel, Stefen H. Weiss, who advises the commission, said he doubted that any law had been broken.

Schroeder also charged that Thomas F. Daly, an aide to Supervisor Ralph B. Clark and Clark’s appointee to the commission, told Beam supporters several months ago that he would be the campaign manager for former U.S. Rep. Jerry M. Patterson, an opponent of Beam in the contest.

Although Daly is not a campaign manager, Schroeder claimed that he was “functioning” in Patterson’s campaign.

“We don’t believe right now that there’s any possibility of our getting a fair hearing before that commission,” Schroeder said.

Denies Charges

Daly called Schroeder’s charges “ludicrous, totally false.” He said he had considered working for all four of the candidates at various times but decided against it. He said Clark had ordered his staff to be “scrupulously neutral.”

In Irvine, where 10 candidates are competing for two council seats, last-minute mail included an unusual letter from Rep. Dornan disclaiming any connection with Irvine Planning Commissioner Ed Dornan.

And an 11th-hour mailer criticized Councilman Larry Agran for his alleged ties to Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D--Santa Monica), a controversial, former anti-war activist.

Opinion surveys consistently show that Hayden’s name is a liability in conservative Orange County, but it has been used against Agran in previous elections without success.

Meanwhile, two letters from prominent Republicans were delivered to GOP voters urging them to support Agran and (Ed) Dornan and to be aware that “Irvine Co. executives have been feverishly raising thousands of dollars” for council candidates Hal Maloney and Tom Jones. . . .”

In addition to electing two council members, Irvine voters will be asked to decide whether the mayor, who is now appointed by fellow council members, should be directly elected by the people and whether council members should be limited to serving two consecutive four-year terms.

Santa Ana voters will have the same decision to make about their mayor, but will also be asked to decide whether council members should run in wards instead of at large in a citywide race.

Times staff writers Heidi Evans, John Needham and John Spano contributed to this story.