ELECTIONS CONGRESS, LEGISLATURE : 30 File Papers to Run in Newly Drawn Districts

A diverse assortment of candidates flocked to the county registrar of voters’ office here Monday on the first day to file election papers.

“We’ve had a stream of people filing for office all day,” said Assistant Registrar Rosalyn Lever.

By 5 p.m., 30 people had filed to run in newly drawn congressional and legislative districts, officials said. There are six congressional seats, seven state Assembly seats and two state Senate seats up for election this year in Orange County.

Scores of other would-be candidates inquired about the seats and indicated they may file today or later this week.

A large number of legislative candidates is expected by the Feb. 18 deadline for filing declarations of intent to run, registration officials added.

The next step after that is filing nomination papers, officials said.

Reapportionment--a redrawing of political districts to reflect changes in population--has given Orange County more congressional and legislative seats than ever before. It has also created some unusual internal political fighting.

In the new 67th Assembly District, for instance, three incumbent Assembly members must now battle it out for one seat. Those three are Tom Mays (R-Huntington Beach), Doris Allen (R-Cypress) and Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley). Mays and Frizelle were among those filing papers Monday. Allen is expected to file later this week.

In addition, a Huntington Beach businessman, Ken LeBlanc, filed his declaration of intent to run in the 67th. LeBlanc, however, is running for the Democratic nomination.

Others who filed for state Assembly seats included Buena Park Mayor Rhonda J. McCune, who is running for the Republican nomination in the 68th Assembly District in Central Orange County.

In south Orange County, the race for the 71st Assembly District started out hot. Two prominent candidates--Mission Viejo Councilman Robert A. Curtis, a Republican, and Rancho Santiago Community College District Trustee Charles W. (Pete) Maddox, a Democrat--filed in the 71st for the seat currently held by Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Santa Ana), who also filed papers.

Conroy issued a statement saying he was pleased with his newly redrawn Assembly district. “I could not have gotten a better district to represent,” he said, adding that the new district retains about 70% of the area he ran in and won last September.

In the state Senate races, two candidates on Monday filed to run against incumbent Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange), who also filed his papers in the newly drawn 33rd Senate District. The two challengers to Lewis are Todd Thakar, an Orange attorney who is seeking the Republican nomination, and H. Doyle Guhy, a Yorba Linda accountant and member of the Libertarian Party.

Incumbent state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) filed for election in the newly drawn 35th Senate District. She drew one challenger so far, Eric Sprik, owner of a Costa Mesa dry-cleaning business who filed under the Libertarian banner.

No Orange County incumbent members of Congress filed Monday, but they are expected to do so in the next few days.

The new 46th Congressional District in central Orange County drew three candidates filing for the Democratic nomination. They are Robert J. Banuelos, Nazeer Ahmed and Ricardo Nicol, all of Santa Ana. In addition, Richard Newhouse of Garden Grove filed for the Libertarian nomination in the 46th Congressional District.

The county’s ballot this year will also feature contests for two seats on the County Board of Supervisors and three seats on the County Board of Education. In addition, 18 Superior Court judges and 21 Municipal Court judges face reelection.