Local Elections : Assembly Power Struggle Intensifies Contest in 63rd District

While Republican incumbent Wayne Grisham of Norwalk glides toward his party’s nomination in the 63rd Assembly District, two Democrats are engaged in a bruising fight as players in the power struggle over the Assembly speakership enter the fray with money and volunteers.

Peter Ohanesian, the 32-year-old owner of a marketing firm, has the backing of the “Gang of Five,” a group of dissident Democratic assemblymen who are trying to wrest control from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco). While Brown has refrained from making any official endorsements in the race, his supporters have lined up behind Robert D. Epple, a 39-year-old lawyer from Norwalk who has a reputation as a Democratic team player.

The southeast Los Angeles County district of mostly blue- collar voters stretches from Santa Fe Springs to Lakewood and also figures in the Democratic Party’s efforts to retain a majority in the Legislature and to gain ground in the 1990 reapportionment. Although represented by Grisham, a former congressman, the 63rd is a swing district, and Democrats make up more than half the registration.

Grisham, a two-term incumbent and the expected winner in the GOP primary, suffered an embarrassing loss in a special Senate election last year, raising the hopes of Democrats eager to recapture the district. “The seat is very important to us,” said Peter Kelly, chairman of the state Democratic Party, which has thrown its support behind Epple.

The Ohanesian-Epple contest has dominated the Democratic primary. Marshal Story of Cerritos dropped out several weeks ago, and a third contestant, Humberto Lujan of Norwalk, remains in relative obscurity, spending little money and lacking endorsements or a headquarters.

Ohanesian’s camp accuses Brown of orchestrating massive support for Epple in the form of endorsements and financing from the state party, major labor unions, top elected officials and Brown’s Assembly backers.

Epple supporters insist that he has the best chances of beating Grisham, and they argue that Ohanesian’s ties to the Gang of Five would endanger Democratic control of the Assembly. “Ohanesian, with his Gang of Five activities, is signed on with the Republicans,” charged Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Hawthorne), who has given $5,000 to Epple’s campaign. “Mr. Epple is the only Democrat in the race.”

At last count, Ohanesian says he spent about $185,000 on his campaign. A sizable chunk--$70,000--came from Gang of Five member Charles M. Calderon (D-Alhambra), a longtime friend who also contributed heavily to Ohanesian’s unsuccessful 1984 primary bid for the same seat. The other major source of funding for Ohanesian, who lives in Downey, is the Armenian community.

Epple’s campaign manager, former state Sen. Paul Carpenter, has predicted that Epple will spend about $250,000. The dissident Democrats contend that the figure will be far higher, perhaps as much as $1 million.

“We have come here looking for a miracle . . . because we can’t match the money of Willie Brown,” Calderon said last week as he and three other rebel Democrats stood in front of a Norwalk courthouse to officially give Ohanesian the gang’s support.

“Willie Brown has only one interest, and that’s remaining Speaker,” asserted Gerald R. Eaves of Rialto, another dissident. “And the only way he can remain Speaker is to get two more votes. He wants Bob Epple.”

Epple, a member of the executive board of the state party and a Cerritos College trustee, denies that he is a Brown loyalist. “I don’t think my election is important to the retention of Willie Brown,” Epple said, adding that he would support the Democratic Assembly Caucus’ position on the speakership.

Ohanesian billboards also seek to link Epple with Bruce Young, a former 63rd District assemblyman who was convicted last year of diverting laundered campaign funds to other politicians.

In 1980, Epple’s wife, Cheryl, was treasurer of a Young committee later found to be in violation of campaign disclosure requirements. Young assumed responsibility for the violation, and no action was taken against Cheryl Epple. Robert Epple said he has not spoken to Young in years. “I have no links to Bruce Young now,” Epple stressed.

Epple and Ohanesian are working the precincts, and both are flooding Democratic voters with mailers and phone calls. Several Assembly staff members have taken leaves to work for Epple, and two former members of Calderon’s office are helping Ohanesian.

The campaign brochures of both men call for insurance reform and anti-crime and anti-drug legislation. Epple places heavy emphasis on the fact that he is a family man. Ohanesian is single.

In contrast to the Democratic nomination battle, the Republican primary between Grisham and one of his former aides, Dale Hardeman of Downey, is a contest in name only. Hardeman charged into the primary in January, characterizing Grisham as an ineffective legislator who has lost the support of the district’s voters.

Hardeman won the support of the district’s Central Committee, a seven-member group that recruits and grooms candidates, but he was able to raise only $2,700 in the early weeks of the primary. When it became apparent that Gov. George Deukmejian would endorse Grisham, Hardeman stopped actively campaigning, acknowledging that Grisham had the nomination sewed up.