CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / 70TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Hornbuckle Presses Ferguson in GOP Primary

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson is among the fortunate few in state government. Up in Sacramento, he can take up the most conservative of issues with gusto, confident that back home, in what he calls the most Republican district in America, his deeds will play well with the electorate.

So it is that Ferguson finds himself leading the charge against all things deemed liberal. He has jousted with gay rights activists. He has tried to toss Tom Hayden out of the Assembly. Of late, he has been pushing a bill that would prohibit distribution of condoms on school grounds.

Through it all, the four-time assemblyman has been routinely reelected, invariably garnering upward of two-thirds the vote. But Ferguson’s message, which has gained him a prominent spot among the conservative GOP stalwarts known as the “cavemen,” isn’t greeted warmly by everyone.

For the third time in three elections, Ferguson has attracted a challenge from a woman candidate in the Republican primary. This time it’s Costa Mesa Mayor Mary Hornbuckle, who is irked in no small measure by Ferguson’s staunch stance against abortion rights.

The winner of the June 2 GOP primary in the 70th Assembly District, which stretches along the central county coast, will face Democrat Jim Toledano, an Irvine lawyer who is running unopposed, and Libertarian Scott Bieser, a computer graphics designer from Costa Mesa.

With the Republican Party holding a voter registration edge of more than 2 to 1 over the Democrats, the winner of the GOP primary will be heavily favored in the November general election.

Although she has yet to attract the heavyweight campaign dollars that would seem necessary to unseat a powerful incumbent, Hornbuckle has not been shy about taking Ferguson to task. She makes no bones about her belief that Ferguson has spent too much time tilting at ideological windmills instead of working for his constituents.

“He just hasn’t been effective,” Hornbuckle said. “What does he do? He calls Tom Hayden names. What does that do? It manages to make the Democrats mad.

“It may have worked back in the cave days, but I don’t think it will work in the 1990s. I think he’s out of step with the times. . . . We need to work in collaboration. We can’t expect to alienate other factions and get anything done.”

Though she and Ferguson share a zeal to rev up the state economy and help business by cutting the regulatory maze and taxes, Hornbuckle differs from the incumbent on issues such as education and health care.

Hornbuckle supports efforts to make health care more universally available, although she wants to be careful to protect private businesses that could be hurt if too much of the burden is thrown on them.

She staunchly opposes a plan to allow parents to get $2,500 vouchers to help defray the cost of sending their children to private schools, saying it would be “the death knell” for public schools.

It is abortion, however, that most sharply divides the two Republicans.

“I’m very much pro-choice, and he is certainly not,” said Hornbuckle, who runs a preschool. “Just for the life of me, I can’t understand why a conservative Republican be anything but for choice.”

Toledano, meanwhile, has already begun targeting Ferguson, with the Nov. 3 general election more than five months away. The Democrat calls the incumbent a “passive radical” who represents “a fringe of the Republican Party.”

“Orange County has a Republican culture,” Toledano said. “People forget that prior to Ronald Reagan the county had a Democratic majority. Today, people register Republican in this county because, gee, that’s what people do. It’s Republicanism for lack of an alternative.”

Toledano said he represents that alternative. He is already forming plans to run a campaign that will tap Republican voters troubled by Ferguson’s conservativism. And he already offers a long list of positions.

In particular, Toledano said, he believes that his position for abortion rights should play well in the district. He also wants to create a commission to review the existing health system and address ways to improve it, making care universally available.

The Democrat promises to shift the tax structure so more money is funneled into schools to reduce class sizes and buy books and supplies. Finally, he wants to see the state tap the intellect and expertise of its flagging aerospace community to create environmentally responsible industries for the future.

“If we can build a bomber, why can’t we build a streetcar or a bus?” he asked. “Why do we have to go to Japan to buy mass-transit systems? These are long-term solutions, but you’ve got to start.”

For his part, Ferguson is hardly surprised by the charges of ineffectiveness, saying: “That’s how you traditionally run against an incumbent.”

Ferguson noted that he has introduced or co-sponsored more than 100 bills this session and has pushed through “a good deal of legislation that is important for our district.”

His proudest achievements include getting the state to establish a Caltrans district in the county, participating in the task force that pushed through Proposition 111 to help widen roads and a 1989 law that makes it a felony to possess child pornography, he said.

“But my primary role as a representative of the most conservative district is to stand up to Willie Brown and speak out,” he said about the Democratic Assembly speaker. “I can do that without fear because of the district I come from.

“People understand my role. Everybody looks to me to be the stand-up guy.”

His primary goal is to reform the state’s style of government, “so we no longer pay the highest of everything, whether that’s welfare, car insurance or whatever. All those things need reform. They’ve been blocked by the doctors, the tort lawyers, the teachers unions, the insurance companies.”

Along with that is a smaller-is-better approach to politics. Ferguson wants to reorganize state government “at all levels so it isn’t growing.” He hopes to see every department in the state cut back, curbed from the type of spending that has led to the huge budget deficit now facing lawmakers.

He said he also wants to see a society shape up that has been jolted by an explosion of teen-age pregnancies, acquired immune deficiency syndrome and rampant premarital sex.

“A conservative today wonders where did our moral values go? What happened to the personal structure that kept people from having babies out of wedlock?” Ferguson said.

“We want to make sure those good values stay here.

70th Assembly District

Here are the candidates running for the 70th Assembly District seat in the June 2 primary.

The Issues

The following are the questions asked each of the candidates:

Abortion rights--Do you support or oppose abortion rights?

Education voucher--Do you support the proposed education initiative, which would provide parents with a voucher they can use to send their children to the school of their choice, including a private institution?

Health care plan--Do you support the California Medical Assn.’s proposed health care initiative, requiring all employers to provide basic coverage for any employee working more than half-time?

Gay rights--Do you support legislation similar to AB101, prohibiting discrimination by employers against homosexuals?

Welfare plan--Do you support Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposed welfare reform plan, calling for a minimum 10% reduction in welfare grants, incentives to stay in school and lower payments for new state residents?

Gnatcatcher--Should the California gnatcatcher, a rare bird that nests in areas targeted for development, be designated as a state endangered species?

REPUBLICANS

Gil Ferguson

Age: 69

Home: Newport Beach

Occupation: State assemblyman

Background: Served in the Marine Corps for 26 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1969; became Irvine Co. manager of public relations; started his own public relations firm in 1973; elected to Assembly in 1984.

Issues: Abortion rights--opposes, except in case of rape, incest or danger to the mother. Education vouchers--supports. Health care plan--opposes. Gay rights--opposes. Welfare plan--supports. Gnatcatcher--opposes.

Mary Hornbuckle

Age: 49

Home: Costa Mesa

Occupation: Mayor and preschool director

Background: Elected to the council 1984; serves as director of Community Preschool.

Issues: Abortion rights--supports. Education vouchers--opposes, but would consider if only for public schools. Health care plan--supports if insurance pool set up to defray costs for small businesses. Gay rights--supports. Welfare plan--likes idea but opposes Wilson plan because it cuts aid to families with children. Gnatcatcher--opposes, but supports habitat conservation.

DEMOCRAT

Jim Toledano

Age: 48

Home: Costa Mesa

Occupation: Attorney

Background: Irvine lawyer for two decades; UC regent 1985-87. Ran unsuccessfully against Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley) in 1990.

Issues: Abortion rights--supports. Education vouchers--opposes. Health care plan--opposes because it penalizes business and does not address the whole problem but supports universal health care. Gay rights--supports. Welfare plan--opposes, but supports reform to end welfare dependency. Gnatcatcher--supports.

LIBERTARIAN

Scott Bieser

Age: 34

Home: Costa Mesa

Occupation: Computer graphics designer

Background: Colorado native, reared in Texas; obtained a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin; moved to Southern California in 1988; has been a Libertarian since 1976.

Issues: Abortion rights--supports. Education vouchers--supports. Health care plan--opposes. Gay rights--opposes law but abhors bigotry of all types. Welfare reform--supports but thinks that reforms need to go even further. Gnatcatcher--undecided.