ELECTIONS 36TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Braly Target of Competitors’ Jabs at Forum

There’s no incumbent in the race for the new 36th Assembly District seat, but the first candidate forum featured several jabs at the closest thing to one--Hunt Braly, retiring state Sen. Ed Davis’ chief of staff.

Half of the 10 candidates spoke at the forum last Thursday in Santa Clarita, sponsored by the Santa Clarita Young Republicans.

Nine men and one woman are striving to represent a district that was pieced together from others through reapportionment. It includes the Antelope Valley and most of the Santa Clarita Valley, a generally heavily Republican area. Lancaster City Councilman Arne Rodio is the lone Democrat in the race.

The most conservative of the five Republicans at Thursday’s forum was Kurt Boese, a parts buyer for Hughes Aircraft Co. who lives in Canyon Country.

Questioned by the audience about a possible gay rights bill or initiative, Boese likened homosexuality to “necrophilia and bestiality,” saying, “it’s all the same.” He also was the most absolute in opposition to abortion, saying he is against it even in cases of incest and rape, although he is undecided in cases where a mother’s life is at stake.

Candidate John Drew, who teaches political science at College of the Canyons, fell toward the moderate part of the spectrum on most issues discussed. He said he favors abortion rights and is against discrimination on any grounds, but opposes gay rights laws because he fears they will “lead to horrendous things,” such as affirmative action quotas for hiring homosexuals.

Despite a voice weakened by a bout of pneumonia, Drew was the most strident attacker of Braly. He accused him of being part of the ineffective political machine in Sacramento and of being “tainted” by developer contributions to his campaign.

Braly denied both charges, although he acknowledged that he has received some developer contributions.

Campaign finance reports show he has far out-raised the other candidates for the 36th District. He had raised $36,879 between Jan. 1 and March 17, including $1,000 from the Baldwin Co., an Irvine-based developer, and $100 from Newhall Land & Farming Co. President Gary Cusumano. He also got $10,000 from the Friends of Ed Davis and $4,000 from his sister-in-law, Mary Ellen Braly.

Drew pledged Thursday not to take any developer money during the campaign. But he has not yet turned in his campaign finance report, which was due March 22.

A spokeswoman at the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office said delinquent candidates will be sent a letter this week and will be fined $10 for every day they are late.

Only two other candidates in the race reported contributions of more than $1,000:

* Forrest McElroy, superintendent of the Palmdale Unified School District, raised $9,100, including $5,000 from a Corona architect and a $2,500 loan from himself.

* William J. “Pete” Knight, mayor of Palmdale, raised $3,300, but had $11,679 left to spend at the end of the reporting period because of money left over from his mayoral campaign fund.

In campaign literature and at the forum--held at a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant--each candidate tried to project a distinct image.

Braly, married in November to a woman with a 6-year-old daughter, repeatedly described himself as “a family man.”

He also said his insider knowledge of Sacramento would benefit the district.

“I’ve written legislation, I’ve lobbied legislation,” he said.

Where Braly was the insider, Boese was the outsider, saying the Thursday appearance was only the second political speech of his life.

“I am not a politician,” he said. “I am a run-of-the-mill conservative dealing with problems in a straightforward way.”

Knight, who has been on the Palmdale council since 1984, included photographs of himself as a young Air Force test pilot in his campaign brochure. He said his approach to handling growth and making it “work for us” in Palmdale would benefit the Assembly district.

Drew said several times that his doctorate from Cornell University proves he has the skills to understand the state budget. His campaign signs identify him as “Dr. Drew.” But Drew’s stewardship of the Santa Clarita slow-growth initiative, which will appear on the city ballot April 14, met with some hissing Thursday night.

Forrest McElroy portrayed himself as a seasoned fiscal administrator because of his decade as superintendent of the Palmdale Elementary School District. He said not enough tax money makes its way through state bureaucracy to schools, a lesson he applies to many other state programs.

“One quality that I know I have is leadership,” he said.

Three Republicans did not attend Monday’s debate: retired probation officer Keith Davis, aerospace worker Richard Irmer and commercial airline mechanic Sandra F. Tulley. Also not attending were Democrat Rodio and Libertarian candidate Ronald Tisbert, a small-business owner.