In ‘Anti-Incumbent Year,’ All 7 South Bay Legislators Win Easily

Despite apparent statewide anger at legislators generally, South Bay voters on Tuesday proved kind to incumbents individually, rewarding all seven Assembly members and state senators with overwhelming wins.

State Sens. Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena) and Diane E. Watson (D-Los Angeles) routed their opponents, with Dills collecting 69% of the vote and Watson winning 85%.

Meanwhile, the vote shares amassed by Assembly members Dave Elder (D-San Pedro), Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro), Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson), Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) and Curtis R. Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood) ranged from 58% to 85%.

The victories came as the statewide electorate, described in pre-election polls as being upset with incumbents, approved Proposition 140. The measure restricts state senators to two four-year terms, or eight years in office, and Assembly members to three two-year terms, or six years in office.

Approved with 51.8% of the vote statewide--it drew 53% in Los Angeles County--the measure applies to those elected on or after Tuesday’s balloting. South Bay incumbents said the disparity between the Proposition 140 results and local election returns proves that voters do not hold a grudge against the lawmakers they know.

“The attitude was, ‘Throw the rascals out, but don’t throw my legislator out,’ ” Dills said on election night. “This puts the lie to the so-called voter dissatisfaction.”

But for the losers, the outcome simply underscored the advantages of incumbency--and the problems facing poorly funded, little-known challengers.

“To reach every person you need to reach is such a monumental task when you don’t have name recognition,” said Republican Rodney D. Guarneri, who lost to Elder by a ratio of more than 2 to 1. “People going in to vote would recognize one name and not recognize the other. In that situation you tend to go with the name you’re familiar with.”

The most competitive of the South Bay’s state legislative races figured to be the 51st Assembly District contest between Felando, a six-term incumbent, and Democrat Marilyn J. Landau of Torrance. Though the contest was the South Bay’s closest, it was not much of a horse race.

Landau, a junior high school counselor, made abortion rights the mainstay of her campaign. She said voter concern about Felando’s consistent backing for abortion curbs would help her win significant numbers of GOP votes in the largely Republican district, which stretches from Manhattan Beach to San Pedro.

But the unofficial tally left Felando with 58% of the vote, Landau with 38%--only slightly above Democrat registration in the district--and Libertarian William N. Gaillard of Redondo Beach, the third candidate, with 4%.

In a subdued election night gathering in Lomita, Landau attributed her loss to a simple lack of campaign resources. Though she raised more money--about $45,000--than any other South Bay state legislative challenger, Felando outspent her by a ratio of more than 3 to 1.

Felando said his victory showed that abortion is not an overriding issue in his district. Voters, he said, care more about his strong anti-tax and anti-crime positions than about his stand on abortion.

“She tried to make an issue where it didn’t exist,” Felando said at a victory party at Del Conte’s restaurant in Torrance. “This is not a single-issue district.”

In the 57th Assembly District, which includes Wilmington, part of Harbor City and most of San Pedro, incumbent Elder won a seventh two-year term by beating GOP challenger Guarneri, 68% to 32%.

Guarneri, a welfare case worker from Long Beach, surprised some of his supporters by disclosing at an Oct. 25 candidates’ forum that he had used and sold drugs as a youth.

But the poorly funded and little-known challenger’s chances were already slim against Elder, who enjoyed a huge fund-raising lead, a heavily Democratic district and broad name recognition.

Given those circumstances, though, Guarneri pronounced himself pleased.

“We ran a campaign with just $2,500 to $2,700, and we still got about a third of the vote,” Guarneri said. “That’s not too shabby.”

Asked how his remarks about selling and using drugs may have affected the race, Guarneri said: “In some ways it may have been good. In some ways it may have been bad. I don’t regret telling the truth.”

Floyd also rolled up impressive vote totals in the 53rd Assembly District, which covers north Redondo Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Carson, Gardena, Harbor Gateway and part of Harbor City.

He scored an easy 61% to 39% win over GOP challenger Kevin B. Davis of Lawndale, who said his only reason for running was that no other Republican would dare to oppose Floyd.

The results were even more lopsided in the South Bay’s two northern Assembly districts, where Moore, who has served six terms, and Tucker, a freshman legislator, exceeded 70% and 80% of the vote, respectively.

Moore prevailed over Republican Eric Givens, 74% to 21%, in the 49th Assembly District, which includes Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey, Westchester, Culver City, Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills and the Crenshaw area.

Candidates Alice Mae Miles of the Peace and Freedom Party and Libertarian Carin Rogers split the remaining 5% of the vote.

Givens, who two years ago lost to Moore, 23% to 77%, had said before the election that it would take an indictment of Moore to give him a shot at victory in the solidly Democratic district.

But even that possibility faded Oct. 23, when authorities announced that Moore--scrutinized for more than two years as part of a federal investigation into political corruption in Sacramento--was cleared of wrongdoing.

Tucker, who did not draw a GOP opponent, beat Peace and Freedom Party candidate Michael L. Long, 85% to 15%, in the 50th Assembly District, which includes Inglewood, El Segundo, and Lennox.

Tucker said his lack of opposition proves that voters are not as upset with lawmakers as their support for Proposition 140 would indicate.

“I work hard, and I guess people decided that since I’m out there everywhere (in the district) that I’m doing the best I can,” he said Wednesday. “It’s nothing new that most of the electorate likes their local representative and can’t stand the rest of the scoundrels.”

Of the South Bay’s two state Senate races, the larger victory margin came in the 28th Senate District, which includes Inglewood, Hawthorne, and Lawndale. Watson, a three-term incumbent, beat lone challenger Ivan William Kasimoff of the Peace and Freedom Party, 85% to 15%.

In the 30th Senate District, which includes Carson, Gardena, Harbor City and Wilmington, Dills won a seventh four-year term by defeating little-known Republican Timothy Poling, 69% to 31%.

Dills said his win had less to do with the advantages of incumbency than with the gratitude of voters in his heavily minority district.

“The people, having checked my career, know that I’m not up here to feather my own nest,” he said. “My job is to represent them, and do for them what they can’t do for themselves. I truly represent their ideas and wishes.”