11 Announce Intent to Seek Assembly Seat

Eleven candidates declared their intention to run for the Assembly seat being vacated by Thousand Oaks Republican Tom McClintock by filing preliminary candidacy papers before the 5 p.m. Tuesday deadline.

Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi was the most prominent of the unannounced Republican candidates to file his declaration of intent to run in the 37th Assembly District, which encompasses Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Camarillo, Oxnard and Port Hueneme.

Takasugi plans to make a formal announcement today, said John Davies, a campaign consultant. “We are really pleased that there are no other contenders from the west end of the district,” Davies said. “It looks really good for him.”

Another well-known Republican to file was Edwin A. Jones, who was a Ventura County supervisor from 1975 to 1987. Jones lost his bid for reelection after he was charged with lewd conduct and indecent exposure at a Studio City motel. The charges were dropped when he pleaded no contest to lesser charges of disturbing the peace and public drunkenness.

Jones, who runs a governmental affairs consulting business in Westlake Village, said he has remained in an alcohol-abuse program and no longer drinks--which he considered the source of his troubles.

Filing with Jones were two longtime friends from Thousand Oaks--Norman Lueck and Homer Caston. Only one of them will actually remain in the race, they said.

“We are seriously troubled by all of the corruption and the waste in Sacramento,” Jones said.

He said Tuesday’s filing was a spontaneous act by three longtime Republican businessmen who “want to bring common sense and practices to government.”

The three said they will decide who will be the official candidate in the June 2 primary.

Lueck is a retired vice president of Cal Lutheran University. Caston is a retired veterinarian and co-owner of a 95-acre farm that grows Christmas trees and row crops in Camarillo.

Two Democrats also announced their candidacies for the seat after filing their declarations with the county.

Moorpark City Councilman Bernardo M. Perez said he has decided to run after mulling the idea for several weeks. But he said he may pull out to give another Democratic candidate a better chance in the Republican-leaning Assembly district.

Perez said he is holding discussions with Roz McGrath, the other Democrat in the race, to determine if they can avoid a primary battle.

“The issues and the goals are more important than the candidate,” Perez said. “If someone else can carry out the goals as I would, I could see myself swinging my support to them.”

McGrath, a part-time schoolteacher and co-manager of the 300-acre McGrath Family Farm in Camarillo, said she plans to run as a woman and agriculture businesswoman who believes that her interests are underrepresented in Sacramento.

“We need more rural representation,” said McGrath, former chairwoman of the Ventura County Fair Board.

Another Democrat filed his declaration Tuesday but then immediately decided to withdraw. Greg Gose, a Camarillo tax attorney and probate referee, said state law prohibits state-appointed probate referees from giving or receiving more than $200 campaign donations. He said he decided that the race was not worth abandoning his position.

Other Republican candidates who filed declarations include Madge D. Schaefer, a former Ventura County supervisor, and Alan Guggenheim, an international finance consultant in Newbury Park. Both had announced their candidacies earlier.

Two other Republican candidates also surfaced Tuesday.

Dr. Jon Williams, a Camarillo podiatrist, said he plans to mount a three-point campaign. “Health care and education and taxes are the real issues, as I see them,” Williams said.

Ronald DeBlauw, owner of a small trucking firm in Oxnard, said he wants to alter Sacramento to help average citizens. “I’m just tired of the way government is run nowadays,” he said. “The snack tax was pretty much the last straw.”

Although Tuesday was the first in a series of filing deadlines, county elections officials said the period may be extended five days if they determine that no incumbent assemblyman has decided to enter the race. That determination could not be made Tuesday because incumbents could file directly with the secretary of state in Sacramento.