Polanco Leads Assembly Race; Hope Trails in House Bid

Simi Valley Mayor Elton Gallegly was holding a narrowing lead over Tony Hope in the hard-fought race for the 21st Congressional District Republican nomination late Tuesday, while Democrat Richard Polanco claimed victory over Democrat Mike Hernandez in his bid for the Democratic nomination to a full two-year term in the Eastside’s 55th Assembly District.

Polanco also apparently will have the job until January, because he was far ahead in the simultaneous special election to fill out the unexpired term of the district’s most recent incumbent, Richard Alatorre (D-Los Angeles), who resigned when he was elected to the Los Angeles City Council last December.

“We brought them both home,” Polanco said, referring to both elections. “I’m declaring victory.”

Polanco had been supported by both Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and Alatorre over Hernandez, a bail bondsman and insurance agent.

Hope, the son of entertainer Bob Hope, insisted that it was “too early to tell” the outcome of his race.

Another heated battle was going on in the 54th Assembly District in southeastern Los Angeles County, where Edward K. Waters, the son of Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) took the lead among the nine Democrats competing to replace retiring Assemblyman Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower). His victory would create the Legislature’s first mother-son team.

Meanwhile, all incumbents running for reelection to the California Legislature and the House appeared to be winning handily. In the most widely watched of those races, Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) appeared to be fending off a spirited, but long-shot primary challenge from management consultant Nathan Rosenberg, whose brother founded the self-awareness group est.

Another closely watched Democratic candidate was Willard Murray in the 54th Assembly District race. Murray, on leave as an aide to Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton), also had the support of the political organization of Democratic Reps. Howard L. Berman of Studio City and Henry Waxman of Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the prestige of Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) was on the line, because Nolan lieutenants had poured more than $700,000 into the campaign coffers of five conservative candidates in contested GOP primaries in Northern California. This did not sit very well with the anti-Nolan faction.

“So much Republican money has been wasted, and the races have gotten so nasty, that the only thing the Democrats will need to fight us in November is a Xerox machine to copy Republican primary mailers,” complained Assemblyman Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Monrovia).

With very sparse returns showing him having a 3-to-1 edge in his bid for a sixth term as the 40th District congressman, Badham declared victory. Badham had been under strong criticism for his frequent trips around the world at taxpayer expense but claimed that they were necessary to his performance of his duties as a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

The normally quiet race for the Democratic nomination in the heavily Republican district also had drawn more attention than had been expected. Late in April, embarrassed Democrats discovered that the only candidate who had filed for the nomination was Art Hoffmann, a sympathizer of right-wing extremist Lyndon LaRouche. While there is virtually no chance that any Democratic nominee could unseat a Republican in the 40th District, Democratic County Chairman Bruce Sumner had mounted a highly publicized write-in campaign against Hoffmann.

Democrats will be offering better odds and strong financial backing to the candidate who survives their primary in the 38th District and goes on to challenge flamboyant incumbent Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in November. A marginally Democratic district, the 38th was the only California congressional district to fall into Republican hands during President Reagan’s 1984 landslide victory.

In the district’s Democratic primary this year, name identification made six-term Assemblyman Richard Robinson of Garden Grove a favorite over politically inexperienced Superior Court Judge David O. Carter. Robinson held a narrow lead in early returns.

Strong Challenger

Democrats insisted that either would be a strong challenger against the conservative and anti-communist Dornan, in part because each can boast a Vietnam War record, while Dornan’s combat experience has been limited to the House floor.

Name identification may also have been the key factor in the race for the 21st District seat being vacated by Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge), who was running for the Senate. Heavy Republican registration in the district virtually assures the party’s nominee election in November.

The race was a bitter one. Gallegly, noting that his opponent moved to Northridge from Washington just in time to declare his candidacy, repeatedly questioned Hope’s commitment to the district. Gallegly has also revealed that Hope had not registered to vote in Washington for more than a decade.

Draw Attention

Meanwhile, Hope attempted in his campaign to draw attention to questions that had arisen over the fact that a large share of Gallegly’s campaign contributions have come from developers, many of whose real estate investments have been tied to decisions made by the Simi Valley City Council. In some crucial instances, Gallegly’s had been the swing vote.

In the state Senate, much of the attention was focused on the race in the 16th District, which stretches from Bakersfield south to Pasadena, to replace retiring Sen. Walter W. Stiern (D-Bakersfield), the dean of Legislature who was first elected in 1958.

Jim Young, chancellor of the Kern Community College District, led physician George Albin in the Democratic primary. Assemblyman Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield), considered to be the favorite to replace Stiern, held a substantial lead in early returns over agricultural consultant Paul Young in the GOP primary.

Seats Vacated

There were only two other districts in the state where seats will be vacated by incumbent congressmen, but lopsided Republican registration in both made it almost certain that that party’s nominees will be elected in November. Assemblyman Wally Herger of Rio Oso appeared headed for the Republican nomination for the 2nd District seat opened by the retirement of GOP Rep. Gene Chappie of Roseville.

Assemblyman Ernie Konnyu (R-Saratoga) was expected to be nominated to succeed Rep. Ed Zschau of Los Altos, who is giving up his 12th District seat in the Silicon Valley to run for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate.

Also contributing to election coverage were Roxane Arnold, Alison Bethel, Bill Boyarsky, Edward J. Boyer, Roy H. Campbell, Young Choi, Janet Clayton, Rich Connell, Alma Cook, Cathleen Decker, Norman Duarte, David Ferrell, Cherry Gee, Mark Gladstone, Paul Jacobs, Peter H. King, Victor Merina, Dan Morain, William Nottingham, Lynn O’Shaughnessy, Kitty O’Steen, Richard Paddock, Kenneth Reich, Kevin Roderick, Douglas Shuit, Richard Simon, George Stein, Jill Stewart and Leo C. Wolinsky