Voters in the 8th Assembly District Know the Winner Will Be a Woman

Regardless of what happens on Election Day, the next representative of the heart of California’s wine country in the state Assembly will be a woman, and more than a few people in the district think there is some justice in that.

On Nov. 4, voters in the 8th Assembly District will choose a successor to Assemblyman Don A. Sebastiani (R-Sonoma), the hard-line conservative who angered a sizable chunk of his constituents one day in 1983 when he remarked that he had nothing against female astronauts going into space “as long as they’ve got a one-way ticket.”

The two major-party candidates, Democratic community activist Mary Jadiker and Republican Bev Hansen, a former aide to Senate Minority Leader James W. Nielsen, are in a tight race to replace Sebastiani, the head of a large winery who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for state controller in the June primary election. Democratic strategists, hoping to build on their 47-33 majority in the lower house, believe that they have a 50-50 chance of picking up the seat.

Tends to Be Conservative

The 8th Assembly District includes all of Napa and Lake counties, most of Sonoma County and Yolo County, except for the university city of Davis. Democrats outnumber Republicans, but voting patterns tend to be conservative. Both President Reagan and Gov. George Deukmejian won comfortably in this largely agricultural district.

Sebastiani made his noted off-the-cuff remark shortly before the Legislature and Deukmejian honored astronaut Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to go into space.

“I don’t have anything against women in space,” he said to a reporter “as long as they’ve got a one-way ticket.” In addition to drawing the wrath of women throughout the state and nation, it created a threat to Sebastiani’s political survival.

In November, 1984, Sebastiani barely defeated Jadiker, 49, a political newcomer who decided to challenge him partly because she was angered by the remark about women astronauts.

‘The Final Straw’

“That remark was the final straw that broke the camel’s back and made me run,” she said. “I thought if there is a God in heaven, a woman should take (Sebastiani) out, and why not me?”

Jadiker surprised the political experts two years ago by making the race so close, particularly because she was outspent 4 to 1 by Sebastiani and received no financial help from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

This time around, Jadiker has accepted more than $175,000 from Brown, who has made capturing the vacant seat a top-priority target.

But Jadiker insists that she owes nothing to Brown, noting her campaign slogan, “As independent as you are.”

Richie Ross, Brown’s chief of staff who is on leave to run Democratic Assembly campaigns, said:

‘A Tough District’

“We have a 50-50 chance to win the Sebastiani seat. But it’s going to be tougher than hell. That’s a tough district. Remember, people voted for Sebastiani in spite of what he said. He said that, and did a lot of other things, and he still won.”

A fiscal conservative, the outspoken Sebastiani was a consistent “no” vote on most spending bills that came up on the Assembly floor, regardless of subject matter.

In addition, critics said, he spent more time drawing up unsuccessful statewide reapportionment ballot initiatives than he did working on bills of importance to his district.

Jadiker charges that Sebastiani turned in “one of the most abysmal records of accomplishment of any elected official in the history of politics in California.”

Republican Hansen, 42, also is not averse to taking some shots at Sebastiani. “Don and I have a different style,” she said. “I will be accessible and available. I know that works because I have done it already in my position as a legislative aide.

Critical of Sebastiani

“I think he (Sebastiani) spent a lot of time on state issues, such as reapportionment, that took him away from district matters more often than a normal representative.”

Some Democratic strategists privately speculate that one reason Sebastiani decided to run for state controller was that he realized that he probably would not win reelection.

Hansen survived a bitter GOP primary election fight in which she and Martin McClure, the losing hand-picked choice of Assembly GOP Leader Pat Nolan, traded nasty charges and countercharges of dishonesty.

The Nolan forces gave McClure more than $100,000 in campaign funds to try to beat Hansen.

Hansen said she has “forgiven” Nolan, but that does not necessarily mean that she would vote for him to keep his leadership post if she is elected. “I haven’t made that decision yet,” she said with a smile.

Help on Campaign

Both Nolan and Assemblyman Stan Statham (R-Oak Run), who favors ousting Nolan as leader of Assembly Republicans, are giving Hansen campaign funds now in preparation for an anticipated showdown when the 1987 Legislature convenes.

She charged that “there are strings attached” to Jadiker accepting Brown’s money, but that there are no such strings attached to her acceptance of Nolan money “because I established my independence in the primary.”

Jadiker started out as a Lake County planning commissioner and local taxpayers association official. She also organized a citizens’ group dedicated to battling Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for lower rates for consumers.

She criticizes former legislative aides such as Hansen for running for the Legislature.

Need for Activists

“There should be more people from local activism and local politics in state government instead of more ex-legislative aides,” Jadiker said.

“I think real roots of proven experience is a more important factor, the kind of thing people want in someone representing them in Sacramento, more than somebody from the company store.”