ELECTIONS ’88 : ORANGE COUNTY : Incumbency--Even a Brief One--Helps Sen. Green : Newcomer to Capitol Has Built-In Backing

State Sen. Cecil N. Green was running an hour late when the head of one of the state’s most powerful unions stopped by to wish him well in his reelection bid in the 33rd Senate District.

As Ed Foglia of the California Teachers Assn. walked in, Green broke away from a meeting to greet him warmly. The two men shook hands and praised each other’s efforts on behalf of education.

The encounter, in a private room of Green’s Norwalk headquarters, lasted less than 5 minutes but underscored a key factor in Green’s rise from the Norwalk City Council to the state Senate. Union money and manpower from around the state helped Green, a Democrat, upset Republican Assemblyman Wayne Grisham (R-Norwalk) in a special election in May, 1987.

This year, the 64-year-old Green is again counting on a coalition of labor, Latinos and party loyalists to carry him back to Sacramento in the Nov. 8 election for a full 4-year term.

To accomplish that, he must defeat Republican Don Knabe, a former Cerritos councilman and Los Angeles County Supervisor Deane Dana’s chief of staff.

Knabe, unlike Green, is a glib, polished communicator. As a councilman for 8 years, he is credited with helping Cerritos emerge as one of Los Angeles County’s most financially sound cities.

Still, most political observers see Knabe as the underdog in the predominantly blue-collar 33rd District, covered with single-family homes and shopping centers astride the boundary between southeast Los Angeles County and northwest Orange County. Registered Democrats in the district not only outnumber Republicans, 52% to 38%, but Green, a popular Norwalk councilman for 13 years, now enjoys all the advantages of incumbency.

“That’s his one edge in this race,” Knabe campaign consultant Angela Bay Buchanan said. “As the incumbent, he makes a couple of calls and he’s got the money he needs. As the challenger, Don has to work harder for his money, staging back-yard barbecues and receptions.”

In reality, both candidates are relying heavily on party leaders to bankroll their campaigns, and each may spend more than $1 million by Nov. 8, competing for a job that pays $37,105 a year.

That is because the race has implications well beyond the district, as Republicans and Democrats wrestle for control of the Capitol and an advantage when reapportionment of legislative districts begins in 1990.

In Orange County, which has about a quarter of the district’s 289,849 voters, Green’s reelection is considered critical by Democratic activists trying to revive the party’s flagging fortunes locally. Among the county’s 13 legislators, Green is the only Democrat. He represents the communities of Cypress, Los Alamitos, La Palma and Buena Park.

“That race is absolutely vital,” said Paul Garza, executive director of the Orange County Democratic Party. “We’ve made gains in voter registration in the last year. To sustain that momentum, Green must be reelected. We’d be in a state of shock if we lost that one.”

All-Out Democratic Effort

It also would be a blow to Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), who orchestrated an all-out Democratic effort for Green in the special election. The strategy included giving doughnuts to voters, using vans equipped with mobile phones to transport voters to the polls and organizing hundreds of volunteers to walk precincts.

Green, a former muffler shop owner, received nearly $1.1 million from Roberti and his political action groups in the race.

As of Sept. 30, the most recent deadline for filing campaign contribution and expense reports, Green had received about $601,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions since the beginning of the year. That includes $106,000 from nine fellow Democrats in the state Senate and $20,000 from a Roberti-controlled political group. Green also received $127,048 from unions, including $7,500 from the California Teachers Assn.

Green, who was a Republican until he switched parties in the early 1970s, said the amount being spent on the race is “ludicrous,” but added: “The stakes are high. When it comes to reapportionment, the party knows I’ll vote Democratic.”

Because he was elected in the middle of a legislative session, Green maintained that “he had to hit the ground running” to familiarize himself with the way things work in Sacramento.

Trouble Getting Started

However, some critics say Green stumbled when he arrived in the unfamiliar territory of Sacramento politics. He had trouble keeping top aides and showed little initiative when it came to introducing legislation, they said.

One Democratic senator said party officials guided Green through votes in the Legislature throughout the last session. The senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, recalled asking Green on the Senate floor how he planned to vote on a key issue.

“Green reached into his coat pocket,” the senator said, “pulled out a list, and then read me his vote. It was amazing. He didn’t have a clue.”

Green, in a recent interview in his campaign office, acknowledged that he made mistakes in his first go-around in Sacramento. But he said it was a result of having to hire a Capitol staff, open a district office in Santa Fe Springs and find a place to live in Sacramento in mid-session.

“Those first few months were difficult,” said Green, whose wife, Mary, is his constant companion in the Capitol, often attending committee meetings or sitting in the back of the Senate chamber. “I want to get reelected so I can prove myself over a full term.”

Showed Promise

Supporters contend that Green, one of Senate’s most conservative Democrats, showed promise as a lawmaker. He had the third-best record for being present for votes in the Senate, missing fewer than 6% of his 6,919 floor and committee votes. Green’s proponents say he also delivered on campaign promises, particularly in the area of worker safety, crime and education.

Green fought hard to save the state’s worker safety program, appearing at press conferences with labor leaders and pressing for legislation to revive the program, known as Cal/OSHA. He has actively supported Proposition 97, which would restore the program, on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“I’m afraid it’s our last chance,” said Green, who claims the rate of work-related injuries and deaths has gone up since Gov. Deukmejian virtually eliminated the program as a part of a budget-cutting push in 1987.

Green co-authored an Urban Impact Aid bill that delivered $3 million to schools in the 33rd District, and he carried legislation that increased penalties for drunk drivers and people convicted of freeway shootings. After the Whittier Narrows earthquake, which caused widespread damage in the district, Green helped win passage of legislation that provided $95 million in special grants and low-interest loans for homeowners and renters.

“Cecil made promises and followed through,” Foglia said. “I’m the first to admit he’s not the most charismatic person. But in our position we don’t need charisma, we need support.”

Law Enforcement Backing

Green, who favors the death penalty and worked to oust former California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, has won praise and endorsements from numerous local and state law enforcement organizations, as well as from Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp.

Robert J. MacLeod, general manager of the 1,200-member Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said Green has been “by far the most responsive” legislator in the county in recent years. Green’s office, MacLeod said, “solicits our opinion” regularly.

When asked about Knabe, Green, a quiet sort, becomes angry.

The Republicans, he contends, are distorting his record, and he accuses Knabe of “running a campaign of misinformation. It is a typical sleazy Republican campaign.”

Green entered the 1987 special election at the urging of former Sen. Paul Carpenter (D-Cypress), who was elected to the State Board of Equalization in 1986. Carpenter was Green’s campaign chairman and played a significant role in persuading Roberti to support the Norwalk Democrat with money and volunteers. Republicans are expected to raise Green’s association with Carpenter as an issue because Carpenter is among five elected officials who are the targets of an FBI investigation into political corruption in Sacramento.

Green said he can’t worry about whether his longtime friendship with Carpenter will damage his reelection bid.

“I’ve only seen Paul three or four times in the last year,” Green said. “What Paul Carpenter does is Paul Carpenter’s business. And what Cecil Green does is Cecil Green’s business.”