Candidates for Seymour’s Seat Oppose Higher Taxes

Voters looking for a difference in the eight Republican candidates seeking to replace former Anaheim state Sen. John Seymour won’t find it on the issue of taxes.

Despite a multibillion-dollar budget deficit facing the state government, several leading candidates in the race for the 35th Senate District seat said in their first public forum Thursday that higher taxes are not the answer.

“If anything, we are to lower taxes,” said Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach). “Many of us are concerned with whether businesses stay in business.”

Candidate Dana Reed, an Orange County transportation commissioner, said, “Under no circumstances should taxes be raised.”

Another candidate, Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), added, “Definitely, we don’t need to increase any more taxes.”

Thursday night was the first opportunity for the quickly formed field of Republican candidates to publicly state their reasons for running. The forum was sponsored by the Republican Associates, and it included seven of the eight GOP candidates. Assemblyman John R. Lewis (R-Orange) did not attend.

There are three other candidates, including one Democrat, in the March 19 special election, which was ordered after Seymour was appointed last month to the U.S. Senate.

Reed, who is running against three Assembly members, said his major reason for entering the race stemmed from the initiative that voters passed last November limiting the terms of state legislators.

“Our purpose in writing this constitutional amendment was to create a healthy turnover in the Legislature,” Reed said. “The present system creates a class of career politicians instead of the citizen representatives envisioned by the founding fathers.”

On the other hand, Allen said she is proud of her eight years in office. Rather than being a drawback, she said, her performance in the Assembly is proof that she should stay in Sacramento.

“I’m running on my record,” she said. “I would urge you to look at the records of everybody in this race.”

The 35th District is shaped like a horseshoe surrounding Santa Ana. It includes Anaheim, Orange and Costa Mesa as well as parts of Irvine, Westminster, Huntington Beach, Villa Park, Tustin and Fountain Valley.

If no one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the special primary, a runoff will be held May 14 between the top vote-getters from each party.

The other Republican candidates are Charles V. Smith, mayor of Westminster; William A. Dougherty, an attorney and retired Marine from Villa Park; John Parise, a Santa Ana attorney; James B. Ruth, an Anaheim businessman, and Jim Wronski, a military veteran from Orange.

The other candidates are Democrat Frank Hoffman, a trustee on the Orange County Board of Education from Anaheim; Libertarian Party member Eric Sprik, a dry cleaner in Costa Mesa; and Maxine Bell Quirk of the Peace and Freedom Party, a retired businesswoman from Orange.

Thursday was the deadline for all the candidates to mail their first financial disclosure statements, but at closing time the county registrar’s office said it had not received any of the statements. The candidates, however, are only required to have the statements post-marked by Thursday.