Calderon Moves Toward Senate Race

With Sen. Joseph B. Montoya’s political future in doubt, a fellow Democratic legislator from the San Gabriel Valley has emerged as an early leader in the race to replace him.

For months, Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon of Whittier has been making the preliminary moves toward seeking the seat in the June 5 Democratic primary.

“There’s been a cloud over the district since Montoya’s office was raided by the FBI” in August, 1988, Calderon said before Friday’s verdict. “I think it’s time this incident was put behind us.”

Calderon, who in 1988 was one of the dissident “Gang of Five” who challenged Assembly Speaker Willie Brown’s leadership, on Thursday formed an exploratory Senate campaign committee. The four-term lawmaker was unavailable for comment Friday, but he has scheduled press conferences Monday “to make an announcement regarding the 26th Senatorial District.”

Montoya, first elected to the Senate in 1978, left the federal courthouse Friday without discussing his political plans. As his trial began late last year, Montoya had said he would seek reelection to the heavily Latino suburban district, which runs from Monterey Park and Montebello east to Irwindale, Baldwin Park and La Puente.

But while Montoya has been preoccupied for the last two months in U.S. District Court, Calderon has had the time to sound out supporters and contributors.

Calderon’s campaign also received a boost last month when a potentially strong rival, Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park), said she would seek reelection instead of running for Montoya’s Senate seat.

Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) said he believes that Calderon is the front-runner and that Montoya would face “an uphill fight” if he seeks reelection. “It would be very costly,” Polanco said.

With Democrats holding a 2-1 edge over Republicans among the district’s registered voters, the GOP is virtually writing off its chances of capturing the seat.

State Republican Party Chairman Frank Visco acknowledged: “No Republican is going to win that seat. . . . It’s going to be another Democrat who’s going to take that seat.” But the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office reported that one Republican, Joe Leon of La Puente, has taken out papers to campaign.

Even before Montoya’s indictment, Calderon was thought to have his eyes on higher office. Calderon was elected to the Assembly in 1982 after serving as a deputy Los Angeles city attorney and on the Montebello school board.

Just two years ago, Calderon was stripped of his leadership post as majority whip when he and four colleagues, known as the “Gang of Five,” became embroiled in a nasty scrap with Speaker Brown.

With Republican support, Calderon mounted an effort in December, 1988, to topple Brown and become the Assembly’s first Latino Speaker. The effort failed and the dissident Democrats gradually returned to the fold.

However, it is believed that after his failure to wrest power from Brown, Calderon shifted his sights to the Senate. Larry Sheingold, a Senate Democratic strategist, said Calderon “identified himself as the front-runner” early on, before anyone else jumped into the race for Montoya’s seat.

As a result, other ambitious politicians deferred to Calderon, hoping to win Calderon’s endorsement in a contest for his Assembly seat, said another campaign strategist, who asked not to be identified.

Among those whose names have been mentioned as possible successors to Calderon in the Assembly are his brother, Tom Calderon; Bill Hernandez, a Rio Hondo Community College trustee; Diane Martinez, president of the board of the Garvey school district and daughter of U.S. Rep. Matthew Martinez (D-Montebello); Montebello City Councilman Arnold Alvarez-Glasman; former Monterey Park City Councilman G. Monty Manibog; and Larry Salazar of Montebllo, owner of a marketing management firm.