Bryant Recalled; Pasadena Pay Raise Fails : Elections: Flores and O’Brien in runoff to succeed Schabarum. Horcher wins close race for Assembly nomination.

San Gabriel Valley voters on Tuesday recalled a Pomona councilman, voted down a pay raise for Pasadena directors and gave key Assembly election victories to Paul V. Horcher, a Diamond Bar councilman, and Xavier Becerra, a state deputy attorney general.

Pomona Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant was recalled from office 8,317 to 4,065.

Mayor Donna Smith, who has been Bryant’s longtime opponent, hailed his removal.

“I had a lot of faith in the voters,” Smith said. “I believed they wanted good government in Pomona. I think we’ll see the beginning of the healing process.”

The recall campaign began more than a year ago after Bryant voted with other council members to fire A. J. Wilson as city administrator. The effort picked up steam a few months later when Bryant joined with other council members to dismiss Richard Tefank as police chief.

Recall supporters accused Bryant of using his office to browbeat city employees and to make scathing personal attacks. Bryant, who could not be reached for comment after the election, has defended his strong attacks on others as truthful and accused his opponents of waging a hate campaign.

A special election to replace Bryant will be scheduled within the next several months.

In the county supervisor’s race Tuesday, Sarah Flores, a former aide to Supervisor Pete Schabarum, and Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory O’Brien led a field of 10 candidates to qualify for a runoff. However, a federal court ruling in a redistricting suit earlier this week may force a new election. As presently drawn, the 1st Supervisorial District takes in most of the San Gabriel Valley from Arcadia eastward.

At the eastern edge of the San Gabriel Valley, Pomona Councilman Mark A. T. Nymeyer lost a bid for the Republican nomination in the 65th Assembly District to Jim Brulte, former aide to Assemblyman Charles Bader (R-Pomona).

The closest race was for the Republican nomination in the 52nd Assembly District where Horcher, a 38-year-old attorney, edged Wil Baca, an environmental activist from Hacienda Heights, by 64 votes.

Horcher benefited from a last-minute endorsement by state Sen. Frank Hill (R-Whittier), who gave up the Assembly seat after winning election to the state Senate earlier this year.

Horcher and Baca, both running as moderate conservatives, finished ahead of Kenneth Manning, a member of the Hacienda La Puente school board, and Tony Russo, a political aide, who each claimed to be the most conservative candidate in the field.

Horcher and Baca were the only candidates who labeled themselves as pro-choice on abortion, although opponents criticized Horcher for appearing to straddle the issue by also opposing public funding of abortions and stressing his personal convictions against abortion.

Baca said the results show that the 52nd District, which stretches from La Mirada to West Covina, is “not nearly as conservative as people would like to believe. This isn’t Radical Right or Reagan Country.”

Another losing candidate, Manning, said: “The conservative movement is losing ground. This district is becoming more moderate and liberal.”

But, Manning said, he thinks the election turned on “all the hit pieces and junk at the very end.” Manning said he was the victim of a phone-bank campaign in which callers spread misinformation.

Harvey Englander, who managed Horcher’s campaign, said Horcher won with a strong appeal to mainstream Republicans, women and Asians.

Horcher received 4,456 votes to lead Baca, who had 4,392. Manning received 4,290 votes and Russo 3,466. Trailing the leaders were Wayne Grisham, a former congressman and assemblyman, with 3,424 votes, and Phil Mautino, a Whittier attorney, with 3,353.

In November, Horcher will face Democrat Gary Neely, a Diamond Bar marketing consultant, in the runoff in the predominately Republican district.

Becerra’s victory in the Democratic primary in the 59th Assembly District, which includes Monterey Park, Alhambra and Montebello, surprised political observers who had thought the contest was between Diane Martinez, a Garvey school board member and daughter of Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park), and Marta Maestas, who had the backing of state Sen. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier), for whom she had worked as district representative.

But Becerra, who had the support of his former boss, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), won 8,448 votes, compared to 6,786 for Maestas and 6,249 for Martinez.

Calderon, who gave up the Assembly seat after winning election to the Senate earlier this year, said Becerra won because Maestas and Martinez split the vote and because he ran an aggressive anti-crime campaign and stressed ethics in government. He noted that Becerra was perceived as an outsider running against candidates with strong political backing.

“I think the electorate went for the outsider candidate because they are tired of seeing business as usual,” he said. “They want a change.”

Because of a strong Democratic advantage in registration, Becerra, 32, of Monterey Park, will be an overwhelming favorite to win the seat in November against Republican primary winner Leland Lieberg, an Alhambra businessman, and Libertarian candidate Steven Pencall.

In the 65th Assembly District, the endorsement of Bader, who is giving up his Assembly seat to run against state Sen. Ruben Ayala (D-Chino), paid off for Brulte, his former chief of staff.

Brulte, 34, of Ontario, outpolled Nymeyer nearly 3 to 1, winning 21,121 votes to Nymeyer’s 7,228.

Brulte, who will face Democrat Robert Erwin, a Chino businessman, in November, said he was “very surprised” that Nymeyer failed to carry his own city. The margin was as wide in Pomona as it was in the remainder of the district, which stretches eastward through Ontario and north to the High Desert.

Pomona voters also decided to revamp city government by enlarging the City Council, and by electing members by district instead of citywide. In place of the current system of four council members and a mayor, voters will elect six council members by district and a mayor citywide, starting with the municipal elections next year.

In Pasadena, a measure to give members of the Board of Directors their first pay increase in 22 years was soundly defeated. “I thought it was the right time for this kind of thing to go forward,” said Mayor Jess Hughston. “I’m disappointed at my misreading of the feelings of the people.”

Hughston said the measure, which would have increased board members’ maximum monthly pay from $250 to $935, with additional compensation for participation in community development commission meetings, suffered from lack of salesmanship. “No effort whatsoever was made to push it,” he said.

Ted Brown, an opponent of the measure and the Libertarian Party’s candidate for state insurance commissioner, said the vote “means that the people of Pasadena are fiscally responsible.”

Another Pasadena measure, making minor modifications in the city’s growth management ordinance, was approved.

Times staff writers Tina Griego and Edmund Newton contributed to this story.