ELECTIONS 20TH SENATE DISTRICT : Republican Alliances Give Big Edge to Robbins

One morning earlier this month, Republican state Senate candidate David Podegracz opened his newspaper and saw a front-page story that made him chuckle with delight.

The story was about his opponent, Democratic Sen. Alan Robbins of Tarzana, and it was headlined “Sen. Robbins Investigated in Alleged Extortion Case.” The article said a federal grand jury was examining allegations that Robbins and state Coastal Commissioner Mark Nathanson tried to extort $250,000 from a San Diego hotel developer.

Robbins and Nathanson denied the charges. But to Podegracz, a 36-year-old industrial tool salesman from Van Nuys making his first run for public office, the article was a challenger’s dream come true.

“When my wife and I read the article, we were prepared for an onslaught of phone calls and requests for interviews and people giving us attention,” he said.

The expected deluge, however, didn’t materialize. Instead, Podegracz, whose telephone number is listed, got exactly three phone calls from concerned voters.

If that reaction is any indication, Robbins--who first won election in a startling 1973 upset--is likely to again coast to victory Nov. 6 in the heavily Democratic 20th Senate District.

With his zest for campaigning, moderate-to-conservative political views and imposing campaign war chest, Robbins, 47, is considered all but unbeatable in the district, which includes central and eastern portions of the San Fernando Valley.

His party affiliation notwithstanding, Robbins traditionally has drawn strong support from local Republicans. He has been backed financially by wealthy car dealer Herbert Boeckmann, a leading bankroller of GOP candidates in the Valley. He also enjoys political support from Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, a conservative Republican.

“Alan has done a great job of nailing down Republican support in the Valley. If you’re a Republican candidate and you go out looking for support, you’re just not going to get any help,” said Democratic political consultant Marc Litchman.

So cozy has Robbins become with Republicans that the relationship has sometimes angered Democrats. In 1986, party loyalists erased Robbins from a Democratic slate mailer after he endorsed the Republican mayor of Simi Valley, Elton Gallegly, for Congress.

Robbins also has a knack for positioning himself well on high-profile Valley issues. In the late 1970s, for instance, he allied himself with Valley residents struggling to halt mandatory school busing for purposes of racial integration. He also has championed efforts to require that a portion of a proposed Metro Rail extension in a Valley residential area be built underground.

His prominence in local issues, fund-raising prowess and carefully cultivated alliances with Republicans have imbued Robbins--a wealthy lawyer and real estate broker with a wheeler-dealer reputation--with remarkable political resilience, allowing him to weather a number of publicity disasters.

In 1982, he beat back a relatively strong GOP challenge despite his highly publicized trial on charges of having sex with teen-age girls. Robbins, who was acquitted, won with 52% of the vote.

The victory later prompted one discouraged Republican to remark, “If we couldn’t get rid of him with the problems he had then, we’ll never get rid of him.”

Last December, Robbins took a public relations drubbing when his name surfaced in the corruption trial of former Sen. Joseph Montoya (D-Whittier). Montoya was later convicted of extortion, racketeering and money laundering.

During the trial, an FBI informant testified that Robbins advised him to offer a $3,000 payoff to Montoya in exchange for the Whittier lawmaker’s support of a bill that helped set up a phony shrimp-processing company. The measure was actually part of an elaborate FBI sting.

According to a secret FBI tape of a June 8, 1988, conversation, Robbins told the informant he didn’t want a contribution for himself, saying, “I don’t need to be taken care of on every bill that comes through.”

Robbins urged the informant, John Shahabian, to “make some arrangements with Joe.” Asked what that would entail, Robbins said, “I mean what it’ll take with Joe is, uh, a little envelope,” according to the tape.

Moments later, Robbins said: “I would say three” thousand dollars “would be sufficient. Twenty-five hundred would probably” be “OK. . . . But if you wanna, y’know, make certain that he’s absolutely committed, that’s where Joe’s at these days.”

Robbins at the time refused to comment on the payoff allegation, saying his lawyers advised him it was inappropriate while the trial was under way. But he said the tape showed that he rejected money from Shahabian, a Senate staffer who aided the FBI after being ensnared in the sting.

Political observers said the tape and trial testimony may have tarnished Robbins’ reputation, but not nearly enough to encourage a serious reelection challenge. And his opponent, Podegracz, is unlikely to mount one this year.

The father of seven, Podegracz has not attended any candidate forums or done any door-to-door campaigning. He has neither raised nor spent any money on his campaign, except for $498 for a candidate filing fee.

Podegracz “is more likely to win the lottery, have a date with Marla Maples and get a stock tip from Michael Milken than he is to win this election,” said GOP political consultant Paul Clarke.

Podegracz said he got into the race only after a more prominent local Republican, state Board of Education President Joseph Carrabino of Encino, declined.

“It embarrassed me as a Republican that we weren’t going to be represented in the general election unless someone put papers in, so I decided to do so,” he said.

Although he has made little effort to capitalize politically on the reported grand jury investigation of Robbins, Podegracz said he is amazed Robbins has not faced more voter outrage.

“People have been inured to his name being in the news. He’s been investigated for so long that it’s like a permanent state for him. Just like water is liquid, Alan Robbins is being investigated,” said Podegracz.

But for Robbins, an indefatigable campaigner, a weak opponent is no excuse to sit on his thumbs during election season.

During a recent candidates forum in Van Nuys, Robbins, sporting a red rose in his lapel, bounded to the podium and resorted to a campaign gimmick he has used for years: handing out pens marked “Alan Robbins, Senator for the Valley.”

“First of all, is there anyone who didn’t get one of my pens?” asked Robbins, tossing a half-dozen to members of the audience who laughed and applauded.

Asked later by a reporter to assess the threat posed by his opponent, the lawmaker said:

“How can I put this delicately? My friends tell me I will once again be elected on the 6th of November. . . . It’s been a quiet and pleasant campaign.”