CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS: CONGRESS : 3 Representatives Fall Victim to Anti-Incumbent Mood

Fed up with political scandal and inertia, Californians sent a hostile message to their delegation in the House of Representatives this week, apparently booting three congressmen from office and returning other incumbents to their seats with far smaller vote margins than in past elections.

Unofficial results from Tuesday’s balloting revealed the largest turnover in the state delegation in more than a decade, with five new representatives--two of them filling seats vacated by retiring congressmen--apparently headed for Washington. Democrats retained their edge over Republicans, but final results were expected to cut their House majority by one seat, to 26-19.

“This was the most severe anti-incumbent wave I’ve seen in all my years in politics,” said Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), who won a seventh term but received nowhere near the percentage of votes he has enjoyed in most past general elections. “It was a protest vote. People were sending a message, saying, ‘Hey, you ought to shape up.’ ”

Two Californians losing Tuesday--Rep. Charles (Chip) Pashayan (R-Fresno) and North Coast Democrat Douglas Bosco of Sebastopol--were among a handful of incumbents nationwide stained by the $5-billion savings and loan debacle.

The third incumbent going down to apparent defeat, Democratic Rep. Jim Bates of San Diego, suffered from a different kind of stigma--a 1989 sanction by the House Ethics Committee over charges that he sexually harassed female staff members.

Another incumbent who had looked vulnerable--Republican Al McCandless of Bermuda Dunes--rebuffed a challenge from television actor Ralph Waite of “The Waltons,” while Rep. George Brown (D-Colton) survived a scare from San Bernardino County Supervisor Robert Hammock.

Bates was trailing GOP challenger Randall (Duke) Cunningham, a highly decorated fighter pilot. He acknowledged that his ethics problem was an “additional burden” that jeopardized his bid for a fifth term, but said the voters’ disgust with the status quo--fueled by this year’s federal budget stalemate and an ongoing corruption probe in Sacramento--was the more crucial factor in his loss.

Pashayan offered a similar analysis of his defeat, noting that “there was a terrific anti-incumbent and restive mood among the voters,” whose message was “we want to change.”

“It was an anti-incumbent year,” said Bates, who was kept on the defensive during the campaign by a challenger whose credentials as a Navy pilot were appealing in a military town.

Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica) agreed, speculating that voters feel “frustration with a process that looks . . . gridlocked and impotent.” And Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) added that the low voter turnout--which could rank among the thinnest in history--made things all the worse for incumbents.

“Somewhere there’s just a lot of people who don’t think government can make a difference,” said Berman, who won a fifth term in his northeast San Fernando Valley District.

Even those California incumbents reelected Tuesday felt the voters’ ire. Of the 41 representatives who ran in 1988 and had an opponent Tuesday, 36 got a lower percentage of the vote this year. On average, that percentage slipped eight points.

A third factor--the unusually high number of votes garnered by third- and fourth-party candidates--underscored the “throw-the-bums-out” mood.

In the Bosco race, Peace and Freedom candidate Darlene Comingore collected nearly 15% of the vote despite spending less than $5,000 on her campaign. In the Bates race, two minor party candidates shared nearly 9% of the vote.

“It’s another symbol of voters looking for a place to go when they’re fed up with the incumbent,” said Lewis.

Some absentee ballots remain to be counted, but Bosco’s apparent loss to Republican developer Frank Riggs of Napa was described as a “real shocker” by Levine. Riggs had sought to taint Bosco with the S&L; scandal, linking him unfavorably with two failed thrifts in his district.

But some observers speculated the congressman was hurt most by the defection of environmentalists angered by his support of timber interests and his failure to firmly oppose offshore oil drilling.

In Visalia, farmer Calvin Dooley credited his victory over Pashayan to the six-term incumbent’s links to former Lincoln Savings & Loan kingpin Charles Keating, who gave the congressman $26,000 in 1986. Dooley, 36, said the connection gave voters in the 17th District “a compelling reason to look at (Pashayan’s) record,” which the challenger described as “weak.”

Filling the two seats vacated by retiring congressmen are a pair of outspoken state legislators. Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) trounced Republican Bill De Witt of South Gate to succeed Democratic Rep. Augustus Hawkins, and GOP state Sen. John Doolittle eked out a victory over Democrat Patricia Malberg to take the seat formerly held by Rep. Norman Shumway (R-Stockton).

Times staff writers Barry Horstman in San Diego and Dwight Morris in Washington contributed to this story. Also contributing was Mark Arax in Fresno.