Last Big Gasp of Primary Season Stirs Winds of Political Change : Politics: Alabama incumbent leads, but bad checks could bounce Ohio, Iowa lawmakers. State votes may help add blacks, women to Congress.

Sen. Richard C. Shelby of Alabama jumped ahead in a Democratic primary Tuesday, while House members in Ohio and Iowa faced challenges over bad checks as voters picked nominees on one of the busiest primary days of 1992.

Alabama and North Carolina voters narrowed fields of candidates en route to electing their first black members of Congress this century. And in California, women made historic bids in Democratic races for both U.S. Senate seats.

Shelby, a first-term Democrat, had three opponents, including Chris McNair, a county commissioner and former state legislator whose daughter was one of four black girls killed in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing.

With 13% of precincts reporting, Shelby had 39,693 votes, or 70%, McNair had 9,210 votes, or 16%, and the two other candidates split the remainder.

McNair had sought support from black voters and from women angry over Shelby’s vote to confirm Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court despite allegations by Oklahoma law professor Anita Faye Hill that Thomas had sexually harassed her when she worked for him in Washington.

Two other senators seeking reelection escaped primary challenges. In Ohio, Lt. Gov. Mike DeWine was leading the GOP primary for the right to challenge Democrat John Glenn in November. In Iowa, state Sen. Jean Lloyd-Jones was favored to win the Democratic nomination to oppose Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley. She said she entered the race after watching him during the Hill-Thomas hearings.

Anger over Thomas’ confirmation already has proved a powerful force this year, helping Carol Moseley Braun upset Democratic Sen. Alan J. Dixon in Illinois, and transforming Pennsylvania’s Lynn Yeakel from underdog to winner in a Democratic race to oppose Republican Sen. Arlen Specter.

In Ohio, eight-term Rep. Mary Rose Oakar of Cleveland had a fight on her hands, partly because of her 213 overdrafts at the now-defunct House bank. In very early returns, she led county commissioner Timothy Hagan and five other Democratic challengers.

In southern Ohio, two incumbent Republican congressmen clashed because of redistricting. With 21% of precincts reporting, Rep. Bob McEwen, who wrote 166 bad checks, led Rep. Clarence E. Miller by 54% to 46%.

Iowa had one bad-check writer in a primary fight. Four-term Rep. Jim Lightfoot, who admitted to 105 overdrafts, faced a GOP challenge from political unknown Ronald J. Long.

In New Jersey, Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.’s bid for nomination to a third term was challenged by Assemblyman Bob Smith in a newly drawn district. Smith campaigned as an “outsider” challenging a Washington “insider.”

Heading into Tuesday’s voting, nine House members and one senator had been ousted this year in primaries.

Offspring of some famous political names were making bids for Congress. In Alabama’s 2nd District, state Treasurer George Wallace Jr. was favored to win the Democratic nomination. Maureen Reagan, daughter of the former President, sought a GOP nomination from the Los Angeles area, and J. Bennett Johnston III, son of the Louisiana senator, ran as a Democrat in Northern California.

But the main event on the state primary lineup was the first-ever double Senate race in California. Dianne Feinstein, the former San Francisco mayor, and Rep. Barbara Boxer were seeking Democratic nominations for the separate seats. Feinstein was heavily favored; Boxer held a slim lead but was expected to be hampered by her 143 bad checks.