Incumbent Supervisors Sail to New Terms

County Supervisor Roger R. Stanton stood before a chalkboard in his campaign suite at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange on Tuesday night looking at the first returns in his bid for a third term.

Under a Superman symbol, which stood for Stanton, an aide had written “61.8,” meaning that Stanton had taken that percentage of the absentee votes. Under “whatzizname,” which stood for Santa Ana City Councilman Ron May, the aide had written “37.8.”

“It should be 95 to 5,” Stanton said, shaking his head and pausing for a long moment.

“Don’t worry,” he then said, “it’ll get there.”

Stanton was wrong.

May, who said he spent $50,000 on his campaign, a third of what Stanton did, pulled in 40% of the vote in the 1st District.

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez also had more competition than some might have expected. His opponent, retired contractor Sam Porter, was a political unknown who spent less than $20,000 of his own money in the race and had to rely on handwritten campaign signs.

Still, Porter managed to take a surprising 34% of the vote in the 3rd District--far more than most little-known challengers typically gather in county voting.

“Roger Stanton should face the fact that with all the money in the world, all the endorsements he had, he didn’t get 60% of the vote,” May said Wednesday. “It’s certainly a weak victory.”

Vasquez and Stanton said Wednesday that they were happy with their victories but agreed there is a strong public sentiment against the Board of Supervisors that may have boosted their opponents’ campaigns.

“Polling that others did showed that the board in general might have a problem and that it might rub off on Gaddi and me,” Stanton said. “There was no doubt in my mind that when Gaddi and I launched our campaigns, that we also would have to carry with us some of the negative perceptions of the board that I don’t think applies to us personally.”

Those negative perceptions stemmed in large part from the slow-growth controversy that dominated county politics in recent months. Supporters of Measure A, the slow-growth initiative that failed Tuesday, accused the board of representing the interests of large developers.

A poll conducted for The Times earlier this year by Mark Baldassare & Associates showed that most county residents believe the board represents the interests of developers rather than residents on growth issues.

Disagreement over growth issues inspired recall drives against Board Chairman Harriett M. Wieder and Supervisor Thomas F. Riley.

Stanton said the drives may have hurt him and Vasquez because many people do not make a distinction among supervisors.

May and Porter may also have benefited because neither incumbent spent large amounts of money, said campaign consultants and other observers.

Both Spent About $150,000

Vasquez, who had about $400,000 in his campaign chest, spent about $150,000. Stanton, who had $300,000 to work with, spent about the same amount as Vasquez.

By comparison, Supervisor Don R. Roth said he spent $600,000 to get elected to the board in 1986.

“Roger had a ton of money, but I don’t think he really perceived May as a threat,” said another county official who did not want to be named. “As a result, he didn’t campaign as hard as he probably should have.”

Harvey Englander, a local political consultant, said more spending may have meant more votes for both Stanton and Vasquez.

“Had Roger and Gaddi felt a need to spend more of their resources, it would have been a different story,” Englander said. “They had extremely strong showings, considering they were not working hard to get it.”

Vasquez becomes the first Latino ever elected to the Board of Supervisors. He was appointed to the seat last year by Gov. George Deukmejian after Supervisor Bruce Nestande resigned.