40 Candidates File to Run for 10 State, Federal Offices

Almost 40 candidates filed papers to run in elections this year for 10 state and federal district offices in Glendale and northeast Los Angeles, but only four of the races have generated competition in the June primary.

A salesman for a La Crescenta furniture store is challenging 16-year veteran Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) for the Republican nomination in the 22nd Congressional District.

Three Republicans are fighting for a chance to take on Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) in the heavily Democratic 24th Congressional District, and three others are running for the party’s nomination to face state Sen. David Roberti in the heavily Democratic 23rd District.

Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) faces one challenger this year in the Democratic primary in the 46th Assembly District, where two Republicans also are competing for their party’s nomination.

And two Peace and Freedom candidates are competing for their party’s nomination in the 55th Assembly District for the position held by first-term Democrat Richard Polanco. No Republicans filed for that race.

At the close of the filing period Friday, none of the contests appeared to offer a more serious threat to any of the area’s entrenched incumbents than in 1986, when all nine congressional and legislative officeholders were re-elected with more than 60% of the vote.

Persistent rumors in Sacramento that the Democratic Party was recruiting a new candidate to mount a campaign against Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), or that a moderate Republican would file against Nolan in the primary, did not pan out.

Instead, Nolan’s bid for election to a sixth term in the Assembly will be challenged for the third time by Democrat John Vollbrecht, an Eagle Rock contractor. In their 1984 contest, Nolan received 67% of the votes to Vollbrecht’s 30%.

Moorhead’s challenger in the primary is 39-year-old David Roger Headrick, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of New Jersey before his move to California and polled only 8.5% of the vote in a 1987 bid for Pasadena City Council.

Headrick, who describes himself as an evangelical Christian, wants pornography and abortion banned, would bring prayer back into the schools and would press for the death penalty for child abuse and sex crimes.

In spite of the odds against him, Headrick vowed not to bow out.

John G. Simmons, a Democrat who will face Moorhead in November, said that, although challengers face an uphill battle, changing demographics have improved their chances. He said some incumbents have lost touch with their constituents in districts with a large increase in immigrants.

“The climate has changed since then,” said Simmons, who will take on Moorhead for the second time.

Although Simmons garnered only 23% of the votes, contrasted with Moorhead’s 74%, in the 1976 election, he said he has developed better name recognition since.

Another longtime Democratic contender, Sal Genovese, raised a similar theme in his bid to win the party’s nomination from Assemblyman Mike Roos in the 46th District.

Genovese, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1985 and the 4th City Council District in 1987, has formed the Committee to Clean up the District. Every other weekend, a spokeswoman for the campaign said, Genovese ventures out in the district to clean up the trash and graffiti that he says are causing rapid deterioration.

Roos has held the seat since 1977 and received 71% of the vote in his 1986 campaign.

The complete slate of candidates in the 10 races, arranged by party registration in their districts:

CONGRESS

22nd District (Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and parts of Burbank, the San Gabriel and Santa Clarita Valleys)--Carlos J. Moorhead, Republican, Glendale, incumbent; David Rodger Headrick, Republican, Pasadena, salesman; John G. Simmons, Democrat, Burbank, health executive-cleric; Ted Brown, Libertarian, Los Angeles, state party chairman; Shirley Rachel Isaacson, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, school psychologist-unionist.

24th District (Los Feliz, Atwater, Silver Lake and parts of Echo Park, Hollywood, West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley)--Henry A. Waxman, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; Sol Annenberg, Republican, Los Angeles, political analyst; John N. Cowles, Republican, Los Angeles, businessman; Dean DeGruccio, Republican, Studio City, freeway rail activist; George Abrahams, Libertarian, Los Angeles, bulk mailing consultant; James Green, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, union organizer.

25th District (Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Elysian Valley, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights and parts of Pasadena)--Edward R. Roybal, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; Raul Reyes, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, teacher; John C. Thie, Libertarian, Pasadena, health consultant.

STATE SENATE

21st District (Glendale, La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Montrose, Sunland-Tujunga and parts of the Antelope and San Gabriel valleys)--Newton R. Russell, Republican, Glendale, incumbent; Louise C. Gelber, Democrat, Arcadia, attorney; Robert H. Scott, Libertarian, Pasadena, data processing director; Michael W. Blumenthal, Peace and Freedom, Pasadena, wholesaler representative.

23rd District (Los Feliz, Echo Park, Silver Lake, Elysian Park, Atwater, Glassell Park, parts of Eagle Rock, parts of Highland Park, Burbank West Hollywood and mid-Wilshire)--David Roberti, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; Tom Larkin, Republican, Hollywood, businessman; Alannia Elizabeth Michael, Republican, Los Angeles, businesswoman; E. Jan Roberts, Republican, Los Angeles, tax accountant-economist; Sarah E. Foster, Libertarian, Los Angeles, writer; Elizabeth Nakano, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, retired social worker.

ASSEMBLY

38th District (parts of La Crescenta, Montrose, Burbank and the San Fernando Valley)--Marian W. La Follette, Republican, Northridge, incumbent; Mark Lit, Democrat, Northridge, senior legislator.

41st District (Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and parts of Eagle Rock and Pasadena)--Pat Nolan, Republican, Glendale, incumbent; John Vollbrecht, Democrat, Eagle Rock, contractor; Curtis S. Helms, Libertarian, Pasadena, registered nurse; Ivan W. Kasimoff, Peace and Freedom, Altadena, optical technician-educator.

45th District (parts of Los Feliz and Burbank and much of Hollywood, Hancock Park and Fairfax)--Burt Margolin, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; David Frankel, Republican, Los Angeles, accountant; Julie Fausto, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, worker.

46th District (Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park and parts of Hollywood and mid-Wilshire)--Mike Roos, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; Sal Genovese, Democrat, Los Angeles, community affairs chairman; Gary Passi, Republican, Sherman Oaks, independent businessman; Tony Trias, Republican, Los Angeles, businessman-educator; Robert Taves, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, worker; William T. Lake, Libertarian, Los Angeles, gay activist.

55th District (Eagle Rock, Highland Park and parts of Atwater, Glassell Park, Lincoln Heights and Pasadena)--Richard Polanco, Democrat, Los Angeles, incumbent; Evelina Alarcon, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, political organizer; Gilberto de Santiago, Peace and Freedom, Los Angeles, teacher; William H. Wilson, Libertarian, Pasadena, compensation analyst.

Didi Shuff contributed to this report.