Grisham, Green Campaigns Went All Out in Race Many Forgot

Inside Wayne Grisham’s campaign headquarters, an abandoned sporting goods store in Cypress, the colors were red, white and blue and talk was party-line Republican as the assemblyman and his campaign workers awaited Tuesday night’s election results in his bid for the 33rd District state Senate seat.

The Norwalk assemblyman had focused his last day of campaigning and stationed his victory party in Republican Orange County “because that’s where this election is going to be won or lost tonight,” his campaign consultant, Steve Presson, said.

And there, in Orange County, Grisham conceded his defeat as his opponent, Norwalk City Councilman Cecil N. Green, built an ever-mounting lead in Los Angeles County.

Across the county line, hundreds of green balloons festooned Democrat Green’s party at a Knights of Columbus hall in Norwalk, and a democratic menu of beans, beer and hot dogs refueled campaign workers after a hard and hot day of stumping for their candidate.

Despite the down-home, grass-roots approach by both sides, the final frenzy of campaigning Tuesday for the coveted Senate seat involved stumping by heavy hitters from both parties and high-tech techniques to get out the vote.

The 33rd District seat’s importance goes beyond local boundaries. Because it is the only state Senate seat up for grabs this year, it is considered crucial by both parties in their high-stakes tussle to control the Senate come reapportionment in the early 1990s.

Both sides had a small fleet of rented mini-vans equipped with cellular phones to easily deploy precinct workers and to pick up voters and take them to the polls.

Chartered 2 Planes

The Democrats chartered two planes at a cost of about $11,500 to fly legislative aides, clerks and secretaries to the district to walk precincts and phone voters for Green, a Norwalk city councilman.

About 150 of Grisham’s 1,000 Election Day workers flew in on four airliners--two from Sacramento carrying legislators and staff members who had taken the day off to get out the vote, as well as planes from San Jose and Oakland.

Expected to show up for Green’s party Tuesday night were Democrats David Roberti, the Senate president pro tem from Los Angeles, and state Sens. Henry J. Mello of Monterey and Milton Marks of San Francisco. Among the Republicans walking door-to-door in the district Tuesday were state Sens. William Campbell of Hacienda Heights and Ken Maddy of Fresno.

“If I win this race, it’s because of the Republican Party,” Grisham told his campaign workers just as the vote counting began. “If I lose, it’s because Wayne Grisham lost it.”

About 75% of the district lies in Los Angeles County, but Grisham decided after the March 17 primary that not enough emphasis had been given to the 25% of the district in northwestern Orange County.

Green and Grisham were forced into Tuesday’s run-off after the Democrat captured 48% of the vote and the Republican 43% in the March primary. Only the Orange County precincts’ heavily Republican balloting prevented Green from winning the Senate seat outright.

Better Organization

Consultant Presson, who was brought into the campaign after Grisham’s poor showing in the primary, said, “Things were much better organized this time--we had cellular telephones and all that high-tech stuff.” Another difference Tuesday, he said, was that the precinct walking for the get-out-the-vote effort was much more targeted on “high-propensity Republican voters”--campaign lingo for people who have a strong proven tendency to vote Republican and turn out at the polls.

Both sides predicted it would be a close race. At 8:30 p.m., when absentee votes showed Grisham 230 votes ahead of Green districtwide, the Republican told several campaign officials he was disappointed that he had lost in Los Angeles County by about 1,000 votes. Early returns showed Green taking a slim lead.

Long before the polls opened Tuesday, the Democrats and Republicans sent scores of campaign workers into the predawn darkness attaching voting reminders to doorknobs and mailboxes.

About 100 people had assembled in the parking lot of Green’s Norwalk headquarters at about 4:30 a.m., according to Larry Sheingold, Green’s Sacramento-based campaign consultant. Armed with precinct packets--street maps and addresses of Democratic voters--the teams of campaign workers were then shuttled in mini-vans to various neighborhoods as the final push to get out the vote got under way. Throughout the day, an estimated 800 people tried to round up votes for the Democrats.

Presson estimated that the Republicans had about 1,000 stumping for Grisham, shuttling around the district in 40 vans.

But despite the high profile the 33rd District race had among the two political parties, apathy still reigned among the voters at large.

Said Sen. Campbell after a day of walking door to door: “We found three or four people who knew there was an election.”

His fellow senator, Maddy, chimed in: “They said, ‘Oh, is that election today?’ ” Maddy added that he was a little surprised at the reaction, considering that Grisham’s campaign had distributed 17 different pieces of campaign mail and that Green had sent out 24.

“The thing is, we were hitting high-propensity voters,” Maddy said. “You would think they’d know this was an Election Day.”

The campaign workers had to contend with more than apathy; there was also the smoggy air and temperatures in the 80s.

“The biggest problem we have right now is not Wayne Grisham but the heat,” Sheingold said shortly after noon while standing outside Green’s headquarters, a former automobile dealership on Firestone Boulevard in Norwalk, the biggest city in the 33rd.

‘I’ve Got Blisters’

“You know you’re committed to the cause when you walk on a day like this,” said Stella Rogers, a 44-year-old Lakewood housewife and lifelong Democrat. “I’ve got blisters, and I’m hoarse. . . . But you gotta love this--it’s grass roots at its best.”

A majority of Green’s precinct walkers hit the streets in the late afternoon to avoid the midday heat.

“We’ve got to minimize the wear and tear on our people,” Sheingold said. “The sun and the air are brutal when you’re walking a mile or two.”

Both sides said they rented vehicles equipped with air conditioning. The Republicans armed their walkers with hand fans.

“It was more like July than May out there,” said Hazel Williams, 55, a Buena Park Republican who walked precincts in her hometown for Grisham. “I can see why most politicans these days use the TV to get their message out. It is hard work going door to door.”