CALIFORNIA SENATE : Killea Says Abortion Issue Vital in Her Race With Ellis

In television ads, state Sen. Lucy Killea rows a boat and scoffs at those in Sacramento who thought she’d be “cast adrift” when she switched political parties last year. Surrounded by blocks of ice, she shivers in a parka and explains she has not been “frozen out.”

Her campaign commercials seek to counter the chief critical refrain about Killea: that she abandoned the Democratic Party and became an independent so as not to be hurt by a slight Republican voter registration edge in her bid for reelection to the 39th Senate District.

Although the switch cost Killea money--she’s raised $285,000, none of it from the Democratic Party--she is hoping that her stand in favor of abortion rights and decade in the Legislature will help her fend off former state Sen. Jim Ellis, who held the seat from 1980 to 1988.

To Ellis, who has raised $329,400, more than half of which has come from the California Republican Party, the choice between him and Killea is clear.

“It’s like night and day,” he says. “She’s night and I’m day.”

The contest is one of two state Senate races in San Diego County.

In the heavily Republican 37th Senate District, Assemblyman David G. Kelley (R-Hemet) is facing Jim Rickard, a Democratic businessman and former astronomer from Borrego Springs.

The 39th District race, however, is expected to be more closely watched statewide.

Ellis, 64, who quit legislative life after complaining of exhaustion, got back into politics, he says, because of what he viewed as Killea’s anti-business position.

Comparing state Chamber of Commerce “report cards” for five of his years in the Senate to the same five years Killea spent in the Assembly, Ellis says he got a 90% favorable rating and she a 30% rating.

“She’s anti-jobs and anti-growth,” Ellis said. “Our primary problem is the economy and jobs. We have to help our economic base and tax base.”

Killea counters that she’s done plenty for business and has received contributions from the state Manufacturers Assn. political action committee. She also supported a bill that helps reduce paperwork for small businesses that must report how they dispose of hazardous waste.

The difference between her and Ellis, she says, comes down to one key area: She supports the right of a woman to choose abortion and he does not, except in cases of incest, rape or danger to the mother’s health.

“Choice will have an impact,” the 70-year-old Killea said. “Republican women are angry, and many simply have not been able to support the anti-choice position.”

In 1989, Killea was able to use the issue of choice to her advantage when the late Catholic Bishop Leo Maher prohibited her from receiving Communion because of her pro-choice views.

The national uproar that ensued propelled Killea over Republican Assemblywoman Carol Bentley for the seat held by Republican Sen. Larry Stirling, who was appointed to a municipal judgeship.

Ellis says Killea “is still playing off the bishop’s involvement.”

Killea calls Ellis “ancient history,” a former lawmaker who should be permanently retired after his years in the Senate.

“He’s had his eight years, and when he was there, he was one of the least noticeable people in Sacramento,” she said.

Though Ellis left the Senate, he said there is much work to do, including implementing a national health system and cutting welfare abuse.

“I left the Legislature because I wanted to do something different,” Ellis said. “I was tired. Now, 2 1/2 years out, the economy changed and I want back in.”

Ellis is distributing a campaign mailer titled “We Feel Betrayed,” containing the comments of county residents complaining about Killea’s voting record on welfare, Social Security and taxes.

He has also taken Killea to task over a $9,000 fine by the state Fair Political Practices Commission over failure to record campaign contributions during her special election race to the Senate in 1989.

In a letter to constituents that notes that “Jim Ellis isn’t fighting like a man,” Killea explained that her husband and campaign treasurer, Jack, had been diagnosed with cancer at the time the filings were overlooked.

“Throughout the years, Jack has served as my campaign treasurer,” she wrote. “He always did an excellent job. But when he became so ill, campaign reports were the last thing either of us were paying attention to.”

The Ellis mailers were produced “to divert attention from his 100% anti-choice voting record and his backing from the fundamentalist right,” she wrote.

Two other candidates--John P. Moody and Patricia Cofre--are running in the 39th District, whose boundaries are Torrey Pines Mesa to the north, the Mexican border to the south and La Mesa and El Cajon to the east.

Libertarian Moody, a 63-year-old probate attorney, and Peace and Freedom candidate Patricia Cofre, a 39-year-old economics and marketing San Diego State University student, are also on the ballot.

“I got into the race because most citizens are frustrated,” Cofre said. “Choosing between Democrats and Republicans is not a real choice. Why is it that we have a system that allows only people with significant amounts of money to be part of the system?”

As a state senator, Cofre’s top priorities would be to rebuild the state’s infrastructure and protect education from being cut.

“This is still a rich nation,” Cofre said. “We need to change some of our priorities.”

Moody proposes cutting the cost of government, providing tax credits for parents who send their children to private schools and allowing teachers to have a say in hiring and firing school counselors.

“Libertarians are into limited government, and there is no reason that costs can’t be decreased,” Moody said. “If you cut the cost of government 50%, you therefore cut taxes by 50%.”

In the 37th Senate District race between Republican Assemblyman Kelley and his Democratic rival Rickard, Republican registration outnumbers Democrats by 9%. The district includes San Diego, Riverside and Imperial counties.

Rickard, 52, supports abortion rights and a waiting period on the sale of handguns. Kelley, 64, who beat Assemblywoman Carol Bentley in the Republican primary, opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother’s health. He also opposes gun control.

In radio advertisements, Kelley touts himself as a successful citrus rancher and a “trusted conservative” who began serving in the Assembly in 1978 with the endorsements of Paul Gann and Howard Jarvis.

“My rationale to run for the state Senate is based on a simple premise: I couldn’t run my ranch the way our government runs our state,” Kelley said in a monthly publication he sent to voters. “I will take this attitude with me to the Senate and approach each problem with common sense and a businessman’s perspective.”

Rickard opposes a voucher system for education, seeks to protect Indian reservations, wants to lower worker’s compensation insurance and supports investment tax credits for new businesses. He also supports the extensive use of solar energy and owns a business that installs solar electrical systems.

In accusing Kelley of catering to special interests, Rickard notes that the assemblyman has raised 90% of his money from outside the district and much of it from waste disposal companies, including Waste Management Inc. and Browning Ferris Industries.

“I think the companies are looking at the desert area as potential sites for super-dumps,” Rickard said. “I wonder about these powerful out-of-state garbage cartels and what they expect from Kelley for their contributions.”

The latest campaign contribution reports show Kelley has raised $358,977, including money from political action committees representing mobile home owners, agricultural interests and restaurant owners. Rickard has raised $12,877.

Libertarian Craig McElvaney and Peace and Freedom candidate Renate M. Kline are also running in the 37th District. They could not be reached for comment.