Dana Only Republican to Challenge Felando

The abrupt decision of Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) to pull out of a South Bay congressional race and instead seek reelection to the Legislature scared most aspirants for his Assembly seat out of the Republican race Saturday--except one.

Despite Felando’s decision, Deane Dana III, the son of Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana, said he intends to challenge his fellow Republican for the 51st Assembly District seat representing Torrance, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and parts of San Pedro.

“I’m not bowing out or pulling out because he had a change of heart,” Dana said in an interview. “I’m not going to slow down one bit.”

Dana, 35, assistant director of the state Department of Aging in Sacramento, said he will “proceed as a full-fledged candidate” and will file his declaration of intent to seek the office this week.

Felando has scheduled a news conference Monday morning at the state Capitol to announce his plans, but in an interview Friday he cited personal family considerations for his decision not to seek the 42nd Congressional District seat held by Daniel E. Lungren, a Long Beach Republican.

Strain on Family

The veteran assemblyman expressed concern that a move to Washington would put a strain on his family.

Lungren was named state treasurer last November by Gov. George Deukmejian to fill the vacancy created by the death of Jesse M. Unruh. Lungren, a conservative Republican, is awaiting confirmation by the Legislature, but his appointment has generated opposition from some Democrats in both the Assembly and the state Senate.

The appointment of Lungren, however, sparked a flurry of activity in the usually tranquil South Bay political scene, as ambitious politicians and would-be officeholders sensed their first opportunity in a decade to run for open legislative and congressional seats.

Felando’s change of heart about the congressional race just days before candidates start filing their declarations of intent--the first step in running for office--dramatically altered the situation. Most of those who had been coveting his Assembly seat while Felando set his sights on Washington dropped out of the Assembly contest Saturday.

“I would have never considered running for office against a colleague,” said Torrance City Councilman Dan Walker, who had built a substantial campaign war chest in anticipation of a legislative run. “I’m going to run for reelection to the Torrance City Council.”

Ken Bell, a former Redondo Beach resident who is chief of staff to Assembly Republican Leader Patrick Nolan of Glendale, also dropped out of the Assembly race. “I’m operating on the assumption that Felando runs for renomination and wins,” Bell said Saturday. “Therefore, I will not be a candidate for Assembly.”

Felando’s re-entry also prompted Rancho Palos Verdes City Councilman Robert Ryan to abandon the race. “He’s going to run himself, so I’m not running,” said Ryan, who works for Northrop. “I’ve got a job and I don’t need a job. I’m sure that some of the people who were lining up to run needed a job.”

Redondo Beach City Clerk John Oliver, who has taken out nomination papers for the Assembly seat, said he will not run unless Felando shifts gears again. “I’ll probably wait till the last day to make sure he doesn’t change his mind,” Oliver said. “I’ll be down there at 5 p.m. March 11. If he doesn’t file, I will.”

Dana wondered aloud whether Felando’s decision may have been related to mounting opposition in the Legislature to Lungren’s confirmation. Lungren has said that if he is not confirmed, he will seek reelection to Congress. Dana said he hopes that as a result of Felando’s turnabout, “no negative inference is drawn” about Lungren’s chances.

Felando could not be reached for comment Saturday.

The only Democrat who has announced his candidacy for the Assembly seat, Torrance Councilman Mark Wirth, said he will stay in the race.

Wirth said Felando’s announcement “changed the minds for a lot of Republicans, probably, but since I’m the only Democrat, it doesn’t matter to me.”

He said he will have to change his campaign strategy, however, because “before we were thinking of it as an open seat and now it’ll be against a sitting incumbent. . . . While it might change the way you think about the race or the way I think about the race, it still doesn’t change the issues.”

Although he acknowledged that “an incumbent is harder to beat,” he said: “I think the race will be more interesting running against Jerry.”

The withdrawal of Felando left Orange County Supervisor Harriett Wieder as the most visible candidate in the heavily Republican 42nd Congressional District, which runs from Torrance around the Palos Verdes Peninsula, across a narrow strip of Long Beach into northern Orange County.

Times staff writer Karen Roebuck contributed to this story.