Democrat Drive to Gain Latino Voters Stalled

A massive voter registration drive in Orange County’s Latino community that was to be launched last December with money from the settlement of a civil rights lawsuit against a local assemblyman and Republican Party officials has never materialized.

Now, with less than 10 weeks left before the registration deadline for the Nov. 6 election, some Democratic and Latino leaders fear they are missing an opportunity to enlist as many as 30,000 new voters.

“Believe me, I am very concerned; we are already into August,” said Rueben Martinez, a Latino Democratic activist in Santa Ana. “We’ve got to get this thing moving.”

Leaders of the county Republican Party and Garden Grove Assemblyman Curt Pringle’s 1988 campaign settled a lawsuit last year for about $400,000 that stemmed from their decision to place uniformed guards at polling places in Latino neighborhoods on Election Day.

The five Latino plaintiffs, who charged that they were intimidated by the guards, pledged $150,000 from the settlement to the registration of Latino voters. But almost all of that money remains untouched in various bank accounts, according to county records and attorneys involved in the case.

San Francisco attorney Joseph Remcho, who represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he has distributed about $60,000 for the registration effort so far, but he has no record of what happened to it. Remcho also said he still has $90,000 and he admitted that he has fallen behind in his assignment to see that it is used for the upcoming election.

“Frankly, it’s really up to me to make this happen,” he said. “I’ve broken down on that.”

Since the registration effort was not part of the court settlement, it is not legally required. However, it was the plaintiffs’ request that the money be spent for bipartisan registration in the Latino community.

The state Democratic Party, which was considering a registration effort last spring in the same central Orange County area, estimated it would cost about $5 for each registered voter. That would mean a potential of about 30,000 voters who might be reached with the court settlement funds.

The state party set aside its proposed $25,000 registration drive last spring, citing the availability of the court settlement money, among other reasons.

Most of the $60,000 that has been distributed for the registration so far has gone to the Hispanic Political Council, an organization created in 1988 by a Santa Ana construction workers union.

Remcho has given the Hispanic council about $48,000, but finance statements filed with the county Wednesday show at least $42,000 of it remains unspent.

The finance statement shows one payment for $1,200 that was identified for voter registration. Another $3,000 was spent to rent a hall and hire a band for a fund-raising event. The council also granted a loan of about $4,400, but the statement does not identify the recipient, as is required, said Suzanne Slupsky of the county registrar of voters office.

George P. Valencia, treasurer of the Hispanic council, did not return repeated telephone calls made to the council office during the past week. Wednesday, Valencia was said to be out of town on vacation.

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Rudy R. Rios, is also a former treasurer with the Hispanic council. But he said recently that he is no longer associated with the group and has not monitored the registration effort.

“I can only go by scuttlebutt” about what happened to the money, Rios said. “I need to talk to the doggone lawyers. Here comes Nov. 6 and I don’t see a lot of things going on.”

Other members of the Hispanic council and the Laborers International Union of North America Local 652 also did not return telephone calls. Two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit--Helen and Tommy Canales--declined to comment.

Another plaintiff, Jose Vargas, said he was also unaware of any progress in the registration effort. Vargas, a Santa Ana police officer, added that he did not know the other plaintiffs before the lawsuit but “they seemed to know each other from the past and they all seemed to have a connection with this Hispanic Political Council.”

Tommy Canales is a former member of the laborers union and Rios is an agent for Local 652.

Vargas said he agreed with their suggestion to give some of the registration money to the Hispanic council, but he also recommended that some be given to other organizations.

As a result, the Southwest Voter Registration Project, a nationally known organization that targets Latino voters, received $4,000. And $7,800 was given to a group formed by Democratic activist Martinez and Santa Ana City Councilman Miguel Pulido.

Pulido said he dropped his role in the registration drive when he became a candidate for reelection to the City Council. Martinez said he has been frustrated with trying to launch a registration drive with so little money.

Nonetheless, Martinez said, he rented an office recently and hired a worker in hopes of showing progress so he could bid for some of the money still held by the attorneys.

“I think we’re the only ones who have anything going and they’re the ones with all of the money,” Martinez said, referring to the Hispanic council. “They have almost $50,000 and we’re scrounging. I am doing as much as I can with very little.”

Richard Martinez, an officer with the Southwest Voter Registration Project, said his group spent the $4,000 it received in December on behalf of Latino candidates throughout Southern California, although none were in Orange County.

Most of the registration effort is expected to be aimed at Pringle’s 72nd Assembly District seat. Pringle’s race against Democrat Tom Umberg in November is one of the most closely watched in the state. California Democratic leaders consider it one of their best chances this year of unseating an incumbent Republican.

Pringle holds the only Assembly seat in Orange County that includes a majority of Democratic voters. He narrowly won his first race in 1988 over Democrat Christian F. (Rick) Theirbach.

The so-called poll guard case followed that November election. Pringle’s campaign and county Republican leaders said they hired the guards after hearing rumors that illegal voters would be bused in by Theirbach’s supporters. Latino community leaders, however, charged that the guards were intended to deter voters.

County and federal officials are still conducting a criminal investigation of the incident.

Since the 1988 race was so close, political experts believed a massive voter registration effort in the Latino community--even if it is bipartisan--could significantly shift the political landscape for the Democrats. Even Pringle was aware of the potential effect.

“There is no question if you commit that amount of resources to registration it would have a tremendous impact,” Pringle said. “(But) I questioned all along whether any of the money would go into the district.”

Instead of the number of Democrats growing in Pringle’s district, however, the recent political trend has favored Republicans.

In the last month, county records show Democratic registration has fallen by more than 100 voters while the number of Republicans has increased by almost 400. The Republican increase reflects a GOP registration effort in the district, Pringle said.

Since Pringle’s last election, Democrats have also lost more than 10,000 voters while Republicans have lost about 5,000. Democrats still hold a lead in registration of about 52% to 39%.

The district includes parts of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim and Westminster.

County Democrats have been thirsting for another shot at Pringle ever since their narrow defeat in 1988. It still promises to be a closely fought battle, but party leaders are frustrated that the registration effort that was expected is in jeopardy.

“It’s just tremendous potential,” said Michael Balmages, chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party.

“If it’s going to get started for the current election, it’s getting late,” he added. “It would be a shame to waste that potential.”