Democrats Plan to Regain 72nd

The 72nd Assembly District is shaped something like an upside-down dog. It’s front paw is in Disneyland, a rear leg is in Stanton, its head is in Santa Ana and the tail is in Westminster.

It may look funny, but to Democrats it looks like opportunity. It is an island of Democratic real estate in Republican-rich Orange County.

Two years ago, attorney Christian F. (Rick) Thierbach sought to recapture the Democrats’ territory from the Republican politicians who have held it since 1986. It was the Democrats most closely fought contest in 1988 and that November Thierbach fell just 843 votes short of becoming Orange County’s only Democratic state legislator.

Today, Thierbach is in the Riverside County district attorney’s office where he was promoted just after the 1988 election to chief deputy in charge of felony prosecutions. And from his home in Anaheim he is watching as the race for the 72nd District unfolds once again as the Democrats best chance at an Orange County victory.

“To pat myself on the back, if I were in the race I think I’d have the best chance,” said Thierbach, 40. “But I decided not to put my family through that again.”

This year, there are two Democrats vying for the party’s June 5 nomination so one of them can face incumbent Assemblyman Curt Pringle in November.

It was Pringle who beat Thierbach in a controversial election that was marred by the Republicans’ decision to place uniformed security guards at polling places in Latino neighborhoods of the 72nd District.

In such a close race, the outcome is usually attributed to any number of factors. The hiring of the poll guards was certainly one, Thierbach says. But it didn’t decide the race.

“I’m convinced the guards made people turn away, but I don’t think it cost me the election,” he said. “I lost by 843 votes, and I don’t think 843 people were turned away.”

The dispute over the poll guards sparked a civil lawsuit against Pringle and county Republican leaders that was settled with them paying more than $400,000 to a group of plaintiffs. The county district attorney’s office is also conducting a criminal investigation to determine if voters’ civil rights were violated through intimidation by the guards.

Like other Democrats in Orange County, however, Thierbach is disappointed with the criminal investigation being conducted by the county’s Republican district attorney.

“I’m not second-guessing the Orange County D.A.’s office, but when you have photographs of somebody committing a crime and you have the people responsible for putting it together talking about it on the radio and television, stuff like that is a prosecutor’s dream,” he said.

“Apparently the folks in Orange County don’t share that belief. I think somebody should have been held accountable in a criminal sense. And that bothers me.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Wallace Wade said Thursday that the investigation, which also includes the U.S. attorney’s office and the FBI, is still active. “I don’t know what else to say,” he said. “It’s ongoing.”

Thierbach also has some advice for the two Democrats running in the 72nd today, Tom Umberg and Jerry Yudelson. That is: Run your own campaign and don’t listen to Sacramento.

Too many times, he said, Democratic leaders in Sacramento mailed letters on his behalf that he did not approve and were inconsistent with his campaign theme. Or they quashed ideas that he thought would have worked.

One was to provide a constituent service office for the district because it was without a state assemblyman for several months after incumbent Assemblyman Richard E. Longshore died the day after he won the June 7 primary in 1988.

Thierbach thought he could gain favor and recognition in the district by encouraging residents to call his office with the questions or complaints they would otherwise refer to their assemblyman. But, he said, state Democratic leaders didn’t like the idea. Pringle did, however. And he used it.

“That was very, very effective; it was extremely effective,” Thierbach said. “I think that is the single most important reason he won.”

Today, Thierbach has moved from the courtroom to a high-ranking administrative job in the Riverside district attorney’s office. He reviews hundreds of criminal cases, decides what charges should be filed and assigns them to trial attorneys.

He says he sometimes misses the excitement of being in the courtroom, where he was a prosecutor specializing in death penalty cases including a celebrated freeway shooting in which a gunman killed an off-duty police officer.

He also thinks about returning to politics.

“My goal has been a longstanding goal to represent the community in Washington,” he said. “Congress would be real nice. I’m looking to see what happens with redistricting after the census. If something becomes available, you can expect to see me involved.”