ELECTIONS / 16TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT : Political Fluke Makes Race a Low-Key Event

Ten candidates running in a special state Senate election Tuesday are courting voters in a district that sprawls from the cotton fields of the San Joaquin Valley through part of the Antelope Valley to the edge of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

So far, the race in the 16th Senate District seems to have generated little excitement, perhaps because it’s a bit of a political oddity--the district, as currently drawn, will cease to exist after the 1994 election.

Although all of the state’s 40 Senate districts were redrawn to reflect the 1990 census, elections in 1992 were held only for odd-numbered seats; even-numbered seats are on the ballot next year. So, the soon-to-be-out-of-date 16th District still exists.

But its incumbent, Republican Don Rogers of Tehachapi, last year jumped at the chance to run in a new, strongly Republican 17th District, which includes parts of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Rogers won that seat in November. With his victory, the 16th District became vacant, and state law requires that it be filled through November, 1994.

The Los Angeles County portion of the 16th Senate District includes about 7,500 registered voters in the sparsely populated eastern end of the Antelope Valley. About 70% the district’s 356,000 registered voters reside in Kern County. The heavily Democratic redrawn 16th District is anchored in Fresno County and does not dip below Kern County.

Los Angeles County election officials are not predicting a turnout percentage for Tuesday’s vote. But in Kern County, where 70% of the district’s 356,000 registered voters live, officials expect that, at best, only 30% will turn out--either in person or through absentee ballots. Some of the candidates and their consultants anticipate an even lower figure--perhaps between 10% and 20%.

The vast bulk of the district’s 52,000 registered voters in Los Angeles County live in strongly Democratic and heavily African-American precincts in Pasadena and Altadena. The main effect these voters could have is to ensure that no Republican will win more than 50% of the vote, thus ensuring an April 27 runoff between the top GOP and Democratic vote-getters on the ballot.

The large field of candidates includes two veteran lawmakers, Assemblyman Jim Costa (D-Hanford) and former Assemblyman Phillip D. Wyman (R-Tehachapi), as well as three Bakersfield-area elected officials.

In one of the few visible signs of the campaign, Costa recently began broadcasting television commercials in Bakersfield. In Los Angeles County, the campaign has been waged largely through mailers to voters and volunteers walking door-to-door or canvassing by telephone.

Democratic and Republican campaign consultants list Costa, Wyman and Bakersfield City Councilman Kevin McDermott, a Republican, as the top tier of candidates.

Another potentially formidable candidate is Erma Carson, a retired police sergeant and veteran member of the Bakersfield city school board. Carson, a Democrat, lost an Assembly campaign last year to Trice Harvey (R-Bakersfield).

Most of the candidates say that given the crowded field, no one is expected to emerge Tuesday with a majority, prompting a runoff.

“I’d love to put it to bed on March 2,” Costa said, “but I don’t think that’s in the cards.”

Costa, 40, is a 14-year veteran of the Legislature who has become a key lieutenant to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco). As a legislator, he has pushed for passage of bills to weaken local rent-control ordinances.

Costa attracted statewide attention in 1986 when he was placed on three years probation and fined $255 after pleading no contest in Sacramento Municipal Court to a charge of soliciting a prostitute.

He was arrested in Sacramento after police said they heard him and a 19-year-old prostitute offer a woman who was posing as a prostitute $50 to join them in a “threesome.” Costa later admitted his act and apologized to his family and supporters.

Noting that since his arrest he has been reelected four times, Costa called it “a non-issue” in the campaign.

Wyman, 48, served 14 years in the Legislature, during which he was known as a strong opponent of abortion rights. A fiercely conservative rancher and attorney, Wyman in June lost a race for Congress to former Santa Clarita Mayor Howard (Buck) McKeon in a district covering parts of the San Fernando and Antelope valleys.

In the special-election campaign, McDermott has assailed both Wyman and Costa as being part of the “mess in Sacramento,” saying that during their tenure as lawmakers “the Legislature has done everything it could to drive business from the state.” The 38-year-old McDermott has served on the Bakersfield City Council since 1987.

Carson, 57, has sounded themes similar to McDermott’s. She, too, has assailed Wyman and Costa for letting the state’s economy sag during their time in Sacramento. Carson also has said that if elected, she would work to reduce state government’s bureaucracy.

The other candidates are:

* Republican Leonard C. Tekaat, 48, of Bakersfield, a self-employed real estate investor.

* Republican Chris S. Binning, 41, a Bakersfield hairdresser and hair-salon proprietor.

* Democrat Darrel Beller, a Bakersfield maintenance mechanic.

* Republican Michael McCloskey, 49, a Tehachapi businessman and investor.

* Democrat Jay Hanson, 36, a Ridgecrest businessman.

* Democrat Dennis J. Wilson, 58, a former Ridgecrest councilman who sits on the Kern Community College District board of trustees.

An 11th candidate, Republican Donald G. Heath, will appear on the ballot but is not actively campaigning.