Long Beach Elections : Heavy Turnout Expected as Costly L.B. Mayoral Campaign Goes to Voters

After months of long-winded fund-raising dinners, a blizzard of mailers and a wave of doorbell ringing, the race for mayor culminates Tuesday when at least half of the city’s voters are expected to cast ballots.

An unusually large number of requests for absentee ballots indicates that the turnout may even surpass the 50% prediction, said Lynda Burgess, chief deputy city clerk. She said 15,000 absentee ballots have been requested, “far above anything we’ve done before.” The city has 175,757 registered voters. Long Beach’s 323 polling places will be open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

While the mayoral runoff between Ernie Kell and Jan Hall has attracted the most attention, voters in the Bixby Knolls and California Heights areas will also be asked to decide whether Jeff Kellogg or Pat Schauer should be elected to the City Council in District 8.

Also up for grabs are four seats on the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees.

The mayor’s race will mark the first time in more than 70 years that Long Beach voters will have a chance to choose the city’s top elected official. The winner will serve full time and be paid $67,500 a year. The council now elects a mayor from among its members who serves without pay and has little power other than presiding at meetings.

The mayor’s race has been dominated by unprecedented fund raising and spending.

Incumbent Mayor Kell, who had 43% of the primary election vote in April, has raised about $600,000. A recent $250-a-plate dinner at a swank hotel netted about $75,000, said campaign spokesman Jeffrey Adler.

In addition, Kell, a millionaire retired developer who owns a Fountain Valley shopping center and three industrial buildings in Riverside County, has lent the campaign $150,000 of his own funds.

Councilwoman Hall, who garnered 25% of the primary vote and turned back a strong challenge by public relations executive Luanne Pryor, has raised more than $300,000. But Hall has not had a major fund-raising dinner since April.

Kell, who has repeatedly said he would not make his Democratic Party affiliation an issue in the nonpartisan race, made a last-minute campaign effort last week to appeal to Republican voters.

He paid $1,500 to sign onto a slate mailer, sent to 28,000 Long Beach households, that prominently displays his photograph next to Vice President George Bush’s and proclaims: “Vote for the Long Beach Republican Team!”

Mailer ‘Sickening’

Hall, a Republican endorsed by Gov. George Deukmejian, called the mailer “sickening” and said her office has been besieged by calls from outraged voters.

“I think this is awful,” she said. “I think voters have a right to know the facts.”

Kell spokesman Adler said voters know the facts--that Kell is a Democrat and Hall is a Republican--despite the mailer. He provided a copy of a 1986 slate mailer that listed Hall on a “Primary Slate for Democrats” when she was running for reelection to her City Council seat. Hall said she does not recall the mailing.

The Kell and Hall camps both expressed confidence about their chances.

“I think we’ve seen a real trend and shift, and frankly I think we’re peaking at the right time,” said Hall, adding that she is close to but probably not ahead of Kell.

Adler said the mayor is “very positive” but will continue to walk door to door until Election Day to curry more favor among voters.