Umberg Joins Contest for Pringle’s Seat : Politics: The Democrat will oppose Jerry Yudelson in the primary. Miguel A. Pulido, who had been rumored to run, endorses Umberg instead.

Orange County’s most hotly contested Assembly race of 1990 took shape Thursday as a second Democrat launched his campaign and another rumored challenger took his name out of the running.

Thomas Umberg, who quit his job as a federal prosecutor in Irvine last month so that he could enter the race to unseat Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), officially announced his candidacy at a news conference.

Umberg said his experience as a prosecutor, especially in drug cases, gives him an edge over the other candidates on one of the most important issues in the 72nd District, which includes parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster and all of Stanton. That issue, he said, is crime.

“It has been very satisfying to have made a direct and immediate impact on the crime, drug and gang problems that plague our community,” Umberg said at a press conference in Santa Ana. “In the state Assembly in Sacramento, I will help make our state criminal justice system more effective and efficient.”

Santa Ana City Councilman Miguel A. Pulido, who had been rumored as another Democratic contender for the seat, also appeared at the press conference to endorse Umberg’s candidacy.

“This puts it to rest,” Pulido said. “I’m seeking reelection (to the council) in November. Crime is a major problem in the (Assembly) district, and we need somebody who can manage it.”

Umberg’s anticipated candidacy has been a divisive issue for Orange County Democrats. The chairman of the party’s central committee, Michael Balmages, has already endorsed Jerry Yudelson for the seat.

The two Democratic candidacies have split the county party into separate camps. Balmages charged recently in a letter to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown that “a small group of Democrats who have dominated the party’s losing tradition” in Orange County are responsible for Umberg’s candidacy.

Yudelson, who ran unsuccessfully in 1988 against U.S. Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), is an environmental consultant. He also said the Democratic primary could be a heated competition.

“I think Democrats make a severe mistake by trying to out-crime Republicans,” Yudelson said Thursday. “We have to be the party of economic opportunity and economic salvation. Those are the things I want to talk about.”

He also called Umberg a “carpetbagger” because Umberg moved into the district from Irvine recently so he could run.

“I think he owes it to explain why a yuppie lawyer from Irvine should be running in this race less than a month after moving into the district,” Yudelson said.

Yudelson also promised to examine Umberg’s record as a prosecutor, which he called “very shallow.”

Some Democrats are worried that a messy primary could hurt them in a fall campaign against Pringle. Instead of attacking each other, they would rather see Pringle on the defensive throughout the year.

Democrats believe that Pringle is vulnerable because of his involvement in a decision in the 1988 race to place uniformed guards at several polling places in Latino neighborhoods. The incident is still under investigation by the Orange County district attorney’s office for a possible criminal violation of voters’ civil rights.

Pringle said: “That’s the only issue they think they can try to pin on me. I think people in the district are sick and tired of it.”

But Umberg said at his press conference: “The incumbent has spent the last year fighting for his survival in federal court rather than fighting for our concerns in Sacramento. . . . What his campaign did on Election Day in 1988 is inexcusable.”

Umberg and Yudelson are also pro-choice on abortion, and Pringle, who is against abortion, has been targeted by national pro-choice leaders in 1990.

Pringle said of the Democratic challengers: “I’m proud to be a top target. There’s nobody I would rather contrast myself with than the liberal leadership in Sacramento.”