CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / 72ND ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Challenger Hopes to Tap Anti-Incumbent Fever : Community gadfly Howard Garber tries to paint Ross Johnson, a Sacramento insider, as an outsider to his GOP constituents.

Assemblyman Ross Johnson has always been the consummate Sacramento insider.

This, after all, is the erstwhile Republican leader of the Assembly, the man who went nose to nose last year with Speaker Willie Brown and Gov. Pete Wilson over the state budget. He’s a stalwart anti-tax crusader, a devoted associate of conservative state legislators dubbed the “cavemen.”

Now comes a Republican challenger who, in this age of mushrooming voter unrest over incumbent lawmakers, relishes the role of being the ultimate Mr. Outside heading into the June 2 GOP primary for the 72nd Assembly District seat.

Howard Garber, a retired eye doctor and community gadfly taking his first stab at state office, is doing everything he can to paint Johnson (R-Brea) as a detached, distant lawmaker more consumed by the swirl of Sacramento than by troubles back in his district.

The victor in the Republican primary will go on to face Democrat Paul Garza Jr., a Fullerton public affairs consultant and former executive director of the Orange County Democratic Party, who is unopposed, and Geoffrey Braun, a warehouseman on the Libertarian ticket.

With Republicans outnumbering Democrats nearly 2 to 1, the GOP primary winner will be favored in the November general election to determine who will represent the newly drawn district, which sprawls across northeastern Orange County and includes Fullerton, Yorba Linda and La Habra.

None of the political pundits in Sacramento really gives Garber a chance. But that has not fazed the 63-year-old activist, who has made his mark crusading for the rights of crime victims and in such disparate causes as opposing reparations for Japanese-Americans interned during World War II, working against former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and criticizing the rap music group 2 Live Crew.

Of late, Garber has been firing rounds in Johnson’s direction, saying at press conferences and in campaign literature that the assemblyman does not truly maintain a residence in the district, as required by law.

The apartment the incumbent lists as his address, Garber said, is really the home of Johnson’s administrative aide, Phil Miller.

“Ross Johnson lives up in Rancho Cordova outside Sacramento. His kids graduated from school up there, and his house is still there,” Garber said. “He’s nothing but a professional politician.”

The whole spat has Johnson scratching his head in amazement. The seven-term legislator contends that he and his wife live on weekends in a room at an aide’s apartment but live in the Sacramento area during the workweek.

“I’ve made no secret of this at all,” Johnson said. “I can’t grasp what he thinks is the point he’s making. It’s ridiculous. I spend a great deal of time in Sacramento because that’s my job. Is a U.S. naval officer serving in Guantanamo Bay any less a U.S. citizen because he doesn’t live in the country?”

Garber has gone further than the residence issue: He paints a portrait of a society tipping on the precipice because of Johnson and his peers in Sacramento.

“I think Ross Johnson and most other politicians are not aware of the severity of the problems that face this nation and the state of California,” Garber said. “We are retrogressing. I call it a demographic catastrophe.”

Garber, who orates with a roaring voice occasionally edged with anger, has a marked tendency to talk of himself in the third person. An example: “No one, from the President on down, has got the guts to say what Garber has said.”

Moreover, the challenger rarely reins in the rhetoric as he traverses the political landscape, teetering at times on the ideological edge. Some highlights:

* Garber on poverty: “The impoverished are made up of the thoughtless, the reckless people of this state. These are the people who say, ‘I’m going to have this baby.’ That’s what we hear in the jungle, not in a civilized society.”

* Garber on the Los Angeles riots: “That’s anarchy and the jungle, and that’s where we’re headed. . . . This permissive nation isn’t ready to deal with insurrection. We should put loudspeakers on the helicopters like other nations do, put water cannons in position so we’re ready to take care of it. This country is headed toward anarchy. Garber has a lot to say on that.”

* Garber on welfare and pregnancy: “I want to see medical science provide the means (to prevent) these ignorant, careless individuals (from getting) pregnant while on welfare. How many babies should Mrs. Garcia have?”

Johnson said he finds such statements “personally disturbing” because of their racial overtones but does not plan an assault against Garber or his ideas.

“There’s no purpose to be served by my attacking this guy,” said Johnson, who has more than $85,000 in his campaign war chest. “I intend, if I’m able, to avoid that. . . . I believe I’ve been doing a reasonable job, and I’m an accurate reflection of the views of the voters in my district.”

Johnson prefers to talk about such issues as jobs and the economy, curbing crime, drugs, gangs and taxes. He wants to reduce capital gains taxes to attract and retain business in the state, while cutting the myriad regulations he says burden private enterprise.

A supporter of the death penalty, he has a long record of trying to reduce crime, serving as the county chairman for the so-called victims’ bill of rights initiative and helping with the campaign to topple Bird and two other liberal state Supreme Court justices.

As much as anything, Johnson wants to see government “fundamentally restructured” to spend tax dollars more wisely and cut the state’s $6-billion deficit. That means a top-to-bottom reworking of government, everything from the way the state Department of Transportation designs and builds freeways to how big a welfare check is passed out each month.

“Everyone of whatever political party they represent could agree on at least this much: The welfare system isn’t working,” Johnson said. “It’s unfair. We ought to design a welfare system that helps people become fully functioning, productive members of society in the shortest time possible.”

72nd Assembly District

Here are the candidates running for the 72nd 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

Ross Johnson

Age: 52

Home: Brea

Occupation: Assemblyman

Background: Elected to the Assembly in 1978; Assembly minority leader 1988-91; president of Orange County Young Republicans in 1960s; graduated in 1977 from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton.

Issues: Abortion rights--opposes. Education vouchers--opposes, but supports giving parents control over education alternatives. Health care plan--opposes. Gay rights--opposes. Welfare plan--opposes Wilson proposal, but strong advocate of reform. Gnatcatcher--opposes.

Howard D. Garber

Age: 63

Home: Anaheim

Occupation: Businessman, retired optometrist

Background: Has served on Republican Central Committee since 1988; state chairman of Citizens for Truth, a victims’ rights group; on board of Americans for Historical Accuracy, which opposed reparations for Japanese-Americans interned during World War II.

Issues: Abortion rights--supports. Education vouchers--supports. Health care plan--opposes, suggests national health program to compete with private system. Gay rights--opposes. Welfare plan-- supports, but says it gets only halfway to the root of problem. Gnatcatcher-- opposes.

DEMOCRAT

Paul Garza Jr.

Age: 44

Home: Fullerton

Occupation: Public affairs consultant

Background: Orange County Democratic Party executive director in the late 1980s; member of county Central Committee since 1986 and state Central Committee since 1988; has worked as employment training coordinator; ran an adult learning lab.

Issues: Abortion rights--supports. Education vouchers--opposes. Health care plan--supports, but is concerned it does not reform existing system. Gay rights-- supports. Welfare plan--opposes, but backs reform providing basic education and vocational skills. Gnatcatcher--supports.

LIBERTARIAN

Geoffrey Braun

Age: 35

Home: Placentia

Occupation: Warehouseman

Background: Member of Libertarian Party for more than two years; has a master of divinity degree from Biola University; seeking public office for first time.

Issues: Abortion rights--opposes. Education vouchers--supports. Health care plan--opposes. Gay rights--opposes a law, but supports gay rights. Welfare plan--opposes, but supports turning welfare services to private charities. Gnatcatcher--opposes, but favors private ownership of habitats for endangered species.