CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / LOCAL ASSEMBLY RACES : Umberg Wins in 72nd; Ferguson Coasts in 70th

Former federal prosecutor Tom Umberg was headed for a surprisingly comfortable victory over Jerry Yudelson early today in the Democratic primary in the 72nd Assembly District, while incumbent Republican Assemblyman Gil Ferguson swamped his challenger in the 70th District.

In a third closely watched Assembly race, Huntington Beach Mayor Thomas J. Mays was pulling away from Long Beach orthopedic surgeon Sy Alban and three other candidates in the Republican primary in the vacant 58th District.

“It’s looking good,” Mays said when early Orange County returns showed him holding his own. Earlier Tuesday, Mays admitted he was worried about the outcome, but he uncorked champagne for his campaign staff shortly after the polls closed and said, “I think we’re going to do it.”

Alban, one of Mays’ opponents and the biggest spender in the race, said he, too, was nervous.

“I’m not as confident as I was,” Alban said.

Meanwhile, in central Orange County, Yudelson conceded early to Umbergin their down-and-dirty 72nd District primary slugfest that divided the county Democratic Party.

“Bad numbers,” Yudelson said as he listened to early returns that showed him trailing badly. “It appears that we have lost the race. . . . You have to accept reality.”

In the coastal 70th District, which ranges from Newport Beach south to Dana Point, Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) easily held off a brash challenge from moderate Republican Phyllis Badham, who had predicted she would “definitely” win the race. Early returns showed him winning by nearly a 2-1 margin.

The race in the 58th District, became a free-for-all earlier this year when incumbent Dennis Brown (R-Los Alamitos) announced that he would not seek reelection.

Mays, who gained valuable public attention at news conferences and in TV interviews after the Huntington Beach oil spill, and developer Peter von Elten joined the fray from Orange County. Long Beach City Council members Jeffrey A. Kellogg and Jan Hall also entered the race, as did Alban, who wound up waging an expensive campaign emphasizing his support of abortion rights.

Luanne Pryor, a Long Beach public relations executive, was expected to easily defeat Joel R. Bishop, a systems analyst from Long Beach, for the Democratic nomination in the district.

Republicans hold a 50% to 39% edge over Democrats in voter registration in the 58th District, so that party’s nominee becomes the immediate favorite to win the vacant seat in November.

The Democrats’ best chance to break the Republicans’ hold on Orange County state legislative offices appears to be in the 72nd District, where they hold a 52% to 38% edge in registration. But the nasty tone that the Yudelson-Umberg battle took on in recent weeks will make party unity difficult to achieve.

Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) won the seat two years ago in a close, highly controversial election. Yudelson said he would not support Umberg’s effort to unseat Pringle because of Umberg’s “smear” tactics.

Umberg said he regretted that their campaign had been a bitter one, and called Yudelson’s refusal to help him in November “unfortunate.”

In the 70th District, Badham, a 30-year-old public relations manager for Ricoh Electronics Inc., hoped to unseat Ferguson by emphasizing her positions supporting abortion rights and stronger environmental measures. But the daughter of former Rep. Robert Badham had trouble raising money and her campaign never attracted broad-based support within the party faithful.

Howard Adler, a South County developer and Democratic Party activist, was the only Democrat on the ballot in the 70th District.

In the 32nd state Senate District in central Orange County, Democrats John Duran and Evelyn Colon Becktell were competing for the right to face incumbent Ed Royce (R-Anaheim) in November. Becktell held an early lead.

Times staff writers Bill Billiter and Eric Lichtblau and correspondent Shannon Sands contributed to this story.