THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY : 1 Democratic, 2 GOP House Seats May Be Vulnerable

Both the Republicans and Democrats began Wednesday to plan their strategies to hold onto seats in the House in November, but it was the GOP that came out of the California primary with the most to lose.

Democrats already hold a 27-18 edge in the House delegation from California, but Republican voters knocked off Rep. Ernest Konnyu of Saratoga on Tuesday in a vituperative battle in the suburbs south of San Francisco. The Republicans there decided to take their chances against the Democrats with a newcomer, Stanford law professor and economist Tom Campbell.

It appears that Campbell, who had promised to support Konnyu in November if he won the primary, will have to go up against what could be a major Democratic effort without the help of Konnyu and his core of loyal conservative voters.

Campbell is more liberal on social issues than Konnyu, and the two camps ended up engaged in insults and mud-slinging uncommon for candidates from the same party. Konnyu was so bitter about his loss, after less than two years in Congress, that he said Tuesday night he will not help Campbell in November.

“When the three biggest political powers in this area--David Packard, Ed Zschau and Pete McCloskey--take you on, you’re in trouble in the first place,” Konnyu said.

Zschau and McCloskey each used to represent the area in the House, and Packard--co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co. and adviser to Republican presidents--led an unusual turnout of support and money for Campbell from the high-tech and computer industries, whose executives complained that Konnyu doesn’t have respect in Washington.

The district normally votes Republican, but the outcomes are often close. The five Democrats who ran in the primary collected 29,000 more votes than Campbell, and he will have to win back Konnyu’s voters or woo a large chunk of those Democratic votes to beat San Mateo County Supervisor Anna Eshoo.

Democratic leaders are also planning to make a major push on behalf of state Sen. Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara, the challenger to Rep. Robert Lagomarsino (R-Ventura). Both are known to voters in the Ventura and Santa Barbara counties district, but the district has been changing for several years and even some Republicans fear that Lagomarsino may be losing his hold after 14 years in the House.

Neither had an opponent Tuesday, but Hart drew about 7,000 more votes than Lagomarsino in the strictly-for-show primary.

If there is any other race where the incumbent could sweat out the November result, it is in the San Gabriel Valley district represented by Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park). He beat back a primary challenge from former Monterey Park Mayor Lily Chen by a wider margin than many expected, but Chen may have damaged Martinez’s reputation with charges that Martinez took trips at government expense and had a girlfriend on the congressional payroll.

His opponent, Ralph Ramirez, is a Monterey Park businessman who used to work in the Administration of Gov. George Duekmejian. Before the primary, some Republican leaders in Sacramento said that if Ramirez won the nomination the party might pull out the stops to beat Martinez, who won barely half of the votes cast for all parties on Tuesday.

The contests are expected to be much tamer in the 42nd and 40th districts, where Republicans selected two former White House aides, Dana Rohrabacher and C. Christopher Cox, to replace departing Reps. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) and Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach).

Celebrities have become important in California elections, and Rohrabacher credited his victory Wednesday to a name seemingly popular with Orange County conservatives--retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North. His campaign did not have much money but gained a ton of free publicity last week when North traveled to Orange County to stump for Rohrabacher, a former speechwriter for President Reagan.

“I think I was losing until then,” Rohrabacher said. “There were a lot of undecided people who were looking for a candidate.”

Rohrabacher won much more easily than anyone suspected, while Cox finished just barely ahead of Irvine City Councilman David Baker, who had Badham’s endorsement. Both Rohrabacher and Cox are expected to run away with the November election because of the predominance of Republicans in their districts.

Elsewhere in the state, all incumbent House members won their party’s nominations again and appear to be safe bets for November.

Times Staff Writer Todd Gillman contributed to this article.