Vote Totals Reflect Conservatism Less Than in Past Years

Election results from Tuesday’s balloting were more conservative in Orange County than statewide, but the difference was not as pronounced as in previous years.

In the one race where Orange County could have made the difference--the Republican U.S. Senate primary--conservative television commentator Bruce Herschensohn posted a hefty 33% vote margin over Rep. Ed Zschau. But even if Herschensohn had taken every Republican vote in Orange County, he could not have turned around Zschau’s statewide primary victory.

Zschau, a northern California congressman, collected 37% of the state Republican vote but only 22% in Orange County. Herschensohn took 30% of the vote statewide, and a hefty 55% in Orange County. The remaining votes were spread among 11 candidates.

Campaigned Heavily

A former speech writer for President Richard Nixon, Herschensohn was popular among Orange County GOP leaders and campaigned heavily here--much more than any of the other candidates.

But Herschensohn lost the primary by about 143,000 votes, according to nearly complete returns, and there were only another 121,796 Orange County votes not taken by the KABC-TV commentator.

Still, some observers believe that Herschensohn’s strength in the county would have been sufficient to win statewide if some of the also-rans had dropped out of the race.

“It was those stubborn candidates who insisted on staying in the race to the bitter end,” said former county GOP chairman and political consultant Lois Lundberg, a Herschensohn supporter. “If you take the 17,846 votes Antonovich got here, the 11,673 that went to Bobby Fiedler, and you duplicate that around Southern California, it could have made up enough for Bruce to win,” she said.

In other contests, Orange County delivered a big vote to a member of its own Board of Supervisors, Bruce Nestande, who won the GOP nomination for secretary of state.

Nestande took 50% of the statewide tally against two little-known opponents, but he got 76% of the Orange County vote. Nestande will face Democratic incumbent March Fong Eu in November.

Similar Example of Loyalty

Meanwhile, the contest for the Republican nomination for state controller involved a similar but less dramatic example of home-county loyalty.

State Sen. William Campbell (R--Hacienda Heights), whose district includes a third of Orange County, won the primary with 48% of the statewide GOP vote, but county Republicans awarded him 57%.

In the only strongly contested Democratic primary, Assemblyman Gray Davis of Los Angeles won the nomination for state controller by defeating John Garamendi 50% to 38% statewide, with the rest going to Alister McAlister. But Orange County Democrats gave Davis an even wider victory margin, 55% to 34%.

Orange County went along with the rest of the state in approving ballot measures, but only in a few cases did the results significantly reflect the county’s conservatism.

For example, Proposition 51, which limits damages for pain and suffering in liability lawsuits, collected a 62% “Yes” vote statewide but took 66% in Orange County.

And despite Orange County’s much-publicized jail-crowding problems, county voters gave a state jail bond construction measure--Proposition 52--an approval vote of 64% compared to 67% statewide.

STATE-COUNTY COMPARISONS

How county voters compared to statewide balloting on key state races.

statewide countywide U.S. Senate--Republican nominee Ed Zschau 37% 22% Bruce Herschensohn 30% 55% Mike Antonovich 9% 8% Bobbie Fiedler 7% 5% Ed Davis 6% 4%

Governor--Republican nominee George Deukmejian 93% 94% William Clark 6% 5%

Lt. Governor--Republican nominee Mike Curb 57% 58% H.L. Richardson 43% 42%

Secretary of State--Republican nominee Bruce Nestande 50% 76% Ralph E. Winkler 30% 16% Michael Cyrus 20% 7%

Controller-Democrat nominee Gray Davis 50% 55.% John Garamendi 38% 34.% Alister McAlister 12% 11%

Controller--Republican nominee William Campbell 48% 57% Don A. Sebastiani 27% 21% Dan Stanford 17% 17% Marz Garcia 7% 5%

statewide countywide Yes No Yes No Proposition 46--Property Taxation 60% 40% 55% 45% Proposition 49--Nonpartisan Offices 56% 44% 55% 45% Proposition 51--Tort Damage Liability 62% 38% 66% 33% Proposition 52--Jail Bond Act 67% 33% 64% 35% Source: Registrar of Voters