Friends in High Places Boost Edward Waters’ Assembly Run

Nine months ago, Edward K. Waters was the politically unknown son of outspoken liberal Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles).

With a virtual blank check from his mother and the financial support of her political mentor, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), Waters moved into southeastern Los Angeles County’s 54th Assembly District and in June won a bruising nine-candidate Democratic primary.

With less than three weeks before the Nov. 4 election, Waters is no longer a stranger as he walks precincts. Instead, the lanky candidate is invited into homes for supper.

The primary win catapulted Waters, 30, into one of Los Angeles County’s most heated general election battles against Republican Paul E. Zeltner, 61, a veteran Lakewood city councilman who is counting on his longtime roots in the community to overcome Waters’ new-found friendships.

If he is elected, Waters and his mother, whose district is immediately to the north of the 54th, would become the Legislature’s first mother-son combination.

With the campaign entering the homestretch, both candidates have sought to establish their own identities in the heavily Democratic but conservative-leaning district.

Zeltner, an affable, gray-haired retired sheriff’s captain, is also knocking on doors and attempting to woo Democrats by playing down his Republican registration.

In contrast to his fiery mother, Waters paints a moderate political picture of himself as someone who teaches Bible-study classes and opposes abortion. Richard Ross, the political strategist for Brown who is overseeing the Waters campaign, said that Waters’ conservative stance reflects the views of younger Democrats and “an age difference” between Waters and his mother.

Waters has held a succession of government jobs, the last as a complaints investigator for a federally funded agency that helped relocate people displaced by the Century Freeway.

Shortly before he announced his candidacy, Waters moved to Compton. Ever since, he has been on the campaign trail, sending out mailers and knocking on doors. At first he seemed stiff and ill at ease, but he now appears relaxed and approaches strangers with a smile.

Indeed, Waters has mailed so much material that even before he knocks on doors voters recognize his face and, if it’s dinner time, sometimes ask him to share a meal. And in the last week he has raised his profile even higher, thanks to campaign visits on his behalf in the district by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.).

The district reflects a cross section of Los Angeles County--from predominantly black, urbanized Compton and the growing Latino neighborhoods of Paramount to predominantly white, blue-collar neighborhoods in Bellflower and Lakewood and well-kept suburbs in East Long Beach.

Even Zeltner’s most prominent booster--Gov. George Deukmejian--has acknowledged that the GOP candidate faces an uphill fight. At a Lakewood fund-raising luncheon for Zeltner last week, the governor said a Zeltner win would be an “upset victory.”

In contrast, Ross is confident that Waters will win. “It’s a 57% victory for Ed Waters,” Ross predicted.

The campaign was triggered by the retirement of veteran Assemblyman Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower), who for 14 years has represented the district, in which Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 2 to 1.

After Vicencia’s announcement, Brown said he saw an opportunity for a black like Waters to capture the district, even though campaign consultants estimate that fewer than a third of the district’s voters are black. Spokesmen for both sides say race is not a factor in the campaign, and they point out that not only did Waters win the Democratic primary, but the second- and third-place finishers were black as well.

Republicans regard the district as the kind they must capture if they ever expect to make a serious dent in the Democrats’ 47-33 Assembly majority. They say Zeltner reflects the suburban attitudes of the district. Like many others, Zeltner served in the Navy in World War II, purchased a home in the area and worked his way up through the ranks of the Sheriff’s Department.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana persuaded Zeltner to enter the contest and has helped line up Republican support. But through the end of September, Zeltner, who had no primary opposition, managed to raise only $50,000, compared to $548,000 in cash and in-kind contributions for Waters. Nearly two-thirds of Waters’ contributions were funneled to him by his mother and Brown, according to campaign reports.

Despite the fund-raising disparity, the contest remains in the spotlight because it is one of only two open Assembly seats in Los Angeles County and it illustrates the growing influence of Assemblywoman Waters.

Indeed, in campaign appearances Zeltner jokes that he feels like he has three campaign opponents--Waters, Maxine Waters and Brown.

Zeltner also contends that with their money and support, Maxine Waters and Brown had more voice in choosing a candidate than did the district’s voters. “I don’t think that decision should be made in Sacramento by a mother who wants to bring her son into the business,” he said.

Assemblywoman Waters bristles at Zeltner’s suggestion. “Helping one’s children is the American way. Some people help their children get into business. Some people help their children buy a home. . . . It would be unrealistic to expect I wouldn’t help my son.”

She added, “I enjoy the same resources from the Speaker that Zeltner enjoys from Pat Nolan,” the Assembly Republican floor leader. Nolan has pledged to support Zeltner, although the latest campaign finance statements showed no contribution to Zeltner as of the end of September.

William Saracino, a top aide to Nolan, said Zeltner “is on our A list as far as targets go” but would not estimate how much money Nolan plans to pump into the Zeltner race. “We’ll do what we can for him.”

As the election approaches, few other issues have emerged. Zeltner’s mailers question the propriety of Waters’ registering in the district only to run in the Democratic primary. Waters has minimized the issue as being unimportant, since he has worked in Compton and lived in the Los Angeles area much of his life.

Waters, in turn, has questioned Zeltner’s use of his Lakewood city credit card, contending that Zeltner “goes in style” by staying at luxury hotels while on city business. Zeltner dismissed the allegation as campaign rhetoric, saying “anything I’ve spent is not out of line with anyone else” on the council.

Also on the ballot is Peace and Freedom Party candidate Vikki Murdock, 38, of Lakewood, an anthropology student at California State University, Long Beach. Murdock said she does not expect to win, but is running to offer a “socialist solution to the problems that affect people.”