Bentley Upsets McColl for Republican Slot in 77th Assembly District Contest

State legislative aide Carol Bentley won an upset victory Tuesday over San Diego City Councilwoman Gloria McColl for the right to represent the GOP in the 77th Assembly District race this November.

The two women ran a months-long, spirited campaign to succeed Assemblyman Larry Stirling (R-San Diego), who is seeking a seat in the 39th state Senate District.

Bentley’s victory means she is virtually assured of moving on to the Assembly. The district is so overwhelmingly Republican that Democratic candidates have historically served as little more than political fodder in the general election.

For the most part, it was a dull local primary, as most legislative and supervisorial elections were without a contest.

The reason is that, because of reapportionment, both Republican and Democratic incumbents are ensconced in politically safe districts and are all but assured reelection.

The most interesting contest and the one attracting the most attention was the one between Bentley and McColl, with the two women running hard in an attempt to out-Republican each other.

Bentley, 43, top aide to retiring state Sen. Jim Ellis (R-San Diego), adopted the theme “Bentley: A real Republican!” to draw attention to her many years of experience in partisan politics.

It was clear throughout the campaign that Bentley had a lock on many of the hard-core party loyalists, a fact illustrated by her 65%-to-35% straw-poll victory over McColl in the Republican countywide convention April 30 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

The 57-year-old McColl, in contrast, tried to undermine Bentley’s strategy by emphasizing her own lifelong GOP credentials and stressing that she is the one best suited to carry on the “Reagan-Deukmejian agenda” in Sacramento.

One of the San Diego City Council’s most conservative members, McColl highlighted her own legislative record as an elected official and emphasized that, unlike her opponent, she had a record of “bringing home the bacon” for her constituents. McColl continually cited her leadership role in San Diego’s recent selection as a U.S. Olympic training center.

Republicans hold a 50%-to-38% edge in voter registration in a sprawling district that stretches from Tierrasanta and parts of northern San Diego to East County, including La Mesa, El Cajon and Santee.

Lawyer Sam Hornreich and mathematician Reena Deutsch, who are unopposed in the Democratic and Libertarian primaries, respectively, will face the Bentley-McColl winner in November.

In congressional contests, there was only one seriously fought primary in San Diego’s four districts: the battle between two Republicans for the right to take on incumbent Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego) in the 44th District.

The GOP contest pitted attorney Robert Butterfield Jr. against former Reagan Administration official Luis Acle. Both acknowledged the long-shot prospects of defeating Bates, who has never received less than 64% of the vote since capturing the seat in 1982.

Three incumbent supervisors--Brian Bilbray, George Bailey and Susan Golding--were also seeking reelection, but only Bailey had any opposition. The only question Tuesday was whether the 67-year-old former La Mesa mayor would get more than 50% of the 2nd District vote and thus be elected outright, or be forced into a November runoff. But he was well ahead with a majority of the vote.