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O.C. Makes It a Good Day for Incumbents

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TIMES POLITICAL WRITER

Despite their occasional gripes, Orange County voters appeared to be returning two supervisors and most of the other incumbent county officers, including Sheriff Brad Gates, to their jobs, according to early election results Tuesday.

A third incumbent supervisor facing reelection, Harriett M. Wieder, and Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi were also leading, but both faced multiple challengers and needed more than 50% of the vote to avoid runoffs in November.

Election officials predicted that voter turnout would be close to a historic low in Orange County after their last check at 6 p.m. showed that only 24% of the electorate had voted. They predicted that the final turnout would be around 40%, boosted by a record number of absentee ballots for a June primary.

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“The level of enthusiasm for this primary has been the lowest among volunteers since I’ve been in this position,” County Republican Party Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes said at a party gathering in Costa Mesa shortly after the polls closed. “You always want to see people vote as much as possible, but when we don’t have a heated race on the ticket, the voters don’t turn out.”

Fuentes said a low turnout favors incumbents, and most were leading after early returns, including the two county supervisors on the ballot, Don R. Roth and Thomas F. Riley.

In Irvine, Mayor Larry Agran and a slate of his political allies appeared headed toward a sweep of the City Council election, but an Agran-supported effort to preserve two pedestrian overpasses on Yale Avenue was on its way to defeat. Agran was challenged by his longtime council antagonist, Sally Anne Sheridan.

“I think my victory will mean ratification of the progressive path we have been on, a path that sees local government as an instrument for environmental protection, to bring about transportation solutions and address social issues,’ Agran said.

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), the only state legislator in the county to be challenged in the primary, was leading by almost a 2-1 margin in the early returns. The conservative Ferguson was opposed by moderate Republican Phyllis Badham, who had campaigned on her support for abortion rights and protection for the environment.

In the 58th Assembly District, where five Republicans were vying to succeed retiring incumbent Dennis Brown (R-Los Alamitos), Long Beach orthopedic surgeon Dr. Seymour Alban was leading Huntington Beach Mayor Thomas J. Mays. The district which straddles the county line is predominantly Republican, and the winner of the GOP primary would be a favorite to assume the seat after November.

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In the Democrats’ most contentious race in Orange County, former Assistant U.S. Atty. Tom Umberg had a healthy lead over Jerry Yudelson in their battle for the Assembly seat representing parts of Garden Grove, Anaheim and Santa Ana. The winner will face Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) in November.

For Riley, 77, it was his fifth campaign for the supervisors post representing South Orange County, which has some of the area’s most rapidly developing territory. Riley was appointed to the board in 1974 by Gov. Ronald Reagan. He was first elected in 1976, and was reelected in 1978, 1982 and 1986.

Roth also faced an opponent who did not actively campaign. Wieder, however, drew four opponents, partly because she was considered vulnerable after a losing campaign for Congress in 1988. She also was the target of an unsuccessful recall attempt launched after she voted in favor of a development in environmentally sensitive Laguna Canyon.

Still, political experts consider supervisors’ seats among the most protected among incumbents in the county. The three supervisors recently reported a total of about $300,000 in their campaign accounts contrasted with less than $20,000 for their five opponents.

Together, the incumbents represent a majority on the all-Republican five-member board. That board voted 3 to 2 in 1987--without Roth--to build a jail near Anaheim, prompting area residents to place an initiative on the ballot that would require all future jails to be built in Santa Ana.

Measure A was losing by a wide margin in early returns, even though proponents originally thought it would pass easily. They now admit that the issue lost some of its urgency in the past year and residents no longer feel so threatened by the possibility of a jail being built nearby.

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In statewide races, Orange County was closely watching some of its politicians as they tried to reach higher office.

In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) held a slight lead over Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) in early returns statewide. In Orange County, the early returns had Bergeson with a sizable lead.

State treasurer candidate Angela (Bay) Buchanan of Irvine was trailing the incumbent, Thomas Hayes, in the GOP primary. Buchanan was losing significantly in statewide and Orange County results.

In the first-ever election for state insurance commissioner, Huntington Beach City Councilman Wes Bannister was leading a field of five Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the post.

Bergeson and Seymour, both involved in Orange County politics for more than 10 years, brought anguish to many in the county when they launched their competing bids for their party’s nomination for lieutenant governor. Many Republicans in the county like them both and were distressed at having to choose between them. A Times Poll of Orange County voters last month had Seymour leading Bergeson slightly, but a third of the Republican voters said they were still undecided.

In many parts of the county, the local elections were all but invisible.

All five of the GOP congressmen who represent parts of Orange County sought reelection, but none was challenged by a fellow Republican in the June primary.

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Of the county’s seven Assembly members up for reelection, only one--Ferguson--was challenged in the primary. All of the incumbents are Republican; each will face a Democrat in the general election.

In the state Senate, only one of the eight seats representing a part of Orange County is up for election this year. It belongs to Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim). Royce also has no primary challenger, although he too will face a Democrat in November.

Times staff writer Ted Johnson contributed to this report.

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