3 Incumbents Leave Little Room for Drama : Assembly: Delays in a federal inquiry may assure Republican Pat Nolan’s reelection. Democrats Mike Roos and Richard Polanco face only token opposition.

As in many elections past, campaigning for the state Assembly districts covering Glendale and northeast Los Angeles is proving uneventful as all three incumbents apparently head comfortably toward victory on Nov. 6.

In the only race with any suspense, the anticipated assault by Democrats in the staunchly Republican 41st District, which includes Glendale and much of Pasadena, fizzled this summer as its main asset--a federal investigation of incumbent Pat Nolan--dragged on without resolution.

Meanwhile, Democrat Richard Polanco has no Republican opposition in the 55th District, stretching from Pasadena to Atwater Village, and powerful Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Mike Roos faces only a token challenge in the heavily Democratic 46th District, which encompasses Los Feliz and Silver Lake.

In spite of an apparent statewide tide of sentiment favoring term limitations, it took the possibility of a criminal indictment to raise what has proved to be an elusive opportunity for a challenger to unseat an incumbent.

Nolan, 40, was one of four legislators whose offices were searched by the FBI in August, 1988, after a Capitol sting operation in which payments were made by a phony company seeking favorable legislation.

Two elected officials have since been convicted on racketeering and corruption charges. The Justice Department is pursuing its case against Nolan, but the grand jury is not expected to conclude its investigation until after the election, sources said.

Democratic nominee Jeanette Mann planned to exploit the cloud over Nolan to reshape the voting habits of the district, which is only 49% Republican but routinely delivers large majorities to Nolan.

Mann, 54, a trustee of Pasadena City College, hoped to draw financial support from the Democratic Party to blast Nolan on ethics and his equivocal stand on the right to abortion, which she favors.

However, after spending about $30,000 in a tough primary victory over USC professor Rod McKenzie, Mann made little further headway in her goal of raising $100,000.

At the close of the Oct. 5 filing period, her campaign reported total contributions of $50,035, with only $9,580 added since July. Nolan’s campaign, meanwhile, has raised $410,291 this year.

Only two weeks before the election, Mann sought to invigorate her campaign by challenging Nolan to return his about $135,000 in unspent funds to the taxpayers or victims of the Lincoln Savings failure. At a news conference Tuesday on the vacant lot where the thrift’s Glendale branch used to stand, Mann castigated Nolan as the author of the 1982 state deregulation bill that opened the door to risky investments by savings and loans.

Citing a report by Common Cause, Mann said Nolan has received $154,000 in campaign contributions from the savings and loan industry. At her side, Mann had Evangeline Ivy, a Glendale resident and lifelong Republican, who also appealed to Nolan to return those contributions.

Nolan’s campaign responded even as the news conference was under way, handing out a statement in which Nolan blasted Mann for “cynical manipulation” of the suffering of those such as Ivy and accusing her of hypocrisy for not naming Democrats who received larger contributions from the thrifts.

“Jeanette Mann has benefited directly from the million-dollar Democrat registration drive funded by Charles Keating,” he said.

In his own campaign, Nolan has focused on sophisticated voter contact in recent weeks. His campaign telephoned 20,000 households--Democrat and Republican alike--and financed mailings of endorsement letters from the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California and the Greater L.A. Metro Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, campaign manager Jeff Flint said.

Callers are raising issues that Nolan considers his strong points, such as anti-crime legislation and education, but not bringing up the FBI investigation, Flint said.

“We don’t hide from it either,” Flint said. “If somebody is interested in it, we make a note of it.”

He said the notes are passed on to Nolan.

“He’ll call them personally and explain his side of the story,” Flint said.

Flint said the voter surveys show continued strong support for Nolan in spite of the threat of indictment.

Apparently drawing a similar conclusion, Mann’s campaign dropped its initial plans to contact large numbers of Republicans. “If the indictment had come down and we had reason to believe 30% to 40% of the Republicans would switch or stay home, we would have loved to go door-to-door,” organizer Fred Register Jr. said.

Without an indictment and the infusion of campaign money that it would have brought, Mann’s camp this summer shifted strategy, joining the party’s Pasadena headquarters’ registration and get-out-the-vote drives on behalf of gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein.

“It’s much easier to get Democrats out to vote by focusing on the ones who are on TV every night,” Register said.

Mann’s campaign entered the final month of the campaign with $12,407 still on hand, compared to Nolan’s $136,914.

“We were geared up for a tough race,” Flint said. “It didn’t materialize.”

Filling out the ballot in the 41st District will be Libertarian Curtis S. Helms and Peace and Freedom Party candidate David Velasquez.

In the 55th Assembly District, which includes Highland Park, Mt. Washington, Glassell Park, Atwater Village and part of Pasadena, Democratic incumbent Polanco is running without Republican opposition for the second time.

Polanco gained more than 75% of the vote two years ago to easily defeat nominees from the Libertarian and Peace and Freedom parties. This year, his only opponent is Libertarian candidate Dale S. Olvera.

Olvera, 66, a retired salesman who lives in Los Angeles, described himself as “sort of a poor man’s candidate.” Olvera said his campaign consists of passing out flyers on street corners and at neighborhood markets.

Olvera said Polanco is part of a legislative system that has served the people badly and should be replaced. He said he is asking voters to oust incumbents with this warning: “Do unto them on Nov. 6 or they are going to do unto you after Nov. 6.”

Polanco, 39, is a former legislative aide who won a special election to the Assembly in 1986 after Richard Alatorre resigned to become a Los Angeles city councilman.

Polanco has authored legislation making possession of child pornography illegal, outlawing gunfire celebrations on holidays and permitting drug testing as a condition of probation.

Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 55th District nearly 3 to 1.

In the rock-solid Democratic territory of the 46th District, stretching from MacArthur Park to Griffith Park, Roos is coasting toward reelection to an eighth term. As Assembly speaker pro tem, Roos is one of the most powerful Democrats in Sacramento.

In January, Roos used the crime-ridden area of MacArthur Park as the backdrop to announce the introduction of legislation to guarantee deportation of illegal aliens who commit serious crimes. The measure was approved by the Legislature but vetoed last month by Gov. George Deukmejian.

The veteran legislator is a longstanding opponent of aerial malathion spraying to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Roos also was a leader in the effort to restrict the sale of assault weapons.

His Republican challenger, Geoffrey Church, 27, a Los Angeles stockbroker, strongly objects to those restrictions.

Church contends that Roos is too weak on issues of crime and punishment, and criticizes his stance opposing the death penalty. Church favors cracking down on gang members and other criminals through stiffer prison sentences and “an aggressive use of the death penalty.”

One district issue of great importance, Church says, is the future of the former Ambassador Hotel site. While many lawmakers and local officials favor turning the massive complex into a school, Church said he wants to see the site developed into a commercial complex such as the one envisioned by developer Donald Trump and his associates.

Church also favors continued aerial malathion spraying, if it is deemed necessary.

As a leading Democrat, Roos has received contributions from numerous political action committees representing organized labor, oil companies, utilities, beer and wine producers, insurance companies, developers, trial lawyers, bankers, cable television companies, race tracks, insurance companies and retailers.

Peace and Freedom Party candidate Dan Robrish and Libertarian Michael Everling will also be on the ballot in the 46th District.

Times staff writers Mike Ward and Jeffrey L. Rabin contributed to this article.

41ST ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Candidate Party Pat Nolan (inc.) Republican Jeanette Mann Democrat Curtis S. Helms Libertarian David Velasquez P&F;

Voter Regis. Registered % Republican 77,480 49.6% Democratic 63,163 40.4 Independent 12,668 8.1 Minor parties* 2,863 1.8 Total 156,174

1988 Results Votes % Pat Nolan (R) (inc.) 69,508 58.31% John Vollbrecht (D) 45,411 38.1 Curtis S. Helms (Lib) 2,731 2.3 Ivan Kasimoff (P&F;) 1,544 1.3

* American Independent, Peace and Freedom and miscellaneous

55TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Candidate Party Richard Polanco (inc.) Democrat Dale S. Olvera Libertarian

Voter Regis. Registered % Democratic 65,145 65.6% Republican 22,793 22.9 Independents 8,472 8.5 Minor parties* 2,893 2.9 Total 99,303

1988 Results Votes % Richard Polanco (D)(inc.) 45,813 75.36% William Wilson (Lib) 5,566 9.16 Evelina Alarcon (P&F;) 9,409 15.48

* American Independent, Peace and Freedom and miscellaneous

46TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

The district: Mid-Wilshire area, downtown Los Angeles, Silver Lake, Griffith Park

Candidate Party Mike Roos (inc.) Democrat Geoffrey Church Republican Michael Everling Libertarian Dan Robrish Peace and Freedom

Voter Regis. Registered % Democrats 37,319 58.5% Republicans 17,791 27.9 Independents 6,895 10.8 Minor parties* 1,755 2.8 Total 63,760

1988 Results Votes % Mike Roos (D)(inc.) 31,509 67.6% Tony Trias (R) 12,261 26.3 William Lake (Lib) 1,687 3.6 Rober Taves (P&F;) 1,131 2.4

* American Independent, Peace and Freedom, Libertarian and miscellaneous