California Elections : Candidates Fire Final Shots in Spirited, Often-Bitter Contests

At times, it has seemed more like noise than politics. For weeks, candidates have bombarded Orange County voters with shrill campaign rhetoric and explosive, hard-hitting mailers, all rising to a crescendo of attack and counter-attack in the final days before the election.

But a merciful silence will descend on the county Tuesday, when voters finally troop to the polls to decide bitterly contested federal and state races, a tight battle for a county supervisor’s seat and exceptionally spirited city council contests in several communities.

This year’s election is particularly crucial for Democrats, who are battling to hold onto their last remaining seat in the county’s delegation in the Legislature and attempting to win back a congressional district they lost two years ago.

Democrats have said they will mount a vigorous get-out-the-vote effort on Election Day, expressing confidence that they can reverse a steady tide of GOP advances in Orange County. But Republicans plan a similar drive--and are also banking heavily on President Reagan’s campaign appearances here Saturday and Monday to swell their vote.

“We think his personal presence will be a very major boost to the enthusiasm of Orange County conservative voters,” said county GOP chief Thomas A. Fuentes. The last-minute appearances, mainly intended to assist Rep. Ed Zschau’s bid for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Alan Cranston, also will have a “spillover effect” in local campaigns, Fuentes predicted.

The county’s most high-profile race pits Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) against Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) in the 38th Congressional District. The combined fund raising for both candidates has exceeded $1.1 million, making it one of the nation’s more expensive congressional battles.

Both parties have made the race a top priority, pouring money and other support into the fray. If Dornan, a flamboyant conservative, holds onto the office he won two years ago from Democrat Jerry M. Patterson, the county’s five-member congressional delegation will remain firmly in Republican hands. Robinson, a crafty Assembly veteran backed by powerful party allies, is betting he can reclaim the central county seat for the Democrats.

Dornan and Robinson, who have focused little attention on district issues during their campaigns, spent much of the contest accusing each other of misrepresenting their military records. In addition, Robinson, 43, has charged that Dornan’s visits to Vietnam, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Syria and other international hot spots have caused him to neglect the district. But the 53-year-old incumbent has touted his record of achievement for constituents and blasted his opponent for being “out of touch” with the largely blue-collar community.

Dornan has raised allegations that Robinson was supplied with prostitutes by W. Patrick Moriarty, an Anaheim businessman now serving a prison sentence for political corruption. Robinson has angrily denied the charge, calling it a “damnable lie” during a televised debate with Dornan. In the campaign’s final days, the two candidates have accused each other of using endorsements from bogus organizations representing senior citizens and law enforcement groups in their election mail.

Another hot race is in the 72nd Assembly District, where Democrat Dan Griset, the mayor of Santa Ana, and Realtor Richard E. Longshore, a Republican, are battling to fill the seat Robinson abandoned when he decided to challenge Dornan. Griset is the son of a former Santa Ana mayor, and his family has been well-known in Santa Ana politics over the years. Longshore ran against Robinson in 1982 and 1984, losing by fewer than 300 votes in the latter race.

Should Griset lose, the Republicans will gain complete control of the county’s legislative delegation for the first time in many years. The two candidates have raised more than $780,000 between them and have exchanged negative, frequently personal attacks during the campaign.

Democratic and Republican leaders believe voter turnout is the key to the Dornan-Robinson and Griset-Longshore races. But they disagree sharply about how the turnout will affect their candidates.

Fuentes, for example, predicted that there will be a heavy Orange County vote against the confirmation of California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird. He speculated that many of the voters opposing Bird also will back conservative Republican candidates.

However, John Hanna, the county’s Democratic Party chairman, said candidates like Robinson and Griset have opposed Bird’s confirmation and the issue will not drag them down to defeat. The party will make “a strong, very strong effort to turn out voters,” Hannah said last week.

Secretary of State March Fong Eu predicted Friday that the turnout statewide for Tuesday’s election will be a record low of only 59% of California’s registered voters.

Spirited Campaign

In the 40th Congressional District, former county Democratic Party chairman Bruce Sumner is challenging veteran Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) for a seat that has traditionally been held by Republicans. GOP officials believe Badham will defeat Sumner easily, but the former Superior Court judge has waged a spirited campaign, charging Badham with excessive absenteeism and spending thousands of dollars in campaign contributions on personal items.

In other congressional races, incumbents William Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) and Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) are believed to be headed for easy victories.

Apart from the Griset-Longshore contest, no other Orange County state race appears to be in doubt. Incumbent state Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim) and Assemblymen Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach), Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad), Ross Johnson (R-La Habra), Dennis L. Brown (R-Signal Hill) and John R. Lewis (R-Orange) all appear headed for victory. While Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) has received a strong challenge from attorney Mark Rosen, she also is expected to win reelection.

There is a close race, however, in the 4th Supervisorial District between Anaheim Mayor Don R. Roth and Orange Mayor Jim Beam. The two candidates have attacked each other bitterly with campaign mailers and stressed their conservative Republican credentials in the nonpartisan race. The vacant seat on the five-member board is being created by the retirement of Supervisor Ralph B. Clark.

Through Oct. 18, Beam reported spending $419,000 and Roth $380,765 on the campaign. Both candidates have been walking precincts in the district, which includes the proposed site of a new county men’s jail near Anaheim Stadium. Both Beam and Roth, who have agreed on little during the hard-fought race, are opposed to the jail plan.

City council races in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente are being dominated by the question of how much and how fast Orange County should grow. The issue was central to the Irvine City Council election earlier this year, in which a coalition of slow-growth candidates was elected and became a majority on the council.

Santa Ana voters will elect three council members in an election that has focused on competing proposals to reshape local election laws. One of the proposals, Measure H, would establish ward elections of council members and a directly elected mayor. Voters narrowly defeated a similar measure in the city’s June election. A competing proposal, Measure G, was put on the ballot by the City Council. It calls for a directly elected mayor and would reduce the number of council wards from seven to six, but would retain the current citywide vote for council members.

Voters in Anaheim, the county’s largest city, will be electing council members for three at-large seats in an election that has been dominated by issues such as a move to ban the sale and possession of “safe and sane” fireworks in the city. Voters also will be electing a new mayor, choosing between incumbent Councilman Irv Pickler and his challenger, Councilman Ben Bay.

City council races will also be decided in Brea, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Palma, Orange, Placentia, Stanton, Westminster, Villa Park and Yorba Linda. Seal Beach voters will not be electing council members, but will be voting on a $1.95-million bond issue to acquire land for open space, child care and other community uses.