Wright Looks Past Assembly to Future Senate Race

Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), who is virtually assured of reelection Nov. 4, has made her political plans perfectly clear.

Last week she said she is planning to run for the state Senate, thus confirming rumors in political circles that she has her eye on the 19th District seat now held by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) the former Los Angeles police chief.

The only thing Wright--now seeking a fourth term in the heavily Republican 37th Assembly District--has left to speculation is when she will make her bid for the office--1988 or 1992.

Davis, 69, has said he has no intention of abandoning his seat, and already has been endorsed in the 1988 election by Gov. George Deukmejian and other Republican leaders.

Nevertheless, Wright said, “I don’t think Ed is going to run.”

Besides, she said, even if Davis does seek reelection, there is a chance she will oppose him in the primary for the Republican nomination.

‘One Race at a Time’

“Anyone in the Assembly for a while looks for a chance to move up,” she said. “You decide one race at a time. Right now, I’m running for the Assembly.”

Opposing Wright, 57, a former Simi Valley mayor, in the November election are Democrat William P. Hesse, 59, of Northridge, a retired business executive, and Libertarian Gregory P. Dull, 31, a bottled-water salesman who lives in Oak View, a small community near Ojai in Ventura County.

Neither candidate appears to be a threat to Wright in the district, in which Republicans outnumber Democrats 52.2% to 37.6%.

Dull, who obviously has accepted that his candidacy is a token effort, said he has little money or time to spend on the campaign. He said he does some campaigning on weekends when he has time off from his job.

Hesse, on the other hand, has been campaigning hard in all parts of the district but, he said, the 150-mile-long area is hard to cover. The district is split among three counties and runs from Lompoc, Buellton and Solvang in Santa Barbara County through Ojai and Simi Valley in Ventura County and on to Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Chatsworth, the Santa Clarita Valley and Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County.

“I try to attend all functions I’m invited to,” Hesse said. “I’m a pilot, so I rented a plane and flew to one event in Lompoc.”

Hesse said he realizes that with little financial backing and a registration that overwhelmingly favors Republicans, he faces tremendous odds. He said he has about $1,000 in campaign donations.

By contrast, Wright had accumulated more than $45,000 from July 1 to Sept. 30, spent about $24,000 and was left with a balance of almost $126,000, according to campaign reports released recently. She said she plans to spend about $30,000 during the campaign, mainly for a districtwide mailer.

‘People Are So Frustrated’

Hesse said he is running because “I wanted to give the people a choice. When I’m out at political functions, I get the impression that people are so frustrated. The Democrats in places like Buellton and Lompoc feel so short-changed.”

If elected, Hesse said, he will set up an electronic network that would enable a constituent to hear both sides of an issue on cable TV and then make a free phone call to a central computer to express an opinion on the question. In this way, voters could indicate how they wanted him to vote on important matters, he said.

“I pledge to vote according to the people’s wishes,” Hesse said.

Wright said the computer concept is “not practical,” adding, “If this is to be a representative government, then you elect someone with the same philosophy as yourself.”

The two candidates differ on Proposition 65, a measure that, among other things, would more carefully regulate the proportion of allowable toxics in drinking water.

“We’re all living so long now,” Wright said. “Can the water be so bad? Besides, it’s a poorly drafted bill that gives no standards.” In addition, she said, provisions of Proposition 65 exclude major polluters.

Hesse supports the measure.

Differ on Prison Site

Hesse and Wright also disagree about where a new state prison should be built in Los Angeles County.

Wright said she favors the Crown Coach site near East Los Angeles, whereas Hesse does not.

Wright pledged to continue her fight to keep the prison site out of the Santa Clarita Valley.

“There’s no better site for a prison that the Crown Coach site,” she said. “It’s near hospitals, freeways, and in an industrial area. A prison should be looked on as an industry, which it is. It should not be in a residential community like the Santa Clarita Valley.”

Hesse said the prison should be built in a community where people want it.

The two candidates also disagree about how to deal with the drug problem. Hesse said he would issue identification cards to addicts so that they could legally buy drugs in pharmacies.

“This would eliminate the profit for the suppliers,” he said. “Eliminate the profit, eliminate the supplier, and the problem would be gone. I favor decriminalizing, not legalizing narcotics. We should keep all the tough laws we already have.”

Wright dismissed this idea, saying if addicts were able to obtain all the narcotics they wanted, “a lot of people would end up in the morgue.”

Stands By Record

The assemblywoman said she is proud of her record in representing her district. She said she has successfully sponsored legislation that will permit the Castaic Lake Water Agency to keep up with the demand for water created by the area’s growth.

Wright said she is especially pleased that, during the 1985-86 legislative session, child-support bills she sponsored were approved, including one measure allowing non-payment of child support to be listed on a person’s credit record and another enabling a spouse not receiving support to go to a district attorney without the cost of hiring an attorney.

She also pointed to a pilot program for the treatment of emotionally disturbed youngsters that she initiated in Ventura County. Under the program, such youths who get into trouble with the law for minor offenses are counseled and allowed to participate in a rehabilitation program while remaining at home.

Without such a program, she said, judges have the choice of either sending the youths back onto the streets or into the crowded juvenile-justice system.

Wright serves on the Assembly Agriculture, Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, Finance and Insurance, and Utilities and Commerce committees.

She serves as Assembly Republican liaison to Gov. Deukmejian and recently was appointed to the Commission on the Status of Women by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

37th Assembly District at a Glance

Party Registration:

Total: 182,224

Republicans: 95,091

(52.2%)

Democrats: 68,460

(37.6%)

Other: 3,666 (2%)

Decline to state:

15,007 (8.2%)

Communities: Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Valencia, Saugus, Newhall, Castaic, Leona Valley, Green Valley, Canyon Country, Valencia, Val Verde, Gorman and parts of Chatsworth, Northridge, Canoga Park and Lancaster in Los Angeles County; Ojai, Meiners Oaks, Piru, Simi Valley, Oak View, New Cuyama and Cuyama in Ventura County; Solvang, Santa Ynez, Lompoc, Buellton, Los Alamos and Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County.

Incumbent: Cathie Wright, 57, Republican, seeking a fourth term (2 years).

Challengers: William P. Hesse, 59, Democrat, retired business executive, Chatsworth, and Gregory P. Dull, 31, Libertarian, sales route representative, Oak View.

Outlook: Wright appears headed toward easy reelection in her heavily Republican district. Hesse has some innovative ideas, including the creation of a computer-operated communications system with voters, but he lacks the financial resources and Democratic Party backing to unseat the incumbent. Dull has little time to campaign because of job demands.

Notes: Wright, who represents portions of three counties, has said she plans to run for the state Senate sometime in the future.