ELECTIONS / 20TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT : Roberti Sets Sights on New Voters in Last Hurrah

A few days ago, a TV commercial touting state Sen. David A. Roberti’s legislative efforts on behalf of women began airing on San Fernando Valley cable stations--the opening gambit in the Hollywood Democrat’s campaign to hold onto his job by selling himself to a new set of voters in the Valley.

“For too long, women working the same jobs as men have been paid less,” a pleasant-faced actor says in the commercial. “Equal treatment, equal pay. David Roberti is in the middle of that fight. Child care. Family leave. David Roberti wrote the laws that helped bring those issues out of the Dark Ages.”

Reapportioned out of his old district earlier this year, Roberti--who as Senate President pro tem is one of the most powerful figures in Sacramento--is running hard for reelection in the 20th Senate District, which covers the central Valley.

The seat was vacated by former Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), who resigned following a federal corruption investigation.

Most political observers believe that Roberti will win in the solidly Democratic district.

But as he battles nine other candidates in the April 7 special election to replace Robbins, Roberti’s advisers are worried that he might be vulnerable for two reasons: He is open to charges of carpetbagging and he is a longtime foe of abortion rights.

“If David Roberti was pro-choice, there wouldn’t be any campaign at all,” said one Roberti strategist.

Although Roberti has a $500,000 campaign war chest and a history of backing causes such as pay equity for women, his TV commercials are intended in part to serve a strategy known among political consultants as “inoculation”--a statement by a candidate designed to forestall an opponent’s attack.

A Roman Catholic, Roberti has long opposed abortion rights on moral grounds.

In 1986, for instance, he made a speech likening Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan as he led a fight to cut off taxpayer funding for family planning clinics.

His position has earned him the enmity of a number of women’s groups.

Earlier this year, for instance, the influential California Abortion Rights Action League urged two other prominent Valley Democrats--state Assemblymen Terry B. Friedman and Richard Katz--to run against Roberti. Both declined.

Roberti fully expects to be hit hard on the issue by at least one of his opponents: Republican Carol Rowen, a private pension consultant from Tarzana who is a longtime abortion-rights activist.

Her campaign manager is Marlene Bane, a prodigious campaign fund-raiser who is married to veteran Democratic Assemblyman Tom Bane of Van Nuys.

Under state law, the April 7 primary is an “open” election in which Democrats can vote for Republican candidates and vice versa.

If no one wins a 50%-plus-one majority, the top vote-getters from each party will face off June 2.

Roberti concedes it is very unlikely that he will score a knockout blow in the primary against such a large field of opponents.

His campaign believes that he will wind up in a runoff against either Rowen or Republican David Honda, president of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley.

Win or lose, the campaign marks Roberti’s last hurrah as a senator. Elected to the Assembly in 1967, he moved up to the state Senate in 1971.

But under term limitations approved by voters two years ago, Roberti must leave the Senate in 1994.

Roberti and his advisers hope to neutralize the abortion issue by stressing his other efforts to benefit women and children, such as his push for funding for after-school programs for “latchkey” children.

Roberti also plans to emphasize his ability to get things done for 20th District constituents through his powerful position as Senate Democratic leader.

“I think I can be effective for the Valley,” he said. “I hope to use my last years in the Senate to be of assistance to the Valley. I can.”

But opponents believe that they can capitalize not only on his abortion stand, but his opposition to the death penalty, his long reign as a Sacramento insider and his appointment to prominent committee assignments of three former state senators--Robbins, Joseph Montoya and Paul Carpenter--all convicted of federal corruption offenses.

“Has he ever apologized for appointing Montoya or Carpenter or Robbins? No. Instead, he probably feels that they were just unlucky for getting caught for engaging in practices that are endemic in Sacramento,” said Dolores White, a Reseda real estate broker running as a Republican.

White and several other opponents tried unsuccessfully to keep Roberti off the ballot by filing a lawsuit contending that he had not lived in the district long enough to legally qualify as a candidate.

The action was filed after Roberti--who for years has lived in the Los Feliz area--rented a small house in Van Nuys last month.

A Los Angeles judge threw out the suit, saying only the Legislature can determine its members’ qualifications.

But opponents continue to argue that Roberti has not lived in the district long enough to properly represent it.

With the primary election only about two weeks away, Roberti has been rushing back and forth between Sacramento and the Valley, trying to juggle Senate business with a hectic schedule of meet-and-greet sessions with local business and civic leaders.

“It’ll mean a few sleepless nights and a little anxiety but I think he’ll win,” said Democratic political consultant Steve Glazer, who is familiar with Valley politics and unconnected to Roberti’s campaign.

“He’ll be able to put forth a very strong, progressive record in a district that is receptive to a broad base of issues that he has represented in the Legislature--not just” abortion and the death penalty, Glazer said.

Also running are Democrats Drew M. Angel of North Hollywood, Ted Dan August of Van Nuys and Bill Dominguez of Van Nuys.

Glenn T. Bailey of Encino is running on the Green Party ticket, John Vernon of Van Nuys is running as a Libertarian and Gary Kast is the Peace and Freedom Party candidate.

Senate District 20

Overview: The seat was previously held for almost 19 years by Democrat Alan Robbins, who resigned in December after confessing to two felony counts of federal racketeering and tax evasion charges. Robbins agreed to accept a five-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty. The special election is for the remainder of his term, which expires in 1994. Special election primary will be held Tuesday, April 7. The runoff is June 2.

Where: The district includes the communities of San Fernando, Sylmar, Pacoima, Mission Hills, Sepulveda, North Hills, Van Nuys, Panorama City and Reseda and portions of Sun Valley, North Hollywood, Canoga Park and Winnetka. To find out if you live in the district, call the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office (213) 721-1100.

Demographics

Anglo Latino Black Asian 42% 56% 5% 7% Party Registration Demo. GOP Other 56% 33% 11%

Candidates:

Democrat

David A. Roberti, state senator

Drew Morris Angel, no occupation given

Ted Dan August, retired business executive

Bill Dominguez, systems analyst

Peace and Freedom

Gary Preston Kast, attorney at law

Libertarian

John Vernon, businessman

Republican

Carol Rowen, pension adviser

David S. Honda, general contractor

Dolores White, businesswoman-economist-educator

Green Party

Glenn Trujillo Bailey, conservation district director