2 Republican Assembly Candidates Lead Pack in Fund Raising

Pasadena insurance agent Bill Hoge and Chino Mayor Fred Aguiar have taken substantial early fund-raising leads in races for the San Gabriel Valley’s two new Assembly districts.

At the close of the first campaign reporting period, Hoge and Aguiar had far outdistanced all other valley-area non-incumbents running for state office in the June 2 primary. Hoge has raised $73,000 and Aguiar nearly $100,000, according to financial reports they filed with county election officials in March.

Hoge is competing with nine other Republican candidates in the new 44th Assembly District, centered in Pasadena. Aguiar is one of the three Republican contenders in the 61st Assembly District, which runs from Pomona east to Ontario.

Republicans are favored to win both seats, based on party registration.

In the 49th and 57th Assembly districts, where Democrats will be favored to win in November, no candidate has taken a decisive lead in fund-raising for the June 2 primary.

Hoge has emerged as the candidate to beat in the 44th District with his accumulation of cash, including donations from four legislators, and endorsements from Assemblymen Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) and Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), who currently represent most of the area but are seeking reelection in neighboring districts under reapportionment.

Hoge received $5,000 each from the Gun Owners of California, Hi-Torque Publications of Mission Hills and the Family Political Action Committee, a Sacramento-based organization of businessmen concerned about family issues. He also received $3,000 from state Sen. Don Rogers (R-Bakersfield); $2,000 from Assemblymen David Knowles (R-Sacramento), and $1,000 each from Assemblymen William P. Baker (R-Danville) and Jim Brulte (R-Ontario).

One of Hoge’s rivals, former La Canada Flintridge Mayor Barbara Pieper, who has raised more than $33,000, said she expects to raise more than $100,000 and is unwilling to concede the front-runner label to Hoge. All that he has demonstrated so far, she said, is that he is “the incumbents’ choice.”

Another candidate, attorney Stephen Acker, who formerly served on the Pasadena City Council, said candidates such as Hoge, who have never held public office, may need to raise more money than those already known to voters. In addition, the fact that money is being funneled to Hoge from outside the district may bother voters, he said, noting that his donations are coming from people who live, own businesses or work in the district.

Acker reported contributions totaling $40,056, more than half from himself and his law firm. Another candidate, Robert Oltman, a Pasadena businessman, reported $30,875 in contributions, including a loan from himself of $27,000. T. H. Choi, a Pasadena business owner, has put $10,240 into his own campaign.

Three other candidates, Bob Bell, a computer consultant; Lee Prentiss, a police detective and former South Pasadena councilman, and Wilbert L. Smith, a banker and Pasadena school board member, raised less than $3,000 each. Financial reports for two other candidates, Roy Begley of Pasadena and Maurine Petteruto of Temple City, were not available.

In the Republican primary in the new 61st Assembly District, Pomona Mayor Donna Smith has raised $7,793 and Ontario Councilman Gus Skropos has amassed $33,162, but they trail far behind Aguiar, who has collected $98,878. Aguiar, who is employed in real estate development, received much of his money from the building industry.

In the 61st District Democratic primary, Larry Simcoe, a Los Angeles county firefighter, who lives in Chino, reported $16,350 in contributions, including $10,000 from a firefighters union and $5,000 from a state firefighters association. His opponents, Bob Erwin, a county probation officer from Chino, and Curtis Machlan, a businessman from Chino Hills, reported donations under $1,000 each.

In the 60th Assembly District, Diamond Bar Councilwoman Phyllis Papen, who has promised a strong campaign to unseat Assemblyman Paul Horcher (R-Hacienda Heights) in the Republican primary, is off to a slow start in raising money with contributions of $4,164. Horcher, although saddled with a $300,000 debt from his 1990 race, reported that he has more than $105,000 in cash available for his reelection campaign.

In the race to succeed retiring 57th District Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park), her aide, La Puente Councilman Edward Chavez, reported donations of $40,465. That included $10,000 from Tanner’s campaign committee; a $20,000 loan from his brother, Donald, who is a Pomona business executive, and a $5,000 loan from the campaign committee of Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles).

Chavez holds a narrow fund-raising lead over Hilda Solis, a Rio Hondo College trustee from El Monte, who reported $34,022 in contributions. She received donations in small amounts from a long list of contributors and $1,000 each from rock musician Don Henley and political activist Peg Yorkin. The third candidate, Anthony Fellow, a college professor and water board member who also lives in El Monte, reported $13,317 in donations.

The decision by Assemblyman Xavier Becerra (D-Monterey Park) to run for Congress has left an opening in the heavily Democratic 49th Assembly District.

Richard Amador leads the four candidates in the Democratic primary after raising $20,633 in just six days. Diane Martinez reported contributions totaling $14,100, including $6,000 from Polanco and $5,000 from Telacu Industries. Richard Fajardo has raised $8,447. Robert Gomez reported that he has accepted nothing.