Tanner’s Surgery Curtails Campaign

Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte) may be facing her toughest reelection battle ever this fall, but because of recent breast cancer surgery, she says she is going to restrict her personal campaigning.

Henry J. Velasco, her Republican opponent who is expecting major financial help from party leaders, says he is worried about a backlash if he dares to criticize her.

Although she expects to recover fully, Tanner said she will miss most of the remaining legislative session and will curtail personal campaigning for the Nov. 8 election. She said she usually walks precincts, but this year “I’m not going to be doing any door-to-door.”

Her campaign manager, Larry Levine, said Tanner’s schedule of appearances will be tightly controlled to avoid jeopardizing her recovery. For her supporters, he said, that means “we’re going to have to do more without her.”

Velasco, who has been preparing for a rematch ever since he lost to Tanner in a hard-hitting campaign two years ago, said Tanner’s surgery makes it difficult to criticize her without offending voters. “There has to be sympathy there,” he said.

Velasco said he hopes that Tanner “gets well soon. We wish Sally didn’t get (cancer); we wish it didn’t happen to anyone.”

And the faster Tanner recovers, Velasco said, the more quickly the campaign can return to normal.

Tanner, 59, got the news that she might have cancer while attending the Democratic National Convention last month. Shortly before going to Atlanta for the convention, Tanner said, she noticed something unusual about her right breast and consulted her doctor. She said the doctor called her in Atlanta on the opening day of the convention to tell her that the test results from a mammogram were “very suspicious.”

With that news hanging over her head, Tanner said, she could not concentrate on the convention and returned home the next day to enter Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte. She underwent a mastectomy to remove her right breast July 20. Aides said lymph gland tests showed that the cancer had not spread.

The surgery was similar to that undergone by Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford. Public awareness of their recovery should assure the public of Tanner’s ability to handle another term, said Levine, who has managed all of Tanner’s campaigns since she won election to the Assembly a decade ago.

In a telephone interview from her condominium in Baldwin Park, Tanner said: “I’m feeling stronger every day.” But she added that she tires easily, is experiencing numbness in her right arm and needs time to recuperate.

She said she hopes to return to Sacramento before the legislative session ends this month, if her doctors approve. Meanwhile, other legislators are looking after her bills, including one that regulates laboratories that process Pap tests for cervical cancer. After her own brush with cancer, Tanner said, her bill to improve the reliability of Pap tests has become especially important to her.

Two years ago, Tanner defeated Velasco, a former El Monte city councilman, by less than 4,300 votes out of 52,000 cast. It was the closest election for Tanner since her first Democratic primary in 1978 and represented a major drop from the 1984 race, when she outpolled the Republican candidate 2 to 1 to win by 22,000 votes.

One major difference was that Assembly Republican leader Pat Nolan (R-Pasadena) put $213,000 into Velasco’s campaign in 1986, while the Republican candidate in 1984, Elizabeth Van Note, had less than $10,000 to spend.

Velasco said he expects strong financial support again this year. “I feel quite confident that we will be getting help,” he said.

Anne Richards, Nolan’s press secretary, said the Tanner-Velasco race is among a dozen statewide that will be studied closely until three weeks before the election, when a decision will be made on where to put campaign funds accumulated by the Assembly Republican leadership. In 1986, Republicans targeted five Assembly elections, including the Velasco-Tanner race.

Richards said Republicans were encouraged by Velasco’s showing two years ago. “Henry is a good candidate,” she said.

The fact that Velasco is Latino makes his candidacy especially attractive, Richards said, because the Republican Party is trying to make inroads among Latino voters.

Richards said Republicans usually consider any district winnable if the Republican registration is 34% or more.

But Republicans have not achieved that high a share in the 60th Assembly District, which serves Baldwin Park, Bassett, El Monte, the City of Industry, La Puente, Rosemead and part of West Covina.

From 1982 to 1986, Republican registration rose from 27% to 31%, while the Democratic share fell from 64% to less than 60%, with the remaining voters either nonpartisan or affiliated with minor parties. Since 1986, the trend has been reversed, with both parties losing voters but Republican registration falling further. Latest registration figures give the Democrats the edge over Republicans, 61% to 30%.

Levine said the registration figures are one reason the outlook for Tanner is better this year than it was in 1986. “The Republican registration is eroding as the Reagan years end,” he said.

But he said he doesn’t expect the figures to discourage Republicans from spending heavily in the 60th District. “I do think they will be coming after us,” he said.

Tanner said that although she will limit her own activities, “we’re going to wage a full campaign.” She said she has always depended heavily on volunteers to help in her campaigns, and this year “there will be even more people involved.”

Meanwhile, Velasco said he has been sounding out other Republicans, such as Rep. David Dreier (R-La Verne) and county Supervisor Pete Schabarum, about contributing financially to his campaign. Dreier and Schabarum have huge political funds. Dreier did not contribute to Velasco’s campaign in 1986, but a campaign fund controlled by Schabarum gave $10,000.

Proposition 73, passed by voters in June, will prohibit the transfer of campaign funds from one candidate for state or local office to another when it goes into effect in January. Velasco and Levine said incumbents who have more campaign cash than they need for their own reelections may be especially generous to other candidates this year because they won’t be able to transfer funds in future elections.

60TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT OPPONENTS Democratic Assemblywoman Sally Tanner’s race against Republican opponent Henry Velasco may be her toughest reelection battle. Two years ago, Tanner defeated Velasco, a former El Monte city councilman, by less than 4,300 votes out of 52,000 cast.