GOP Leaders Pick Pringle in Race for 72nd District

Curt Pringle, chairman of the Garden Grove Planning Commission, was selected Thursday night to replace the late Richard E. Longshore as the Republican nominee in the 72nd Assembly District race.

Pringle, 29, was elected on the second ballot by the Orange County Republican Central Committee. He will now face off in November against the Democratic candidate in the race, Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach III of Anaheim.

Pringle received 33 votes, while Brian Bennett, an aide to Rep. Robert K. Dornan, (R-Garden Grove), got 21 and Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel B. McNerney received 5.

Pringle was one of 10 people, including Longshore’s 32-year-old widow, Linda, seeking the nomination.

In accepting the nomination, Pringle told the crowd of about 200 assembled at a Costa Mesa hotel that “I will run a strong race . . . with the same determination that Dick Longshore had and Linda has now.”

Pringle said that while other parts of Orange County have the “glitz and the glamour,” the 72nd District is the “soul” of Orange County.

Following Pringle’s selection, Linda Longshore said that she was “less than satisfied with this process.” She said she was undecided about how much support she would give Pringle.

On the first ballot, Pringle fell one vote short of winning the party’s nomination. Pringle needed 31 votes to succeed Longshore, the incumbent who died June 8, one day after he won the nomination in a bid to win a second term in the Assembly.

After the initial vote by the 61 Central Committee members, Linda Longshore withdrew her name from consideration, throwing her support behind Bennett.

Longshore’s withdrawal left only Pringle, Bennett and McNerney in the running for the nomination.

Central Committee members voted for the nominee by secret ballot as several hundred friends and supporters of the candidates as well as Republican activists looked on.

At one point during the balloting, supporters of Linda Longshore began to chant “Linda. Linda. Linda.” Many of those supporters held green balloons that read: “Reelect Assemblyman Dick Longshore.” The balloons, which were to have been used in Longshore’s reelection campaign, had been altered with the addition of the word “Mrs.” in black felt pen.

Longshore had been ill for several months and had entered a Sacramento hospital 10 days before the June 7 primary. He died the next day of pneumonia, dramatically transforming the 72nd Assembly District race into a wide-open affair in November. Both parties had targeted the seat as a “must win” before statewide reapportionment in 1990. Longshore was seen to have a good chance of being reelected in the predominantly Democratic district.

Voter registration in the 72nd District, which includes parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster and all of Stanton, is about 50% Democratic and 39% Republican. But Republican candidates often overcome such numerical disadvantages because Republican voters tend to go to the polls in higher numbers and are more loyal to their party.

But district Democrats are hoping that President Reagan’s departure from the national scene--and the ballot--will help them recapture their own party members.

In Thierbach, Democrats believe they have an ideal candidate for a district made up largely of working-class constituents and growing ethnic populations of Asians in Garden Grove and Latinos in Santa Ana. Crime, education and family values are core issues in this district, and Thierbach’s background as a deputy district attorney in Riverside County is expected to play well. He is also a school board member in the Anaheim Union High School District.

Despite lopsided voter registration, political experts pegged Longshore as the favorite in the November election because of his name recognition.

Now Thierbach, in his first run for elective office, is the sudden front-runner with the distinct advantage of having a campaign staff already in place and party leaders united behind him.

Selecting a replacement for Longshore has not been smooth.

Under law, the 64-member Orange County Republican Central Committee was charged with screening and then voting on a new party nominee for the race. Party officials set up a seven-member select committee, chaired by state Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim), to interview applicants and then issue a recommendation to the full Central Committee.

Patricia A. McGuigan, a veteran Santa Ana councilwoman, withdrew her name from consideration this week, citing her family and a desire to run for reelection to the council.

Because of Longshore’s unexpected death and the short time frame to find a replacement, each applicant had to fill out an exhaustive eight-page questionnaire, sparking some resentment. In an attempt to bring to light any potentially embarrassing facts, applicants were asked about private matters such as family background, business dealings and sexual conduct.