Rosenthal, Hayden Await Word on Uncounted Votes : Election: Updated results will be made public Monday. Estimates of uncounted ballots range from 3,000 to 10,000--and only 277 votes separate them.

Veteran state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal was “guardedly optimistic” late last week that absentee votes would propel him ahead of Assemblyman Tom Hayden in their battle for the Democratic nomination in a state Senate district that straddles the Santa Monica Mountains.

Rosenthal voiced his opinions on Thursday as the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office began to tally an estimated 100,000 uncounted ballots from districts throughout the county.

It was unclear exactly how many of the uncounted ballots were cast in the 23rd Senate District, which stretches from West Hollywood to Westlake Village. Estimates from campaign officials ran between 3,000 and 10,000.

But Grace Romero, a spokeswoman for the registrar-recorder, said it was impossible to determine exactly how many of them were cast in the district. She described three categories of votes being counted: absentee ballots that arrived at the last-minute on Tuesday; ballots containing write-in votes and those that were disputed for one reason or another at the polling place.

She said a substantial number of ballots will have been counted by Monday, when the next batch of results are to be made public. Duane Peterson, Hayden’s campaign manager, said he understood that 75% of the ballots will be tallied by the time of Monday’s announcement.

After Tuesday’s balloting in the Democratic primary, Hayden was on top with 44,803 votes, or 36.80%, compared to 44,526, or 36.58%, for Rosenthal. Pacific Palisades public relations consultant Catherine O’Neill was a distant third in the strongly Democratic 23rd District.

With Hayden leading by only 277 votes, Rosenthal on Thursday continued taking campaign-style swipes at Hayden, a Santa Monica assemblyman.

Rosenthal blasted Hayden for “unethical” smears linking Rosenthal to former Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys). Robbins resigned from office last year after pleading guilty to federal political corruption charges.

One storybook-style mailer was entitled “Robbins & Rosenthal, The Unfolding Story.” In it Hayden sought to tie Rosenthal to special-interest legislation that figured in the charges against Robbins.

But in an interview, Rosenthal maintained: “Putting me together with Robbins was absolutely reprehensible. In fact, Robbins and I were not friendly at all.”

After the election, Hayden headed to Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations-sponsored Earth summit. Hayden said that, of all his campaigns, he was most proud of the state Senate race, because it dealt with the “corrupt and deadlocked nature of Sacramento and what to do about it.”

He was particularly incensed at a last-minute Rosenthal mailer that likened him to George Bush and Richard Nixon. “Only Hersch had the chutzpah to compare me to George Bush, and then it became Bush and Richard Nixon.”

Peterson also defended the Hayden campaign pieces, saying that it was absurd for Rosenthal “to be whining” about the mailers.

Rosenthal, who spent much of the campaign in the capital, voiced satisfaction with the way his election drive was conducted too. Rosenthal said he “depended on the expertise of those who were preparing the material”--a reference to strategist Michael Berman.

Back in the Capitol, Rosenthal was greeted with handshakes and hugs from colleagues quizzing him about the tight contest. Asked if he was nervous, Rosenthal said, “I think I will pull it out.”

Times staff writer Jeffrey L. Rabin in Los Angeles contributed to this story.