Democrats Vie for Dubious Slot in GOP-Weighted 75th-Assembly Race

One of the two Democratic candidates in the 75th Assembly District says, only half joking, that he was recruited to run when he had the misfortune to arrive late at the nominating caucus.

The other has run unsuccessfully for so many offices that even her fellow Democrats regard her as San Diego’s answer to Harold Stassen.

And, whichever one wins Tuesday’s Democratic primary will face the daunting task of running in November against an incumbent Republican in a district with a 51%-to-34% GOP registration edge.

“It’s like, if that’s first prize, you wonder what second is,” joked Mary Christian-Heising, whose sense of humor is one of the few things she has not lost in a political career that, because of its singular lack of success, has drawn comparisons to perennial presidential candidate Stassen.

Seeking a 4th Term

Christian-Heising and Jack Chilton, a retired Coronado engineer, are competing for the right to challenge Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas) in the 75th District this fall. Elected in 1982, Mojonnier is seeking a fourth two-year term representing the district, which stretches along the coast from Imperial Beach to Encinitas, extending inland to Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Mira Mesa and Miramar.

Libertarian John Murphy and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Arnie Schoenberg are unopposed in their respective primaries in the district.

With the Democratic primary widely perceived as an exercise in political futility in the heavily Republican 75th District, the campaign between Chilton and Christian-Heising has been a race more in name than in fact. The two have spent little money, held no debates, and, in fact, had not even met until they were introduced at a recent Democratic Party fund-raiser.

“This has probably been the dullest campaign I’ve ever seen,” conceded Christian-Heising, who is in a position to know, having run and lost races for mayor of San Diego, City Council, the San Diego Board of Education, the Community College District board of trustees and the state Board of Equalization.

“Maybe I’ll make the Guinness book of records,” said Christian-Heising, 58, referring to her frequent losses. “Most other people probably would have quit long ago, but I don’t like that word quit . I’ve never taken any of these races lightly and always felt that, even though I didn’t win, I had something to contribute. Someday, if I’m elected, people will say, ‘That Mary never gives up.’ ”

In contrast, Chilton is a 73-year-old, first-time candidate who says that he “got roped into” running for the office by local party leaders when he arrived late at a meeting of the 75th District Democratic caucus.

‘Hold the Phone!’

“When I walked in, everyone was most cordial, and then they told me I’d been selected as the candidate,” said Chilton, president of the Coronado Democratic Club and a former Navy fighter pilot. “I said, ‘Hold the phone!’ After thinking about it, I decided that I’d been criticizing politicians for years, so maybe I’d better see firsthand what it was like.”

Chilton has been endorsed by both the regional and state party, but acknowledges that he is concerned that Christian-Heising’s name recognition from her many past races could give her an edge. As of May 21, Chilton had raised $5,189 and spent $2,532, more than twice as much as Christian-Heising, who has vowed to spend less than $1,000.

“A lot of people don’t take her seriously, but her name is known and she could win,” Chilton said. “I think I’d crawl in a hole if that happened.”

Christian-Heising, however, is worried that she might have undermined one of the few factors working in her favor by deciding to be listed on the ballot simply as Mary Christian.

“Mary Christian-Heising is too long for a bumper sticker, so I decided to run under my maiden name,” she said. “But people might not recognize the name on the ballot as me. I don’t know, maybe I cut off my nose. It might be the biggest mistake of my political career.”

In the absence of joint appearances at forums, neither of the two Democrats is familiar with the other’s positions on issues, limiting comparisons on that basis.

“I can’t tell you how we’re similar or different, because I really have no idea where she stands on anything,” Chilton said.

Christian-Heising, meanwhile, argues that issues will play a lesser role in the race than the two candidates’ political backgrounds.

“I’ve got a long track record, and that should count for something,” said Christian-Heising, a La Jolla resident who is working on a master’s degree in political science at San Diego State University. “I see my opponent as a newcomer, sort of a Jack-come-lately. That’s the biggest difference between us.”

Both candidates, however, respond similarly to the question of why they would bother entering a race in which the Democratic nominee, because of the Republicans’ 3-to-2 registration advantage, traditionally has been little more than a political sacrificial lamb.

Although Christian-Heising concedes that the 75th is a “tough, tough, tough district for any Democrat,” both she and Chilton argue that Mojonnier could be vulnerable this fall.

Mojonnier Record Faulted

Both fault Mojonnier for what they view as a weak legislative record and suggest that controversy over a $10,000 fee she received from the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn. last year after leaving her sickbed to vote for a new prison in Los Angeles could haunt her this fall. The state attorney general’s office ruled in March that the $10,000 award did not violate any state law.

Nevertheless, Chilton argued that the issue “raises questions of integrity that cut across party lines.”