ELECTIONS ’88 ORANGE COUNTY : Seymour Faces a Reluctant Challenger for Senate Seat

If the race in the 35th state Senate District came down to who could get the biggest laughs instead of the most votes, Democratic challenger Mike Balmages might be the odds-on favorite. He’s a juggler, an expert with a Yo-Yo and he has a great sense of humor.

By contrast, Republican incumbent John Seymour of Anaheim is generally considered a no-nonsense politician. Unfortunately for Balmages, Seymour is also among the Senate’s most powerful members and a proven fund-raiser.

Add the fact that the 35th District has a Republican registration edge of 56% to 33%, and you understand why Balmages, 42, appraises his chances in the race like this: “I have a light and airy attitude in the sense that I know I can’t win, and that’s very refreshing in a way because I can say what I want to say and do what I want to do without much fear that it’s going to come back to haunt me too terribly.”

Balmages said he was content just throwing good parties as a Democratic fund-raiser until county Democratic Party Chairman John Hanna asked him earlier this year to run against Seymour. “I said I wouldn’t do it because I didn’t want to spend my time on a race that was unwinnable, which this is,” Balmages said.

A Token Campaign

But Hanna’s persuasive powers prevailed.

Balmages, general counsel for Ocean Pacific Swimwear, agreed to run but told Hanna that he would not do any campaigning or spend any of his own money. With the election growing near, however, Balmages has found his competitive juices stirred a bit and mounted at least a token campaign against Seymour.

“It’s kind of tough to attack Seymour on his record because he looks good on paper,” Balmages said. “I don’t think he’s as good as his record looks. My major attack has been on Seymour as part of the Deukmejian Administration and part of the Legislature that has done absolutely nothing for the state. . . . California has gotten worse since George Deukmejian has been governor in critical areas of our life--which are transportation, education, crime, drugs, everything. As far as I can see, there’s been a complete failure in Sacramento to do anything about our major problems.”

As a candidate not expecting to win, Balmages said he does not have a legislative agenda of his own, other than a philosophical commitment to provide needed social services. Part of the failure of the Deukmejian Administration, Balmages said, is its unwillingness to raise taxes, if necessary, to pay for such services.

Meanwhile, Seymour, 50, is readying his game plan for the 1989 session. A major priority, he said, will be to propose a state constitutional amendment for the 1990 ballot that would allow the state to spend money on capital improvements that now are limited under the Gann Initiative, which puts a limit on state and local spending.

Voter Approval Needed

Revenues above the Gann limits now must be returned to taxpayers, unless voters approve specific spending measures at the polls.

“Between now and the year 2000, it’s projected that $21 billion will be received by the state over and above the Gann limit,” Seymour said. “That means that $21 billion will either go back to taxpayers or the state will have to go to taxpayers and say, ‘Do you want thus and so or do you want your money back?’ ”

His proposed amendment, Seymour said, would permit the state to exempt capital improvements from the Gann limitation and spend money on “infrastructure” needs in areas such as transportation, water, energy, water reclamation and sanitary landfills. “What we’re thinking is that we’ll define infrastructure as anything that has a life of 15 years or more,” Seymour said.

Without those kinds of improvements, Seymour said, “economic growth will run a high risk of really taking a nose dive in the state as well as Orange County. Orange County epitomizes the lack of infrastructure in the state and, therefore, runs the greatest risk of a severe downturn in the future for the economy.”

Seymour said he is also considering a housing package that could include tax breaks for first-time home buyers on investments and savings they would use to buy a home, the possible formation of a “California FHA” that would make it easier for buyers to qualify and finance a home and state subsidies to cities and counties that are “pro-housing,” meaning that they have shown an inclination to build more housing.

Seymour, a former Anaheim mayor and councilman, first went to the Senate as a result of a special election in 1982 after Sen. John Briggs (R-Fullerton) resigned unexpectedly. In recent years, Seymour has openly discussed his interest in higher office. That ambition has upset some colleagues, and in an interview this week Seymour reined in talk about his political future.

“The game plan is too unclear,” he said. “It’s a very cloudy situation. In other words, the bottom line is: I don’t know.”

He said he’s still considering either a try for governor in 1990--but only if Deukmejian doesn’t run again--or a U.S. Senate bid in 1992 when Democrat Alan Cranston’s term ends. Seymour added, however, that he has ruled out running for state treasurer in 1990, an office in which he once expressed interest.

In 1986 and 1987 Seymour generated controversy with proposed legislation calling for random drug and alcohol testing in the workplace. He withdrew both bills in the face of certain defeat and said he does not plan similar legislation in 1989. Instead, he said, he is considering various other drug-related bills, including one that would enable authorities to confiscate someone’s car after repeated drunk-driving convictions.

In March, 1987, Seymour sidestepped what had been seen as an impending challenge to his chairmanship of the Senate’s GOP caucus. In the face of a rumored coup attempt, Seymour resigned his post--the party’s second-ranking leadership position. Sources told The Times then that Senate Republicans had been unhappy primarily with Seymour’s inability to steer a Republican to victory in a special election for an open Senate seat the party had expected to win.

But Seymour is still seen as an effective lawmaker. He sponsored the legislation that is to bring toll roads to Orange County, probably by 1993. He was also the prime force behind legislation that provides for 4-foot buffer zones between car pool lanes and regular traffic lanes.

And he drafted the legislation that allowed Orange County officials to use interest earned from a mass transit fund. That provided the county about $9 million, Seymour said.

Seymour is married and the father of five. He became a millionaire in the real estate business, eventually selling in 1981 what began as a one-man firm in 1964. He listed campaign expenditures of $171,610 in 1988, leaving himself with a war chest of $256,954 as of late October.

Balmages, married and the father of three, has spent about $11,700 on his race, according to his campaign finance reports. Before joining Ocean Pacific, Balmages, a Tustin resident, was in private practice, specializing in business and employment law.

This is Balmages’ first try for public office, although he has been active in Orange County for various candidates, most notably Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley’s two campaigns for governor.

Also in the contest for the 35th District seat is Maxine Bell Quirk, the candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party.