ELECTIONS ’88 : Long Night of Highs, Lows Ends 40th Race

As the returns rolled in, the hope for C. David Baker was to keep narrowing C. Christopher Cox’s lead in the Republican primary in the 40th Congressional District until the late vote count from Irvine put him on top.

It almost worked.

But when it was over, a tired and frustrated Baker, once considered to be the odds-on favorite to succeed retiring Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), fell 1,172 votes short of victory.

It was a tumultuous race that did not conclude until 2:15 a.m. Wednesday. In the end, it offered for those who stuck to Baker and Cox throughout the vote count a contrast in moods and hopes--and, finally, victory for one and defeat for the other.

Baker spent the early evening with volunteers at his Irvine headquarters, while Cox and his entourage met at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange, where Republicans from all over the state were engaged in revelry in the red-white-and-blue spirit.

As the vote count came in, Cox took a commanding lead early and still was clinging to an 11-point edge at 10:45 p.m. when Baker and his family arrived at the hotel.

At one end of the ballroom, Baker, carrying his youngest son, Sam, talked quietly to Badham. At the other end, Cox was being mobbed by well-wishers.

An hour later, both candidates were in their suites on the third floor of the hotel. In Baker’s suite were the main core of his Irvine neighbors and supporters. Across the hall, Cox’s entourage included young, snappily dressed couples and outgoing, confident political types.

At 11:50 p.m., Baker, sweating in a chair and sipping a soft drink, got his first boost. The returns showed he had closed the gap to five percentage points. Hearing the news, Cox retired to a private room with his top aides. The door was locked.

“A couple of more readings like that, and we’ll be near the top,” Baker said. “But it’ll still be a long night . . . like I predicted from the start.”

At 12:25 a.m., Cox emerged from the private room and was met by Dana Rohrabacher, leading in the GOP primary in the 42nd Congressional District. The two men went downstairs and walked outside into the cool air to talk quietly. Alone.

Baker, learning that Cox was only 2.5 percentage points ahead, began to look more confident. He started talking to everyone around him, slapping backs. He was smiling for the first during the night.

Stewart Mollrich, one of Baker’s strategists, sensed a win. He pulled out a pocket calculator and showed a reporter why victory was now within reach.

“Dave is now ahead in precinct votes,” Mollrich explained. “Cox is winning only with the absentee votes. There are more precinct votes to be counted.”

By this time Cox had returned from his stroll with Rohrabacher. The well-wishers cheered, but he toned down the applause, saying, “Let’s see what happens.”

At 1:10 a.m., Baker answered the telephone. He pushed up his big, husky frame, and he seemed almost jubilant, announcing that he was trailing then by 30.7% to 29.9%, about 400 votes.

Across the hall, Cox and his aides huddled in a bathroom to discuss strategy and analyze the vote tabulations.

Baker and his supporters left the suite and retired to a 10th floor room. Bottles of champagne were brought up for a celebration never to be realized. Within minutes of their arrival, about 1:40 a.m., new totals showed Cox ahead by almost 1,000 votes.

“It’s going to be tough to pick it up, huh?” Baker said to no one in particular. He motioned his wife, Patty, outside and they talked quietly in the hall. Five minutes later, Baker took his family home.

On the third floor, Cox was strolling down the hall, grinning broadly. “We’re starting to pull away,” he said.

At 2:15 a.m., Baker’s people on the 10th floor got the final tally.

“Damn, we lost,” one supporter said dejectedly.

Downstairs, Cox was explaining that the bathroom strategy session an hour earlier had confirmed that he would win because Baker’s biggest numbers in Irvine had already been counted. Cox said an aide had calculated that it would be “mathematically impossible for me to lose.”

With about 50 supporters still crowding around the winner, Cox basked in the triumph and then joined Rohrabacher for a dual celebration.

“Well, we spent too much money on this race,” Cox announced, “because we had 1,200 votes more than we needed.”