2 New Opponents File Against Gates, Capizzi in Major County Races

Two candidates, both of whom filed less than two hours before the deadline Friday, could offer serious surprise challenges to Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates and Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi in the June 5 election.

Capizzi is now facing challenges from three prosecutors who work for him, including the chief deputy, who filed Friday. Gates is being challenged by a Fullerton councilman and former police chief who arrived at the registrar of voters office just minutes before closing to file his papers.

The incumbents in county offices, including three supervisors, are generally considered strong front-runners in their bids to retain their seats. Nevertheless, they face a variety of opponents--from candidates running as outsiders who want to clean up county government to insiders who say they can do a better job than their bosses.

Candidates who garner more than 50% of the vote win outright. In races where there is no majority, the top two candidates will face a runoff election in November.

The most hotly contested race got even hotter Friday when Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James G. Enright entered the contest. Enright had remained mum for months on whether he would challenge Capizzi.

Two of his colleagues, Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Avdeef, who has been highly critical of Capizzi, and Assistant Dist. Atty. Edgar A. Freeman, had earlier announced their intentions to challenge their boss.

Some political observers believe that a four-candidate race at least improves the chances for one of the challengers to force a runoff with Capizzi, although he has a strong lead over his opponents in campaign money and political endorsements.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously backs Capizzi. He also had the blessing of his mentor, longtime Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks, until Hicks’ appointment to the Superior Court bench. The state judicial code bars judges from endorsing political candidates in non-judicial races.

Capizzi is also able to run now as the incumbent, which traditionally carries tremendous weight with Orange County voters in nonpartisan races.

Enright, 63, who has been chief deputy for more than 23 years, is a longtime rival of Capizzi’s within the district attorney’s office.

Although Enright has been the No. 2 man in the office on the official organizational chart--and was the only prosecutor authorized to take over when Hicks was gone--it was Capizzi who ran the office for Hicks and was viewed by the deputies as the heir apparent when Hicks retired.

Enright, however, is popular in the legal community, both among deputy prosecutors and the criminal defense bar, and is widely considered the only candidate with a chance to defeat Capizzi.

Enright said he decide to run Thursday evening after reading a Supreme Court decision upholding the death penalty for Robert Jackson Thompson, who murdered a newspaper boy. Enright, who prosecuted the case, said he was struck by the high court’s praise for the fairness with which he had presented his case.

“It really had an effect on me and got me thinking,” Enright said.

Capizzi said Friday that he was not surprised by Enright’s last-minute entry into the race, noting that there are always surprises in politics.

“It’s the American way,” Capizzi said, dismissing Enright as a serious challenger.

Avdeef said he had assumed Enright would eventually enter the race and declined to speculate in much detail on how it would affect the race.

“I suppose that it could end up helping me if there is a runoff,” Avdeef said. But some political pundits believe Avdeef is not happy about Enright’s candidacy.

Enright’s decision led to considerable speculation elsewhere within the district attorney’s office about how he would affect the race.

“He’ll certainly liven things up,” said one deputy prosecutor.

But none of more than a dozen deputies interviewed had much hope that Enright could overcome Capizzi’s political clout.

“If Jim could get into a runoff, take on Capizzi one on one, it might be possible. But he’s already so far behind,” one seasoned deputy prosecutor said.

Enright said he recognizes that he is starting off behind the others: He has no campaign chairman, no treasurer and no campaign money. But, he added, he plans to get very busy organizing all that in the next few weeks and trying to catch up.

“I’ve been hearing from a lot of lawyers and judges for months that I ought to get into this race,” Enright said. “Now it’s time to see if they really meant it.”

The other 11th-hour candidate in the county elections, Fullerton Councilman Don Bankhead, is the first contender with extensive experience as a high-ranking police administrator to challenge Sheriff Gates in years.

Bankhead, 57, retired from the Fullerton Police Department in 1988 and was elected to the City Council the same year.

He has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience, his supporters note, including several years as head of the department’s investigation division.

“He is attractive due to his background,” said Nick Novick, a retired deputy district attorney who worked with Bankhead on criminal cases. “Bankhead is not tainted by lawsuits and charges of favoritism.”

But Gates, with 16 years in office and wide recognition as head of a popular anti-drug movement, is considered a particularly formidable incumbent despite the controversies that have embroiled him for more than a decade.

Gates, who is seeking his fifth term, has been accused in lawsuits and the news media of spying on critics and using his office and county facilities to pursue personal business ventures.

The sheriff has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing. Neither he nor his campaign director was available Friday for comment.

Harvey Englander, president of Campaign Management Inc., a political consulting firm in Newport Beach, estimated that a candidate would have to spend $1 million or more to offer Gates a serious challenge.

In the race for county superintendent of schools, a Whittier College professor will provide the first serious challenge in more than a decade for longtime schools chief Robert D. Peterson.

John F. Dean, 63, a Newport Beach resident who has been chairman of Whittier College’s education department for 19 years, officially entered the race Tuesday. Also challenging Peterson is Ron Detrick, an El Toro educator and administrator.

Peterson, 69, who has been hounded by grand jury investigations for nearly all of his 24 years as county superintendent, announced in December that he would run for an unprecedented seventh four-year term.

In the Board of Supervisors’ races, all three incumbents facing reelection have some opposition but again are considered strong front-runners. Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, 2nd District, faces the most contenders. Four candidates have filed papers in bids to unseat Wieder, who is seeking her fourth term.

Westminster Councilwoman and former Mayor Joy L. Neugebauer, a longtime community activist, said she is running against Wieder because “a new broom sweeps clean.”

Former Fountain Valley Councilman John D. Harper Jr., 56, who now lives in Huntington Beach, said he wants to make county government more efficient. Harper, who also served on the Fountain Valley school board, owns and operates Balvenie Technologies , a metals and plastics marketing firm in Long Beach.

Former Cypress Councilwoman Sonia Sonju, 51, who ran unsuccessfully for supervisor in the 2nd District in 1978, is repeating the quest this year, citing her longtime interest in politics. Sonju is an engineer and lives in Sunset Beach.

Marie A. Antos, who lives in Seal Beach, is a first-time office seeker and 45-year-old mother of two. Antos said her platform will stress the need for change, slower growth and preservation of the environment. “There’s always problems, but they never get solved,” Antos said. “You’re just getting more people, more traffic, more garbage.”

Wieder could not be reached for comment.

Board Chairman Don R. Roth, who is seeking his second term, is facing a challenge from Christian L. Basquette, a 41-year-old partner in a courier service that specializes in home deliveries. Basquette, who lives in La Palma, said he decided to run against the incumbent in the 4th District when the board voted itself a pay raise last summer.

In the 5th District, Peer A. Swan, 45, a corporate executive who lives in Irvine, will try to unseat Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who is seeking his fifth term. Swan, treasurer of Pacific Scientific Co., said he is just beginning to pound the pavement and conceded that Riley will surpass him in campaign dollars raised by “20 to 1.”

The gloves have already come off in the race for county recorder. Incumbent Lee A. Branch and challenger Stanley L. Roach, a computer analyst who worked for Branch until he was fired, are longtime foes. Each accuses the other of dishonesty.

Roach, a native of Canada, said he became a U.S. citizen in 1988 so that he could challenge Branch, who he said lacks the formal education necessary to oversee the recording of county court documents. Branch, 53, who has won reelection handily since taking office in 1978, retorts that “a college degree doesn’t mean you can do the job.”

County Auditor-Controller S.E. Lewis, Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron and County Clerk Gary L. Greenville face no opposition.

County Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs, on the other hand, faces a challenge from three workers in his office. Deputy Assessor David J. Holbert, 45, who ran a bitter campaign against his boss four years ago, said he does not intend to run on a platform of poor office morale this time. Holbert said he has mended fences with his boss and is running merely to position himself for a serious bid for the office after Jacobs retires.

Larry L. Bales, 47, an auditor in the assessor’s office, does plan to go on the offensive, complaining of poor office management under Jacobs. Victor J. Fulladosa, 59, a retired Marine who works as a deputy assessor, also said his campaign will focus on bad management and poor morale.

“The public could probably care less,” Fulladosa conceded. “They probably hate government people and could probably care less if they suffer . . . but if morale is better, service is better.”

Jacobs said he is not bothered by the competition or the criticism. “That’s what America is all about,” he said.

Times staff writers Dan Weikel, George Frank and Tony Marcano and researcher Janice Jones contributed to this report.

FILINGS FOR JUNE 5 PRIMARY--COUNTY OFFICES BOARD OF SUPERVISORS 2ND DISTRICT

Harriett M. Wieder (incumbent), Huntington Beach; Joy L. Neugebauer (councilwoman), Westminster; Marie Alexis Antos (no occupation listed), Seal Beach; John D. Harper Jr. (businessman, scientist), Huntington Beach; Sonia Sonju (businesswoman), Sunset Beach. 4TH DISTRICT

Don R. Roth (incumbent), Anaheim; Christian L. Basquette (no occupation listed), La Palma 5TH DISTRICT

Thomas F. Riley (incumbent), Newport Beach; Peer Swan (finance officer), Irvine SHERIFF

Brad Gates (incumbent), San Juan Capistrano; Don Bankhead (retired police captain), Fullerton ASSESSOR

Bradley L. Jacobs (incumbent), Mission Viejo; Victor J. Fulladosa (deputy assessor/auditor), Mission Viejo; David Holbert (no occupation listed), Mission Viejo; Larry L. Bales (auditor), Tustin COURT CLERK

Gary L. Granville (incumbent), Orange AUDITOR-CONTROLLER

Steven E. Lewis (incumbent), Irvine DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Michael Capizzi (appointed district attorney), Fountain Valley; Ed Freeman (asst. dist atty.), Fountain Valley; James George Enright (chief dep. dist. atty.), Orange; Tom Avdeef (dep. dist. atty.), Laguna Niguel. TREASURER TAX COLLECTOR

Robert L. Citron (incumbent), Santa Ana. RECORDER

Lee A. Branch (incumbent), Tustin; Stanley L. Roach (data processing consultant), Huntington Beach. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR

William A. Baker (incumbent), Irvine. COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS

Robert Peterson (incumbent), Santa Ana; John F. Dean (professor), Newport Beach; Ron Detrick (educator), El Toro. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION TRUSTEE AREA 5

Elizabeth Dorn Parker (incumbent), Costa Mesa; Charles S. DeVore (congressional asst.), Irvine TRUSTEE AREA 2 Sheila Meyers (incumbent), Huntington Beach. *Filing deadline extended because incumbent not seeking reelection. Source: county registrar’s office