Democratic Long Shots Remain Hopeful : Elections: Competing against well-financed incumbents Richard Mountjoy and Paul Horcher, Louise Gelber mortgaged her house and Stan Caress raised only $2,330.

In an ordinary political year, the task of unseating Republican Assemblymen Richard L. Mountjoy of Monrovia and Paul V. Horcher of Diamond Bar, both well-financed incumbents representing GOP strongholds, would be considered impossible.

But at least some Democrats see a ray of hope this year, given the strength of the national Democratic ticket and the perception that voters are angry at incumbents and eager for change.

Democrat Louise Gelber, an attorney, has mortgaged her house to raise $84,296 for her long-shot campaign against Mountjoy and is walking precincts, speaking to groups, holding press conferences and doing everything she can to muster attention.

Democrat Stan Caress, a political science teacher, is by contrast running a barely visible campaign against Horcher. He said he was planning a major effort but lost his enthusiasm when Democratic political leaders wrote off his chances and declined to supply financial help. Still, he said, he has “lots of grass-roots support” and thinks this is a “real good year for Democrats.”

Mountjoy and Horcher are seeking reelection in districts whose boundaries have been moved by reapportionment but remain mostly white and mostly Republican. Redistricting pushed Mountjoy’s district eastward and Horcher’s northward, but left the GOP registration advantage intact in each case. Mountjoy’s revised district is 48% Republican and 40% Democratic while Horcher’s is 44% Republican and 43.5% Democratic.

59TH DISTRICT(Includes Arcadia, Bradbury, Claremont, Covina, Duarte, Glendora, La Verne, Monrovia, San Dimas and Sierra Madre, most of Pomona and part of Azusa and Temple City.)

Mountjoy, who was served in the Assembly since 1978, said his years in Sacramento have been frustrating because Democrats have controlled the Legislature.

“I’ve been there for 14 years,” Mountjoy said, “and never once could I get one good piece of legislation passed.”

At the top of his legislative agenda is reform of workers’ compensation to control costs and a measure to cut off spending on education, non-emergency health care and other services to illegal immigrants. Mountjoy said that illegal immigrants should be reported to federal authorities and not be given social services.

Mountjoy, 60, is a staunch conservative with a background in the construction business and a record of government service that includes eight years on the Monrovia City Council.

He was elected to the Assembly as a champion of Proposition 13, the initiative that rolled back property taxes, and has consistently fought against tax increases.

Mountjoy said he believes Republicans will increase their strength in the Assembly and perhaps even capture control as a result of the statewide redistricting this year. The prospect of unshackling the legislature from Democratic dominance is one reason he is seeking another term, he said, adding that he is looking forward to “the most exciting two years of my legislative career.”

His opponent, Gelber, completed seven years of college education in four to earn a law degree from the UC Berkeley, opened a law practice in El Monte in 1946 and then put her husband through law school while starting a family.

When her first son was born, Gelber said, “I didn’t have anyone to take over my law practice yet so I took my cases with me down to the maternity home. He was born at 10, and at 2 o’clock, I was on the phone settling my cases.”

Gelber has sustained this whirlwind approach to life through her nearly 71 years, though she is loath to talk about her age. “I don’t approve of limitations of age,” she said. “I tell people I’m ageless. I feel like I’ve just commenced from college.”

Gelber was a Republican until her late husband, Milton, a Democrat, ran for Assembly in the 1960s and she changed her registration to match his. Gelber herself ran for state Senate in 1968 and again in 1988.

In her campaign, Gelber is emphasizing her commitment to adequate funding for education. She is supported by the California Teachers Assn. and other teacher groups. To show her devotion to education, she has pledged to donate her annual Assembly salary of $52,500 to a fund to be divided among local schools.

Gelber also is stressing her support of abortion rights for women. Mountjoy opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or endangerment of the mother’s life.

Her campaign was interrupted in late September by the death of one of her two sons, Jack, an Arcadia attorney. But after canceling engagements for a couple of weeks, Gelber returned to the campaign. “You have to go forward,” she said. “I think we’re here to help one another . . . I have the time, the training, the ability and I want to give.”

60th DISTRICT(Includes Diamond Bar, City of Industry, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Rowland Heights, Valinda, Walnut, West Covina and parts of Pomona and Whittier).

Horcher, 41, won a wide-open race for the Assembly two years ago after a bitter battle with Republican rivals and then endured a bruising, highly personal primary fight this year with Diamond Bar Councilwoman Phyllis Papen.

By contrast, the Nov. 3 campaign has been a low-key affair against Democrat Caress and Robert Lewis of the American Independent Party.

Horcher, a lawyer and former Diamond Bar councilman, has been a political moderate and strong supporter of Gov. Pete Wilson during his freshman term. He won election as a supporter of abortion rights for women and has taken positions that have sometimes put him at odds with more conservative colleagues. Despite a controversial vote last year for Gov. Wilson’s budget, which increased taxes, he has won the endorsement of the anti-tax Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

Horcher said his top priority is to work for reform of the workers’ compensation system, which he believes is costing California jobs.

Caress, 41, who holds a doctorate in political science, lives in West Covina and teaches at Cal State Long Beach. He said voters are “fed up with cuts in services and are tired of business as usual.”

Caress has been unable to raise money for his campaign. While Horcher has raised more than $300,000 this year, Caress has collected only $2,330, according to the latest campaign reports.

Meanwhile, Lewis, a 40-year-old electronics engineer from Rowland Heights, has raised $10,813. Lewis is leader of Throw the Rascals Out, a group dedicated to term limits. A disgruntled former Republican, Lewis is critical of Horcher’s contributions from political action committees and favors political reforms, including prohibiting elected officials from running for another office until after they have completed their terms.

The American Independent Party, which was founded in the 1960s to support the presidential ambitions of former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, is the largest of the state’s four minor parties. But in the 60th Assembly District, it has fewer than 2,000 voters out of a total of more than 155,000.