Two Votes of Confidence in 38th, 45th Assembly Districts : La Follette Sitting Pretty, But Not Sitting Still in ‘Safe’ Seat

Since the decisive victory of Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge) over a formidable opponent in 1984, the 38th Assembly District could easily be considered a safe seat for the Republicans.

For one thing, a sizable gain in the district’s voter registration now gives Republicans a larger margin over Democrats than in 1984. The registration now is 49.8% Republicans to 41.7% Democrats; 1.7% list other party affiliations, and 6.8% decline to state their parties.

But La Follette, being challenged by retired economics professor Mark Lit in her bid for a fourth term, remembers the races she barely won in 1980 and 1982. “I’m waging a full-scale campaign,” she said. “I’ve been working awfully hard at this job and I want to keep it.”

Lit, 66, also of Northridge, said he is counting on those voters who declined to state a party affiliation when they registered to increase his chances.

“I don’t believe the Republican majority is impossible to overcome,” he said. “Anyway, it’s time for a change.”

Lit said he is depending on name recognition from his many former students in the area and on endorsements from prominent Democrats such as former Gov. Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and others to help him unseat the incumbent.

However, La Follette, 60, who is seeking her fourth term, said she feels more confident about this campaign than her previous reelection bids. One reason, she said, is that, for the first time, she is running in a district with the same boundaries as during her previous campaign.

“Each time before, I’ve had to run in a different district, in communities that were new to me,” La Follette said.

Reapportionment twice pushed La Follette’s district eastward from Malibu and the Conejo Valley in Ventura County. But it also gave her more strength as the Legislature’s majority Democrats, trying to make their own districts safer, drew district lines that attempted to dilute overall GOP power by consolidating as many Republicans as possible into a few districts.

Latest Configuration

The latest configuration, drawn in 1984, puts the 38th Assembly District completely inside Los Angeles County, beginning at Calabasas on the west, reaching across the northern edge of the San Fernando Valley and ending at Mt. Wilson on the east. It includes parts of La Crescenta and Montrose.

La Follette said her campaign manager, Beverly Lane, has recruited many volunteers to staff three campaign headquarters she has opened and to help with mailings.

In 1984, when she defeated Burbank attorney Linda M. Nelson with 66% of the vote, La Follette limited her campaign spending to $100,000. She said she will do the same this year and, unless it is necessary, she will not spend even that much. “If I feel I have to spend more, I will,” she said.

Records show that she has amassed $206,694 in contributions since Jan. 1.

Lit, who last taught economics at West Los Angeles College, acknowledged that he has little campaign money. He said that supporters are holding neighborhood fund-raisers such as garage sales and that he may share a mailer with other Democratic candidates.

‘Creative Campaigning’

He is relying on volunteers to walk door-to-door on his behalf, he said, and is working on what he called some “creative campaigning” ideas with his wife, Estelle, an assistant professor of history at Cal State Northridge and Cal State Los Angeles, and his campaign manager, Ed Burke, a Canoga Park High School teacher.

For example, they are asking supporters for $50 to buy a 30-second Mark Lit commercial over radio station KGIL and inviting volunteers to the Lits’ home for weekend breakfasts.

“And, after breakfast,” the invitation reads, “we’ll provide you with a golden opportunity to walk off those extra pounds you just gained. We’ll be precinct-walking, districtwide, reaching homes in the district with our door-hangers’ material.”

Lit said the door hangers, which he called “a critical part” of his campaign strategy, feature his picture and his stated stands on the issues.

Lit described himself as “middle of the road” on economic issues but said, “I am concerned about the quality of life. If benefits exceed the expenditure, then spend it.”

La Follette and Lit agree on a few issues.

Both oppose Proposition 61, which would limit the salaries of state and local officials. They support the selection of a site near East Los Angeles as the logical choice for a 1,700-bed state prison and believe that under certain conditions public and private employers have the right to require their workers to take drug tests.

Both favor the death penalty, although Lit qualifies his support, saying it should be imposed only as punishment for multiple murders and for murder of a law-enforcement officer.

In his campaign, Lit has criticized La Follette for what he calls her failure to vote on key legislation dealing with hazardous-waste disposal and polluted water.

Saying that “carcinogens have seeped into our wells,” Lit contended, “Marian La Follette has done nothing about the situation. Almost half of gas stations are leaking toxic wastes into the ground water. It could cost $40 billion to clean up our water. I’d like to see those industries that have caused the water pollution clean it up.”

Radioactive Materials

Lit said he also is concerned about safety precautions taken by companies such as Rocketdyne that transport radioactive materials on San Fernando Valley streets and freeways.

La Follette defends her record on toxic wastes, pointing out that a bill she introduced, which was signed by Gov. George Deukmejian last week, requires companies working with toxic materials to come up with plans to deal with any attendant risk.

“It was surprising to me how many companies don’t have them,” she said.

La Follette said the toxic-waste problem will be solved before long, explaining that she sees a different attitude in industry leaders because of heavy fines levied by the state against polluters.

“They know that, if they want to survive in California, they have to clean up their act by 1990,” she said.

She said a bill introduced by her and passed by the Legislature during its last session “creates statewide training programs for emergency teams who have to respond to chemical spills.”

Another Key Issue

Another key campaign issue, Lit said, is the candidates’ stands on credit-card interest rates. If elected, he will introduce legislation to limit interest rates to 14%, he said. Lit called the rates, which now range up to more than 20%, excessive, given the current interest rates on other types of loans.

“We’re going to see more personal bankruptcies because of the high interest rates on credit cards,” he said.

La Follette does not favor such a cap. “I am a strong believer in rates being set by competition, as more choices are available to the consumer,” she said.

La Follette said she will base her campaign on her accomplishments in the Legislature. She said she is “awfully proud of getting a $300,000 grant” for the Wildlife Waystation in Tujunga Canyon.

The assemblywoman introduced the bill authorizing emergency funding for the station, an emergency facility for injured and abandoned wild and exotic animals, and presented the state check last month after the governor had signed the bill.

Animals From All Over

“They receive animals from all over the state, even from other states,” La Follette said. “So many people buy these cubs because they are so little and cute. Then, their pets grow large and they don’t know what to do with them.”

If reelected, La Follette said she will introduce a constitutional amendment that would allow the death penalty to be imposed on major drug dealers in the state.

“These individuals make the deadly supplies available and run the operations network, which sells drugs in our streets, neighborhoods and schools,” she said.

Lit said that, if elected, he will introduce legislation to force insurance companies to justify raising their rates. He said he would also seek to restore art, music and other extracurricular activities in schools.

“Too many young people are dropping out of school,” he said. “I’d like to see more vocational education restored and more students go to four-year colleges. Instead, they drop out and stand on the street corners and sell drugs.”