Front-Runner Fails to Emerge in 31st District : Election: Candidates for the state Senate seat exchange barbs, brief introductions in party meetings.

There was no winner or unity in the first meeting Monday of the Republican candidates vying for next month’s special election in the 31st State Senate District.

Rather, the gathering at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel in Costa Mesa demonstrated that there is not likely to be a clear front-runner in the three weeks remaining until election day.

The Feb. 6 special primary was set late last month by Gov. George Deukmejian after the resignation of state Sen. William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights).

In presentations to the Orange County Republican Central Committee, the four Republican candidates listed their political accomplishments and exchanged mild criticisms.

“I didn’t come here to sling mud,” said Brea city councilman and candidate Ron Isles. “But in a general sense, I think we are here to raise the ethical standards in Sacramento.”

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) highlighted the lack of consensus among the party members by trying to force the committee to endorse one of the candidates. The motion failed.

“You should be the ones to determine who is a real Republican and who is going to win,” Ferguson said.

Meanwhile, the Orange County Democratic Central Committee on Monday night met two of its three candidates in the Feb. 6 special election.

About 35 people attended what was to be a debate of the three Democratic candidates, held at the regular meeting of the Central Committee at the Communications Workers of America hall in Santa Ana.

The session was really a chance for each of the candidates to give a five-minute introductory speech.

The main issues touched on were abortion and ethics. Janice Graham, secretary of the Orange County Democratic Party who ran against Campbell in 1988, called herself the only candidate among both the Democratic and Republican contenders who “actually has a track record on the pro-choice issue.”

Another candidate, Thomas M. Whaling, an attorney from El Toro, emphasized ethics.

“We keep the Republicans honest, we keep the corruption down.”

Candidate Bradley J. McFadden, a councilman in West Covina, was not present at the debate, but his mother spoke for him, emphasizing his pro-choice stance.

The campaign for the special election in the 31st State Senate District is one of the shortest ever in California. With three weeks remaining until the special primary, the race is already at its halfway point.

The urgency created by the brief schedule has also contributed to the mudslinging that so far has dominated the race. Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier) and Isles, also a Republican, have most frequently traded barbs.

Isles has filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court charging that Hill and Ferguson have improperly handled their campaign money. Isles also has charged that Hill lacks ethics, as demonstrated by the fact that Hill is implicated in court testimony involving an influence-peddling scandal at the state Capitol.

Hill said he has done nothing wrong in connection with the case. And he turned the fire on Isles last week during a press conference in which he brought a live pig. “I thought since Ron Isles wants to sling mud and rake muck, I’d bring along a real expert,” he said.

If none of the eight candidates receives more than 50% of the vote--as most experts expect--the top vote-getters from each party will enter a runoff election April 10.

The 31st District is overwhelmingly Republican. Registration in the November, 1988, election showed 396,745 Republicans compared to 141,443 Democrats.

The district straddles the boundary between Orange and Los Angeles counties, stretching from West Covina and Whittier in the north to Laguna Beach in the south. It also includes the Southeast communities of La Mirada and La Habra Heights.

Ferguson has claimed a geographical edge because he is the best-known candidate in Orange County, which contains about 60% of the Republicans in the district. Ferguson received a boost Saturday when he was endorsed by the conservative Orange County Coordinating Republican Assembly.

However, Ferguson expects that he will be outspent by at least two other candidates, Hill and Isles. Hill has already raised the most money and has established an effective fund-raising operation. Isles has vowed to spend up to $500,000 of his own money, if necessary.

The only other Republican candidate in the race is Gary Miller, a city councilman from Diamond Bar. Robert Lewis of Rowland Heights is a candidate with the American Independent Party.