Curtis Opts Out of 71st District Assembly Race : Politics: Mission Viejo councilman cites family reasons, but concedes GOP leaders urged him not to oppose incumbent Conroy.

Dousing what promised to be one of the hottest Republican primary races in Orange County, Councilman Robert A. Curtis announced Tuesday that he will not challenge Assemblyman Mickey Conroy for the 71st District seat.

Curtis, who in recent months had given every indication he would run, said he decided to stick to the sidelines primarily because of family considerations, but also at the behest of state Republican Party leaders.

With the GOP pressing hard this year to wrest control of the Legislature from the Democrats, party officials met last week with Curtis in Sacramento and at the state Republican convention over the weekend, urging him to avoid a tumultuous primary battle that would have sapped election money from other candidates.

Political consultants said Curtis’ decision should give Conroy a virtual lock on a race that could have proven one of the more dramatic primary fights in the county. Still, several contested Republican primaries are taking shape, including a battle in the 67th Assembly District among current Assembly members Nolan Frizzelle, Tom Mays and Doris Allen.

Also Tuesday, sources said a retired Orange County judge, Judith Ryan, was planning to challenge Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in a Republican primary next June. Ryan was not available Tuesday, but sources said she will announce her campaign this week and that she would be supported by a group seeking to elect women lawmakers who support abortion rights.

Curtis, an attorney, said he talked in recent days with officials in the governor’s office as well as Assembly Republican Leader Bill Jones (R-Fresno) and Orange County Republican Party Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes. All delivered the same message: For the good of the party, don’t run.

“For the first time since I was born, the Republican Party has a chance of gaining a majority in the Legislature,” said Curtis, 36. “I certainly would not relish the thought of being blamed for inhibiting that opportunity by creating a situation where the party would have to divert precious campaign resources from the general election effort.”

Curtis emphasized, however, that his chief reason for holding out was a reluctance to throw his home life into chaos. If he had won the Assembly spot, Curtis would have spent most of the week in Sacramento away from his wife and three young children, including an 11-month-old infant.

In addition, he is attempting to establish a private law practice after several years as a deputy district attorney in Riverside County.

“I’m convinced it creates a tremendous drain on families,” Curtis said Tuesday. “I would have had to carry the burden of two households and being separated from my wife and children.”

Conroy was understandably pleased, applauding Curtis for providing “a great gift to the party.”

“This really frees up a great deal of resources for the party,” said Conroy. “God love him for doing it.”

Now, Conroy’s only challenger is a little-known Trabuco resident, Charles R. Wall. David Ellis, a Corona del Mar political consultant, said Curtis’ decision should make the Assembly race “a walk in the park” for Conroy.

“Mickey and Bob Curtis are both street fighters,” Ellis said. “I think it would have been a real interesting campaign, and I think it could have gotten real negative. . . . I think Conroy perceived Curtis as a threat, but now he doesn’t have to lie awake nights.”

Ellis said the first-term assemblyman, who won the seat in a special election last year, could have been vulnerable to a Curtis challenge in part because the boundaries of the 71st District shifted dramatically during the redistricting process last year. The new district now includes large swaths of South County where “Mickey is an unknown quantity,” he said.

The turbulence of a possible Curtis-Conroy matchup was foreshadowed last Christmas Eve at a press conference held by the Mission Viejo councilman’s chief rival at City Hall, Councilman William S. Craycraft. Craycraft organized the event to announce plans for a $10-million tax rebate for Mission Viejo citizens. He also invited Conroy, a longtime advocate of tax reform, to attend.

Curtis was livid at the presence of Conroy, whom he called an “outsider who is butting into the affairs of a city not in his district.” Standing chest to chest, the men exchanged a blistering round of insults for several minutes.

But on Tuesday, both men said there was no grudge between them. Conroy said he had a pleasant, 90-minute conversation with Curtis at the party convention last weekend in Burlingame. For his part, Curtis said there were “no personal animosities,” although he admitted that a race against Conroy “would have been a lively one.”

Curtis also hinted at a future run for the Assembly seat, perhaps in four years when Conroy would be forced to retire because of the state’s campaign term limits.

In the meantime, he said, “I’m convinced my family will be better served by me not running, and I’m more than happy to subordinate my personal ambitions to the party’s game plan at this time.”

Times staff writer Dave Lesher contributed to this report.