Republicans May Gain At Least 2 Key Seats in Assembly, 1 in Senate

Assembly Republicans appeared on the verge of winning at least two seats from majority party Democrats Tuesday as voters cast ballots for 100 of the 120 seats in the Legislature.

In Orange County, Republican businessman Richard E. Longshore was running strongly ahead of Democrat Daniel E. Griset, Santa Ana mayor, in a battle to succeed retiring Assemblyman Richard E. Robinson (D-Santa Ana).

Another key GOP win appeared to be developing in Sacramento County, where Republican businessman Tim Leslie was far out in front of Democrat Jack Dugan, the director of crime prevention for the attorney general’s office.

Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale called it “a great night” for Republicans.

Another GOP candidate running in a traditionally Democratic district, Lakewood City Councilman Paul E. Zeltner, held a narrow lead over Democrat Edward K. Waters, son of Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), dimming the chances of the first mother-son combination in the Legislature.

Republicans, battling to cut into Democratic majorities in both the Assembly and Senate, also held a healthy lead in one of the upper house races they considered crucial, the battle for an open seat in Kern County between Assemblyman Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield) and Kern Community College Chancellor Jim Young, a Democrat.

Farther north, San Francisco County Supervisor Quentin L. Kopp, an independent backed by Republicans, was running slightly ahead of Democratic Assemblyman Louis J. Papan of Millbrae in a knock-down, drag-out brawl for another open Senate seat.

All told, 13 open seats were up for grabs in the election--11 in the Assembly and two in the Senate--because of retirements or incumbents’ decisions to seek higher office.

Each of the 80 Assembly seats and 20 of the 40 Senate seats were on the ballot.

Although Republican candidates were running strong in several key races, Democrats were still expected to retain control of both houses of the Legislature. Democrats went into the election holding a 26-14 vote edge in the Senate and 47-33 bulge in the Assembly. The 1987-88 session begins Dec. 1.

One of the incumbent Democratic senators said to be in trouble before Tuesday’s vote, Sen. Leroy F. Greene (D-Carmichael), was running well ahead of Sacramento County Supervisor Sandy Smoley.

Another Democratic incumbent, Sen. Dan McCorquodale of San Jose, was running neck and neck with Republican Tom Legan, who took McCorquodale’s place on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors when the Democrat was elected to the Senate in 1982.

In Santa Barbara County, another Republican target, state Sen. Gary K. Hart appeared to be fending off a challenge from his Republican opponent, Santa Barbara County Supervisor DeWayne Holmdahl.

On the Assembly side, Republican Bev Hansen held a substantial early lead over Democrat Mary Jadiker in a hotly contested race for an open GOP Northern California seat. Both are businesswomen from Santa Rosa.

In another key election, Republican Trice Harvey, a Kern County supervisor, was leading Democratic attorney Tom Fallgatter of Bakersfield in a close race for an open GOP seat.

Reagan Mailer

In Los Angeles County, a last-minute mailer from President Reagan for Republican businessman Roger E. Fiola accusing Democratic incumbent Richard E. Floyd of Hawthorne of being soft on anti-drug legislation added fuel to a closer-than-expected race. The two candidates were running virtually even in early ballots.

The letter, which started arriving in voters’ mailboxes Monday, charged: “Dick Floyd chose to give in to the powerful underworld drug industry when he sat in the California state Assembly and refused to vote on legislation to toughen our anti-drug laws.” The letter did not mention specific votes.

Ray Cordova, Floyd’s campaign manager, said: “We didn’t expect anything that dirty. I think the voters in the 53rd Assembly District are smart enough to see through it. They know (Floyd) didn’t give in to the drug underworld.”

Throughout the state, Republicans coordinated their campaigns by focusing on the popularity of GOP Gov. George Deukmejian and the unpopularity of Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, who was charged with not enforcing the state’s death penalty law. Deukmejian appeared at numerous campaign fund-raising events for GOP candidates. He also loaned $200,000 to Republican leaders in the Assembly and Senate to help defeat Democratic candidates.

Help From Brown

On the Democratic side, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) provided substantial monetary help to Waters, whose mother is part of Brown’s inner circle at the Capitol. The 54th Assembly District in southeastern Los Angeles has been represented by veteran Assemblyman Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower), who is retiring.

Two of the hottest Senate races developed over open seats.

In the sprawling 16th Senate District, Rogers went into the election an early favorite, but Democrats spent more than $1.2 million on Young’s campaign to try to save the seat. It has been occupied since 1958 by retiring Sen. Walter W. Stiern (D-Bakersfield), the dean of the Legislature.

The four-county district stretches from Kings County south into Pasadena, but the majority of voters live in the Bakersfield area.

The fight for an open 8th District seat in the San Francisco Bay Area pitted veteran Democratic Assemblyman Papan against the independent candidacy of Kopp, who used to be a Democrat.

Republican Senate leaders, in an unusual move, supported Kopp in the battle over who will replace Democratic Sen. John F. Foran (D-San Francisco), who is stepping down to become a lobbyist.

Republican Senate Leader James W. Nielsen of Rohnert Park gave Kopp $133,000 in 11th-hour contributions in hopes of derailing Papan, the tough-talking chairman of the Assembly Rules Committee whose sometimes bullying manner has earned him the nickname “the Enforcer.”

GOP Candidate Withdraws

Kopp, a feisty maverick with a knack for attracting publicity, got a substantial boost last week when the third candidate in the race, Republican Russell Gray, withdrew and endorsed him.

“We concluded the Republican candidate absolutely could not win, and we’d much rather see Kopp in the Senate than Papan,” Nielsen said.

Elsewhere, Republicans went after Democratic incumbents, hoping to capitalize on a strong surge of GOP voter interest keyed to Deukmejian’s reelection effort and the coordinated campaign to defeat Bird.

In Sacramento County’s 6th Senate District, county Supervisor Smoley charged longtime legislator Greene with being soft on crime, citing his abstention on a vote to build a new state prison near downtown Los Angeles. Greene replied that he abstained because he wanted a maximum security prison instead of the medium security facility that was proposed by the Deukmejian Administration.

Republicans also used the crime issue in the nearby 12th Senate District, spanning San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties, where GOP candidate Legan attacked freshman incumbent McCorquodale for opposing the death penalty and supporting Bird. The two candidates have already reported spending a combined total of $2.1 million, and the final figure will be even higher when the campaign finance reports are in.

Republicans also campaigned hard against Democrat Hart, a strong incumbent whom they regarded as vulnerable because Democratic voter registration has nose-dived in recent years. Hart’s 18th District includes portions of Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.

Female Astronaut Comment

In the 8th Assembly District in Northern California’s wine country, Jadiker almost defeated Sebastiani (R-Sonoma) two years ago after Sebastiani angered a sizeable number of constituents by saying he had nothing against female astronauts going into space “as long as they have a one-way ticket.” Sebastiani subsequently decided to run for the Republican nomination for state controller this year, but he lost. Hansen is a former aide to Senate Republican Leader Nielsen.

Harvey and Fallgatter squared off in the Bakersfield area’s 33rd Assembly District in the contest to replace Rogers. One heated issue in the campaign concerned a campaign TV commercial run by Harvey that featured black and white puppets in a bedroom, supposedly representing Speaker Brown and Fallgatter. Critics said the commercial was racist in nature, but Harvey denied that this was so, saying he was merely drawing attention to the financial help Fallgatter was receiving from Brown.

Griset and Longshore slugged it out in an expensive battle to succeed Robinson in the 72nd District, the Democrats’ last toehold in Orange County. Longshore, who lost to Robinson by just 256 votes two years ago, was making his third try for the seat. He and Griset, the mayor of Santa Ana, received abundant help from party leaders in Sacramento. Robinson decided to quit the Assembly and run for Congress against Republican firebrand Robert Dornan.