John Lewis and OCTC Chief Reed Join Race for 35th State Senate Seat

Two more candidates--Assemblyman John Lewis (R-Orange) and Orange County Transportation Commission Chairman Dana W. Reed--added their names Tuesday to the growing list of candidates for the 35th Senate District seat being vacated by newly appointed U.S. Sen. John Seymour.

“Over the past several days, many friends, neighbors and supporters have called to urge me to run for Senate,” Lewis said in a press release. “I was flattered . . . and after discussing the matter with my family have decided to become a candidate.”

Reed confirmed Tuesday night that he will announce his candidacy at a press conference today. At that time, county Supervisors Don R. Roth and Roger R. Stanton will declare that they are endorsing him as a candidate.

“Yes, I am running for the seat,” Reed said.

Last week, Reed had said he would seek the post only if he did not have to compete with either Stanton or Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez. But Vasquez, who many political observers thought would have been a strong candidate for the job, has since announced that he has decided not to run because of family considerations.

“The important thing is that we have a strong voice in Sacramento,” Reed said. “I clearly will be running on the basis of what I could do for Orange County . . . and on my record as chairman of the Transportation Commission.”

Reed and Lewis join two other candidates, both state Assembly members.

Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley), who, like Lewis, represent portions of Seymour’s state Senate district, declared their candidacies last week.

Lewis, a 10-year Assembly member who has carried little legislation of his own, is one of the Republican Party’s leading political strategists in Orange County. He generally runs on an anti-tax, tough-on-crime platform, and, like Allen and Frizzelle, opposes a woman’s right to an abortion.

Seymour opposed abortion rights until 1989, when he changed his position and said that he would henceforth support a woman’s right to choose. The switch was an important reason why Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Seymour to the Senate.

Lewis easily won reelection to the Assembly in November. Two years ago, he was indicted for forging President Reagan’s name on political mailers in a 1986 race, but the charges were dismissed when a state appellate court ruled that criminal statutes do not address forgery for political purposes.

Reed calls himself a “Reagan pro-choice Republican,” and a “tried and true conservative.”

He helped author and spearhead support for Measure M, the half-cent sales tax for transportation approved by Orange County voters in November.

He was once treasurer of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., and said he expects that some of his support will come from such groups.

But in Sacramento, Reed said, he would not want to be known as “anti-government.” He said that government needs to provide leadership and planning on issues of transportation, education and environmental protection.

Reed is 46, and his wife, Christine, is executive director of the Orange County branch of the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California.