Condit Wins Race for Coelho’s House Seat

In a special election that drew national attention, Democratic Assemblyman Gary Condit won election to Congress on Tuesday as voters in the San Joaquin Valley chose a successor to former Rep. Tony Coelho.

With 90.6% of the precincts reporting, Condit had 57.1% of the vote, while Republican Clare Berryhill, a farmer who has served as a legislator and as state director of food and agriculture, had 34.8%.

“This is a great victory,” Condit declared during an election night party at the Stanislaus County fairgrounds. “We thought it would be a lot closer. You don’t see many special elections won in the primary.”

By capturing more than 50% of the vote, Condit won the election outright and avoided a November runoff.

Republicans tried to capitalize on scandals that have plagued the Democratic leadership of Congress. Majority Whip Coelho, the third-ranking Democrat, and House Speaker Jim Wright both resigned earlier this year amid charges of financial misconduct.

But Condit ran well throughout the rural Democratic district. His lead was bolstered by a strong absentee ballot drive that was effective in increasing the turnout among his supporters.

In Merced County, with all of the precincts reporting, Condit beat Berryhill nearly 2 to 1.

Other candidates receiving only small percentages of the vote were Libertarian Roy Shimp and five GOP candidates: Atwater farmer Robert Weimer, Merced housing contractor Cliff Burris, Livermore engineer Dave Williams, Modesto businessman Jack McCoy and retired Air Force Maj. Chris Patterakis of Modesto.

The 15th Congressional District, which sprawls across giant farms straddling Interstate 5 and blossoming towns along U.S. 99, takes in all or part of Stanislaus, Merced, Mariposa and Fresno counties. It includes the cities of Modesto and Merced and the northern portion of Fresno.

Berryhill’s campaign was an uphill battle from the start. To begin with, rank-and-file Democrats--although tending to be more conservative than party members elsewhere--outnumbered Republicans in district voter registration by roughly 55% to 36%.

Berryhill entered the race weeks after Condit did and, as of Election Day, was expecting to spend $300,000, compared to his Democratic opponent’s $450,000.

Condit was also successful in persuading other Democratic politicians--including two members of the Assembly--to stay out of the race while Berryhill competed in a crowded Republican field.

Berryhill, 63, who served in the Cabinet of Gov. George Deukmejian for more than four years, had not run for election in the region since the mid-1970s, when he served as a state senator.

The 41-year-old Condit, a member of the Assembly since 1982, already represented about half the voters who reside in the congressional district.

Coelho resigned in June after it became known that he bought a $100,000 junk bond from Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. with the help of a $50,000 loan he did not report as required by law.

But Condit, believing that Coelho remained a popular figure in the rural district, used the former congressman in campaign commercials and relied on him for fund-raising help.

Both Condit and Berryhill cast themselves as friends of agriculture who would represent the farmers’ interests in Congress. But Berryhill, a lifelong fruit grower, charged that Condit was a career politician who knows little about farming. Condit fired back with commercials portraying Berryhill as a political quitter who left the Legislature and his cabinet post.

Berryhill also accused Condit of being “under the influence” of special interests in Sacramento by working as a consultant for National Medical Enterprises, a hospital company, and accepting $76,000 in campaign contributions from the liquor industry.