31ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : Challenger Battles Odds in Bid for Dymally’s Seat

Two hoary cliches of politics are heard in the 31st Congressional District race: “Hope springs eternal” and “Unknown newcomers never defeat entrenched incumbents.”

On the Democratic side, Colin O’Brien is the newcomer battling the odds in Tuesday’s primary elections, hoping to unseat four-term incumbent Mervyn M. Dymally. And in hopes of boosting his chances, O’Brien, a 38-year-old free-lance writer and former human services counselor in Gardena, is taking a low-key approach that he says “focuses on the issues.”

In his first bid for Dymally’s post in 1982, O’Brien made a frontal assault on the veteran lawmaker, charging him with all sorts of shortcomings. He got 10% of the vote in the predominantly Democratic, multi-ethnic, blue-collar district, which includes part or all of Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Paramount, Lynwood, Bellflower, north Long Beach and Compton. Dymally got 77% of the vote.

But this time around, after six years of quiet service in the district’s political gardens, O’Brien is (almost) mute about his opponent.

“By now, the people know Mr. Dymally and his record,” he said. “Both speak for themselves.”

Turning to the issues, O’Brien said the district has long been burdened with more than its share of toxic wastes, which pose a health hazard for residents. If elected, he said, he would give high priority in Washington to digging up toxic dumps in his district and carting the wastes away.

“The money is available in the federal Superfund,” he said. “But we haven’t been getting our fair share.”

To deal with dangers posed by a heavy concentration of refineries and other companies using and processing hazardous substances in his district, O’Brien proposes formation of a district congressional task force on environmental safety.

Minimize the Danger

“A major fire or earthquake could threaten the lives of thousands,” he said. The task force could minimize that danger by ensuring a fast and coordinated response to a disaster by all governmental agencies, he said.

O’Brien said he would also like to work with the California Transportation Department in improving landscaping around the area’s network of freeways, and he wants to propose a federal “well-baby plan” for pregnant, impoverished women.

The plan, which he called unique, generally would involve hiring those women to work temporarily at odd jobs in hospitals and other health-care facilities that are short on staffing. In that setting, he believes, the women also would have ready access to prenatal care and nourishing hospital food.

“A baby gets only one chance at life, and we should do everything we can to ensure that it’s a good chance,” O’Brien said.

Dymally, meanwhile, has geared up his own campaign, speaking frequently at churches and meetings of labor groups, aerospace executives and party activists. Despite the power of incumbency and a past record of overwhelming his opponents at the polls, he is not one to take his reelection for granted.

On Monday, Dymally has arranged a congressional hearing on a problem that bedevils much of his district: gangs. The hearing, chaired by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), will be held in Compton City Hall starting at 9:30 a.m.

In a press release issued from his Washington office, Dymally notes that the number of gangs in the Los Angeles area has doubled in the last eight years and that the gangs are becoming “more violence-prone.” He proposes a unified effort by community groups and governmental agencies at all levels to combat the problem.

Among other achievements cited by Dymally are programs for training minority science students, federal grants for Compton Community College and Southwestern University and census changes that he says will bring more federal funding for Asian and Pacific Island minorities.

Dymally, 62, has deep roots in California politics. After many years in the state Assembly, he was elected lieutenant governor in 1974. He lost to Republican Mike Curb in 1978, but two years later he captured the 31st District seat in Congress and began building another political power base. Critics say he has become too involved in Third World politics.

Dymally has raised $96,000 for his current campaign, while O’Brien is making do with less than the $5,000 minimum that triggers a requirement to file a campaign financial disclosure statement.

The difference in financial clout doesn’t bother O’Brien, he said. “I’m not going to buy this election,” he said. “I’m going to win it.”

Two other candidates face no opposition in the primary. They are Republican Arnold C. May, a Bellflower printer who is dissatisfied with Dymally’s liberal record, and B. Kwaku Duren, a former Black Panther organizer and community activist who is running on the Peace and Freedom ticket.