Served Two Terms in State Senate : Ellis Decides He Won’t Seek Reelection

Republican state Sen. Jim Ellis, a quiet fixture in San Diego politics for 15 years, announced Tuesday that he will retire rather than seek a third term in the Legislature’s upper house.

Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego) appeared to be the early favorite to replace Ellis in the Senate.

Ellis, 59, said he decided to step down because he had gradually lost enthusiasm for the job during the past year.

“Politicians have a phrase for it--fire in the belly,” Ellis said. “I guess the fire just went out, and I don’t know why.”

Ellis, a former Navy pilot, said he began to lose interest in the Legislature sometime last summer. He thought he might catch the political bug again when the Senate reconvened in January for the second half of the current session, he said, but that didn’t happen.

‘Got to Have It’

“You’ve got to have it going pretty good in this line of work,” he said.

Although Ellis is considered one of the Senate’s more conservative members, he has never been known as a fiery orator or as the sponsor of major legislation advancing his ideological agenda. He has generally taken a low-key approach, pursuing issues on behalf of his constituents while voting consistently with the right wing of the GOP on legislation affecting social programs and fiscal matters.

From his 12 years in the Legislature, Ellis said he was most proud of a bill he carried several years ago as an assemblyman that defined the distribution of child pornography as a separate crime and established the penalties for that crime.

“That’s being used effectively to help stop some of that activity or at least to penalize those who do engage in it,” he said.

Ellis’ successor in the predominantly Republican district is expected to be Assemblyman Stirling, who said Tuesday that he is “leaning heavily” toward running for the Senate seat.

“There would have to be a pretty good reason for me not to run,” Stirling said. “But you don’t get elected without the support of a lot of people. I’ve been calling my friends and supporters and asking them what their views would be.”

Announcement Anticipated

Stirling said he expects to announce his intentions by the end of this week.

Ellis’s 39th Senate District, which includes much of rural East County as well as Ramona, El Cajon, La Mesa, Mission Gorge and parts of Mission Valley, Point Loma and Coronado, appears to be safely in Republican hands. Of 365,556 registered voters, 180,380, or 49.3%, are Republicans, while 138,497, or 37.9%, are Democrats.

The breakdown in Stirling’s 77th Assembly District is similar. Republicans, with 88,838 voters, make up 50.3% of the district’s 176,447 registered voters. Democrats in the district number 65,980, or 37.4%. Stirling’s district, which covers East San Diego, La Mesa, El Cajon, and Santee, would open up if he runs for the Senate.

For Stirling, 45, a move to the Senate would be the third time he has followed Ellis up the political ladder.

In 1977, Stirling was elected to the San Diego City Council’s 7th District seat after Ellis left the council to run for the state Assembly. In 1980, Stirling moved to the Assembly when Ellis ran for the Senate.

Stirling said he was “sad to hear” of Ellis’ decision to retire.

‘Great Asset’

“He’s been a great asset to the people of his district, a good friend of mine, and he was the first elected official ever to endorse me for public office,” Stirling said.

Stirling said Ellis’ decision caught him by surprise. Stirling was in San Diego on Tuesday to file papers declaring his intention to run for reelection to the Assembly. After hearing of Ellis’ decision, Stirling also filed papers declaring his intention to run for the Senate.

Although both filings carried a fee of $408, the declarations are not binding.

Potential candidates for Ellis’ seat have until Feb. 16 to declare their intention to run, and then have through March 16 to complete the nomination process to have their name placed on the ballot.

The situation in the 77th Assembly District is different, because Stirling has already filed his papers declaring that he intends to run.

Other candidates initially will have until next Wednesday to declare their intent to run for the seat. But if, as expected, Stirling does not follow through with the nominating process for that seat, other candidates will have from March 11 to 16 to declare their intention to run and complete the nominating process, said Cathy Tripp, supervisor of election for the county registrar of voters’ office.