Filing Day Grim for Democrats : O.C. politics: Republicans gleeful about chances to retain a lock on state and federal legislative offices.

The scuttled campaign of celebrity candidate Ron Kovic has left Orange County Democrats with a bleak and increasingly familiar outlook in the 1990 election season.

As the deadline for candidates to file for office passed Friday, Republicans were gleeful about their chances to retain a lock on the county’s state and federal legislative offices.

“I’m just ecstatic about the way we go into the season with all of our incumbents looking very good,” said Tom Fuentes, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party. “I just really feel good that we’re going to have a clean sweep once again.”

Marty Schrank, vice chairwoman of the county’s Democratic Party, noted that Democrats have fielded candidates in all 14 state and federal legislative races in Orange County this year.

“We have our work cut out for us, but I think that we are doing the work,” she said. “Just by the mere registration, it’s tough to talk from the positive standpoint that we would like.

“I think overall we have some pretty good candidates . . . (and) I think each one feels that they can win,” she added.

As of last month, about 55% of Orange County’s voters were registered as Republicans compared to about 34% as Democrats.

Democrats have a registration advantage in only two of the 14 state and federal races in Orange County this year. One is the 38th Congressional District of Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove), which Democrats were hoping to win with Kovic, the Vietnam veteran and Hollywood celebrity.

Democratic Party officials thought a Kovic campaign would have energized local Democrats by a spillover effect on other races and on the clout of the party organization. But Kovic, whose life story is told in the movie “Born on the Fourth of July,” said Thursday that he has decided not to run.

So the major showdown between the parties in 1990 appears to be in Garden Grove’s 72nd Assembly District, the only other place where a Republican is representing a district that is predominantly Democratic in voter registration.

The incumbent, freshman Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) is considered vulnerable by some observers because of his role in the decision to place uniformed guards at polling places in predominantly Latino neighborhoods on Election Day in 1988. Local and federal authorities are still conducting a criminal investigation of the incident.

Pringle’s perceived vulnerability has attracted two Democratic opponents, both with strong backing from separate factions in their party.

The candidates are Tom Umberg, a former federal prosecutor, and Jerry Yudelson, an environmental consultant who unsuccessfully challenged Dornan in 1988.

Pringle’s district is also the scene of the Democrats’ last victory in an Orange County state or federal race. That was six years ago in the reelection of Democratic Assemblyman Richard Robinson.

The only exception to the record is the 33rd State Senate District held by Sen. Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk), which is predominantly in Los Angeles County but includes a chunk of Orange County at Buena Park. Green is not up for reelection this year.

Orange County Republican leaders are so confident in their ability to retain incumbents that they plan to focus more attention on generating support in statewide races, particularly for gubernatorial candidate Pete Wilson.

Fuentes noted that the county’s GOP loyalists will also be motivated this year by visits from big-name party leaders, including President Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle, Gov. George Deukmejian, Republican National Chairman Lee Atwater and Wilson.

Nationally, Republicans have targeted the California governor’s race as the most important this year because the state will get at least five more congressional seats after the 1990 census, and the governor will play a role in deciding the boundaries for the new districts.

“That kind of attention given us by Washington and Sacramento is going to motivate Orange County Republican workers to get out there and do it again,” Fuentes said.

Some of the other highlights in Orange County’s 1990 races include:

* The 70th Assembly District, where incumbent Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) is being challenged by fellow Republican Phyllis Badham, the daughter of the area’s longtime congressman, Robert Badham, now retired.

* The 58th Assembly District, which is being vacated by incumbent Dennis Brown (R-Los Alamitos), who announced Monday that he will not seek reelection. Four Republicans and one Democrat have entered the race, including Huntington Beach Mayor Tom Mays, a Republican, who gained state and national attention during the recent oil spill. The district is split between Orange and Los Angeles counties. On the Los Angeles side, Long Beach Councilwoman Jan Hall, also a Republican, is running.

In the congressional races:

* Instead of Kovic, Dornan will be challenged by Barbara Jackson, public affairs director for the county’s Planned Parenthood office. Jackson lacks experience in office and has a daunting challenge in raising money, but she is hoping that the issue of choice on abortion has energized enough of the electorate to make a difference.

* In the 39th Congressional District, incumbent William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) has attracted four Democratic challengers, including longtime party activist John W. Black from Newport Beach and Francis Hoffman, a trustee on the Orange County Board of Education.

CANDIDATE FILINGS FOR JUNE 5 PRIMARY STATE OFFICES SENATE 32ND DISTRICT Orange

Edward R. Royce (incumbent), Anaheim, R.; John J. Duran (atty.), Santa Ana, D.; Evelyn Colon Becktell (senior center director.), Santa Ana, D. ASSEMBLY 58th DISTRICT* Orange/Los Angeles

Joel R. Bishop (systems analyst), Long Beach, D. 64TH DISTRICT Orange

Ross Johnson (incumbent), Brea, R.; Kevin Grant Gardner (manager), Fullerton, D. 67TH DISTRICT Orange

John R. Lewis (incumbent), Orange, R.; Fred Smoller (college professor), Orange, D. 69TH DISTRICT Orange

Nolan Frizzelle (incumbent), Fountain Valley, R.; Jim Toledano (lawyer), Costa Mesa, D. 70TH DISTRICT Orange

Gil Ferguson (incumbent), Laguna Beach, R.; Phyllis A. Badham (occupation not listed), Newport Beach, R.; Howard Adler (businessman), Laguna Hills, D. 71ST DISTRICT Orange

Doris Allen (incumbent), Cypress, R.; Richard T. Polis (councilman), La Palma, D.; Peter Matthews (college professor), Buena Park, D. 72ND DISTRICT Orange

Curt Pringle (incumbent), Garden Grove, R.; Tom Umberg (assistant U.S. attorney), Garden Grove, D.; Jerry Yudelson (businessman), Garden Grove, D. 74TH DISTRICT* Orange/San Diego

Mary Rico-Webber (teacher), P&F; Gerald Franklin, (teacher), Oceanside, D.; Doug Hansen (no occupation listed), San Diego, P&F.; FEDERAL OFFICES CONGRESS 38TH DISTRICT Los Angeles/Orange

Robert K. Dornan (incumbent), Garden Grove, R.; Barbara Jackson (pro-choice advocate), Buena Park, D.; Art Hoffmann (technical writer), Santa Ana, D. 39TH DISTRICT Orange

William E. Dannemeyer, (incumbent), Fullerton, R.; Francis Hoffman (Board of Education trustee), Anaheim, D.; Truman Swann, Anaheim, D.; Anthony Roberts (businessman), Brea, D.; John W. Black (no occupation listed), Newport Beach, D.; Maxine B. Quirk (apartment manager), Orange, P&F.; 40TH DISTRICT Orange

C. Christopher Cox, (incumbent), Newport Beach, R.; Gene Gratz (atty.), Laguna Beach, D. 42ND DISTRICT Los Angeles/Orange

Dana Rohrabacher (incumbent), Lomita, R.; Guy Kimbrough (college professor), Huntington Beach, D.; James Cavuoto (computer publisher), D. 43RD DISTRICT* Orange/San Diego

George E. Hollis (optical engineer), Los Angeles, D.

*Filing deadline extended because incumbent not seeking reelection. Source: county registrar’s office