ELECTIONS : Slow-Growth Candidates Sweep Council Race : Politics: The four-member majority might act soon to tighten restrictions on construction of new single-family homes.

On the day after Malibu’s first election since it achieved cityhood, three candidates who pitched themselves as the true believers among slow-growth advocates had plenty to cheer.

“We’re finally going to have a city government that is responsive to this community,” said Councilwoman Carolyn Van Horn, who, with challengers Jeff Kramer and Joan House trounced 17 other candidates Tuesday--including two incumbents--to win four-year terms on the City Council.

The trio, which had the backing of the Malibu Grassroots Movement, a political action committee, as well as Councilman Walt Keller, each garnered one-third more votes than fourth-place finisher Jeff Jennings, and about twice as many votes as Paul Grisanti and incumbent Mike Caggiano.

The other incumbent, Missy Zeitsoff, sank to 9th place among the 20 candidates, with roughly five times fewer votes than Van Horn, the top vote-getter.

The outcome means that Malibu’s often contentious City Council will now have a four-member majority that is almost certain to take a tougher stand on development issues in a community where a vocal minority complains that current regulations are already too restrictive.

“I think you’re now going to see litigation out the ears,” said one Malibu attorney, who asked not to be identified.

Van Horn hinted that the new City Council might act as early as next Tuesday to tighten restrictions on construction of new single-family homes through one or more temporary ordinances. Malibu has had a total ban on the development of new subdivisions, multifamily homes and commercial property since becoming incorporated last year.

The election was widely viewed as a referendum on development, because during the next couple of years the five-member City Council will play a big role in creating a General Plan to serve as a blueprint for the future growth of the community.

The results are also almost certain to lead to Keller or Van Horn becoming the new mayor, perhaps as early as next Tuesday, replacing Larry Wan, whose two council allies were defeated.

Wan, who became mayor last September after the council majority voted to oust Keller from the post, said several weeks ago that he planned to call for the selection of a new mayor after the election.

“I would say the Wan machine has run out of gas,” said Van Horn, as she and the other winners celebrated along with jubilant supporters at a Malibu restaurant after the votes were counted.

Wan and Keller did not face reelection. Their terms expire in 1994.

The Malibu Grassroots Movement, or MGM, whose chief financial backers included several entertainment industry executives who live in Malibu, had branded the two defeated incumbents and several other candidates as being part of the “Wan political machine.”

Meanwhile, opponents of Van Horn, Kramer and House had accused the trio of being part of the “Keller political machine.”

With 56% of Malibu’s approximately 8,300 registered voters going to the polls, the unofficial results gave Van Horn 2,150 votes, followed closely by Kramer with 2,125 and House with 1,966.

The unofficial results do not include about 250 votes--many of them absentee ballots--that awaited official verification on Wednesday.

Jennings, who had 1,509 votes to finish a solid fourth, was a relative unknown at the start of the campaign. He appeared to benefit from efforts to offer himself as independent of the two warring City Council factions.

Caggiano, who had finished third among 30 candidates two years ago to win a seat on the council--and who, as mayor pro tem, probably would have become mayor had a different configuration won--finished with 1,026 votes, behind Paul Grisanti, who had 1,110 votes.

Besides the unexpectedly strong showing by the MGM-backed candidates, perhaps the single biggest surprise was the poor showing of Zeitsoff, who garnered only 443 votes to finish in the third tier of candidates. She had not campaigned vigorously, after the murder of her teen-age son in Beverly Hills two months ago.

A disappointed Zeitsoff on Wednesday called it “a dirty little election.”

“Lies and money and PACs (political action committees) and slates stole the votes,” she said. “To me that’s it in a nutshell.”

Caggiano also decried the “lies, fraud and last-minute hit pieces” that he asserted hurt his campaign, adding, “I hope the community pulls together now and does not take this as a mandate to ride roughshod over constitutional rights.”

Although supporters of the three winners had expressed confidence about the outcome before the vote, the wide margin of victory surprised even the candidates themselves.

“I thought we would win but I don’t think anyone could have guessed it would have been by this much,” said Kramer, an attorney who was a volunteer member of the legal team for the Malibu Committee for Incorporation in its battle with Los Angeles County over incorporation.

House was self-effacing in victory.

“I’m not a good speaker, and on camera I look like a deer in front of headlights, so I view my being elected as a victory Malibu residents voted for themselves and I’m just grateful to be part of it,” she said.

Gene Wood, a TV game show announcer who is president of MGM, also expressed surprise at the enormous popularity of the three candidates the group supported.

“I was apprehensive that, with all the name-calling toward the end, our message might not get through,” he said. “But obviously voters were intelligent enough to see through it all.

As of two weeks ago, MGM had raised more than $21,000 to target Caggiano and Zeitsoff for defeat and boost the candidacies of Van Horn, Kramer and House.

But, in a move that proved to be prophetic, the group in the last days before the election focused most of its attacks on Jennings, Grisanti and Caggiano.

Citizens United for a Stable Malibu, a rival political action committee, had endorsed Jennings, Grisanti and Frank Basso. Basso collected 551 votes to finish eighth.

MALIBU 14 of 14 precincts. Votes (%) CITY COUNCIL 3 Elected Carolyn Van Horn * 2,150 (16.8) Jeffrey W. Kramer 2,125 (16.6) Joan House 1,966 (15.3) Jeffrey D. Jennings 1,509 (11.8) Paul Grisanti 1,110 (8.7) Mike Caggiano * 1,026 (8.0) Dennis Sinclair 695 (5.4) Frank Basso 551 (4.3) K. Missy Zeitsoff * 443 (3.5) Charles J. (Chip) Post 246 (1.9) Jefferson (Zuma Jay) Wagner 241 (1.9) Emily L. Harlow 170 (1.3) Jack Corrodi 145 (1.1) Edward J. Roberts 97 (0.8) Greg Ball 90 (0.7) Sam Birenbaum 96 (0.7) Paula Login 64 (0.5) Charles H. Stern 40 (0.3) Kim Devane 40 (0.3) C. J. Kraft 35 (0.3)

IN OTHER COUNCIL RACES: Market owner Albert Vera took first place in the Culver City election. In West Hollywood, incumbents Paul Koretz and Abbe Land won easily. J5, J7.

-- An asterisk (*) denotes incumbent candidate.

-- A double asterisk (**) indicates an individual who withdrew from the election but is still on the ballot.