ELECTIONS / ASSEMBLY : Democrat Makes Abortion an Issue in the 51st District

Wondering whether the abortion issue will affect the South Bay’s state legislative races?

Keep an eye on the 51st Assembly District, where Democrat Marilyn J. Landau of Torrance has made abortion rights the centerpiece of her campaign to unseat six-term incumbent Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro).

Stretching from San Pedro to Manhattan Beach, the 51st District is hosting the closest thing to competition in this year’s generally lackluster South Bay state Assembly and Senate contests.

Landau, the best financed challenger in all seven of those races, considers the abortion issue key to winning broad-based support Nov. 6 on Felando’s largely Republican political turf.

“Women in this district want choice, and plenty of men support that position, too,” said Landau, a counselor at Horace Mann Junior High School in Los Angeles. “If I can reach enough voters and let them know why I’m running, I think I can win.”

Felando, a consistent supporter of abortion restrictions, questions whether Landau’s abortion strategy will work. Voters, he argues, are more concerned about other issues.

“If in fact my opponent’s No. 1 issue is abortion, I find that sad,” said Felando. “We’re surrounded by problems like drugs, crime and education.”

Felando, who has been battling a rare form of cancer, told The Times in August that, if reelected, he may step down in 1992. This week, however, he backtracked, saying he will “definitely” be on the 1992 ballot if voters return him to office this fall.

He described his earlier comment as a mistake, saying: “I got my mouth engaged before I got my brain engaged.”

Abortion, to be sure, is not the only issue in this year’s 51st District race, which also includes Libertarian William N. Gaillard of Redondo Beach, an equipment purchaser for a Long Beach engineering firm.

Several points of contention concern the environment.

Landau supports Proposition 128, the sweeping “Big Green” initiative that seeks to remove poisons from California’s food, water and air. Felando opposes the measure, arguing it will hurt California industry and force consumers to pay more for food, gasoline and electricity.

Landau also backs a ban on offshore oil drilling and an initiative on the fall ballot to preserve fish stocks and protect birds and mammals by outlawing gill-net fishing within three miles of shore. Felando opposes both proposals on economic grounds.

The two candidates also disagree on state funding priorities.

Landau says more money must be spent in key social areas, such as public education and health care. Opposed to tax increases on low and middle income-earners, she says she favors changing the state income tax system so rich people would pay at a higher rate.

Felando, elected in 1978 on the coattails of Proposition 13, says he opposes tax increases of any kind. The state can solve its problems by making better use of existing revenues, he says--proposing, among other things, that welfare funding be cut and diverted to prison construction.

“We’re treating these juveniles like little babies,” Felando said. “They are mean, treacherous and dangerous. Let’s build more prisons and let’s stop coddling them.”

Gaillard, meanwhile, is running on a platform calling for the decriminalization of drugs, abolition of compulsory school attendance and an end to gun control and most land use restrictions, among other measures.

But the abortion issue looms over others in the 51st District because it is key to the campaign strategy of Landau, the main challenger. The importance Landau places on the issue is evident in her campaign logo, which reads: “Elect Marilyn Landau. Your pro-choice candidate.”

Landau is gambling that significant numbers of voters in the district are frightened by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision giving states greater latitude to legislate abortion restrictions.

She says that, by tapping that concern, she can overcome the 52% to 37% GOP voter registration edge in the 51st District and Felando’s superior fund raising, which in the first nine months of the year totaled $167,000 compared to Landau’s $18,000.

Said Landau: “If these people will get out and make their votes heard, they will turn this around.”

Landau says she opposes any effort to rein in abortion. She supports public funding for abortions and allowing minors to undergo the procedure without parental consent, saying she fears some teen-agers would risk an illegal abortion, rather than seek their parents’ permission.

Gaillard also says he is against government restrictions on abortion. But unlike Landau, he also opposes public funding of the procedure.

Felando, meanwhile, says he opposes abortion, except when the mother is the victim of rape or incest or could lose her life by carrying the pregnancy to term.

Voting records show he has consistently backed the anti-abortion position by opposing public funding for abortions and the use of fetal tissue for medical research, as well as supporting parental consent for minors seeking abortions.

Asked how far he thinks California should go in restricting abortion, Felando declined to answer directly, saying he would have to study any measure affecting womens’ ability to undergo the procedure.

Asked if he would support an outright ban on abortion if this were allowed by the Supreme Court, he said: “I am not your maker. I am not your judge. I am your Assemblyman.”

Landau calls such assertions inadequate.

“It’s obviously an issue he’s trying to avoid,” she said. “I have major concerns about his position. We have to know that the people we’re sending to Sacramento are going to protect the (abortion) laws that we have now.”

51ST ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Candidate Party Gerald N. Felando (inc.) Republican Marilyn J. Landau Democrat William N. Gaillard Libertarian Voter Registration Registered Percent Republican 89,776 51.8% Democrat 63,795 36.8 Independent 16,633 9.6 Minor Parties* 3,195 1.8 Total 173,399 1988 Results Votes Percent Gerald N. Felando (R) (inc.) 87,394 62.7% Mark Wirth (D) 47,780 34.3 Rodney Dobson (L) 4,217 3.0

* American Independent, Peace and Freedom, Libertarian and miscellaneous