Challengers Line Up for June Election

As the deadline passed Friday for candidates to qualify for the June ballot, Supervisor Mike Antonovich appeared to be facing the most serious challenge among Los Angeles County government elected officials.

The two-term conservative is headed for a rematch with former Supervisor Baxter Ward, whom Antonovich ousted from the 5th District in a bitter 1980 contest.

Despite questions about the capability of stroke-disabled Supervisor Kenneth Hahn to serve another four-year term, no big-name contestant has emerged in Hahn’s heavily minority 2nd District spanning the South-Central section of the county.

Easy Going for Dana

And Supervisor Deane Dana appears to have an easy campaign for a third term in his coastal district.

Among Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s challengers are two attorneys whose names have been in the news recently. Running against Reiner are Lea Purwin D’Agostino, the flamboyant and unsuccessful prosecutor in the “Twilight Zone” trial, and Alfred A. Calabro, brother of a court commissioner Reiner attempted to ostracize for allegedly racist remarks.

In both the Board of Supervisors and the district attorney contests, the incumbents have lopsided advantages through the publicity power of their offices and their ability to raise campaign funds.

In the 5th District, however, Ward may be able to capitalize on a slow-growth backlash that has swept across the rapidly developing, unincorporated canyon areas of Antonovich’s district, most notably the Santa Clarita Valley.

Ward, who was a controversial supervisor with a penchant for muckraking investigations of county government, will attack the heavy financial support Antonovich’s campaigns have received from developers, some of whom have had a large stake in building in the county-controlled unincorporated areas of the 5th District. Ward, reviving a platform he has used before, is pledging not to accept political contributions.

“The central issue of the campaign is contributions,” Ward said. No law prohibits supervisors from accepting campaign funds from those who do business with the county or need approval of their developments, but Ward said: “It is still a bribe. . . . They are bribing for access (and) getting something that is not available to the general public. It’s a bribe not in a legal sense, but in a moral sense.”

Even before he announced he would enter the race, there was a fledgling revolt against Antonovich by a coalition of slow-growth activists who are fielding neighborhood candidates in an effort to split the June vote and force Antonovich into a November runoff. There are six challengers besides Ward.

Influence Denied

Antonovich has denied being influenced by contributors and dismisses Ward’s no-contributions theme, noting Ward raised the same issue in 1980 and was defeated even though he had the advantage of incumbency.

“The alternative (to accepting campaign contributions) would be to have taxpayers subsidize politicians,” Antonovich said. “I feel tax dollars ought to go into fire, police and other vital services.”

On the issue of growth, Antonovich said he has supported “balanced” development and required fees from builders to pay for roads and schools. He said he continues to enjoy strong support in the outlying, developing areas of his district and said slow-growth leaders opposing him are a “small segment of individuals who are taking a very extremist point of view.”

Antonovich should have all the campaign money he needs to get out his message, emphasizing the service he provides constituents and his agenda of fiscal and social conservatism, which has fit with voters in the predominantly white, suburban communities he represents. After a major fund-raiser Thursday night, Antonovich said he has about $1 million available for the race, which he predicted he would win with a majority vote in June.

Hahn’s best-known challenger is Gil Smith, a former Carson city councilman. But the real political question in the 2nd District had been whether the 67-year-old supervisor would seek a 10th term, given his infirmities after a stroke last year. He answered that question by reaffirming his candidacy last month.

Given his formidable record of service, his $350,000 in campaign funds and his ability to tap a long list of powerful political allies for help, most observers believe that, in the absence of a major medical setback, Hahn is headed for a another landslide victory.

Reiner on Friday announced his plans to seek a second four-year term, citing as accomplishments his office’s 93% felony conviction rate and what he called its vigorous prosecution of drug, street gang and juvenile crime cases.

“We’re doing a great deal, and we’re going to do a great deal more,” Reiner told a news conference.

Among his challengers, D’Agostino gained public notice--and criticism of her style--during her attempt to prosecute movie director John Landis, charged in a fatal helicopter crash that occurred during filming of “The Twilight Zone.” A jury acquitted Landis.

Calabro is the brother of Glendale Municipal Court Commissioner Daniel E. Calabro, whom Reiner accused of uttering racial slurs from the bench and, for a time, ordered his deputies not to bring cases in Calabro’s courtroom. Calabro denied any intended slur or that he was a racist and won support from several prominent black leaders and the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.

Alfred Calabro said Reiner’s attack on his brother provided the impetus for his entry into the race against the prosecutor.

In addition to D’Agostino and Calabro, Deputy Dist. Atty. Iver Bye will be running against Reiner.