XMAS RUSH: Politics in December has all...

XMAS RUSH: Politics in December has all the hustle and bustle of a half-price sale, it’s just hidden behind tinsel and candy canes. . . . Candidates use the holidays to jockey for position before campaign season. There are three hot spots expected to be vacated by incumbent Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) and Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove). Says county GOP chief Greg Haskins: “It’s a big game of poker, where everyone is putting on their best gambling face. Everybody has to put their cards on the table in a month or so and we’ll see who has the winning hand.”

KARATE KID: With all the competition for campaign dollars, candidates are betting their careers on political rainmakers. . . . Gov. Pete Wilson, facing a tough reelection battle next year, picked Huntington Beach businessman Ron Cedillos last week to be his chief fund-raiser. Cedillos helped Wilson’s 1988 Senate campaign by tapping contributors who had never given to politicians before. “I expect it will be challenging and competitive,” he said. . . . Cedillos has other talents that might also help: He used to co-star in Chuck Norris’ face-kicking flicks.

ALL FOR ONE: Latino activists met recently to persuade Latino candidates not to run for an expected opening in the state Assembly representing Santa Ana. Actually, three Latinos have announced plans to run and community leaders fear all could lose if supporters don’t unite behind one. But so far, no luck. “We can’t take the chance of having more than one,” said Ted R. Moreno, a Santa Ana councilman and candidate. “But the candidates are stubborn.”

POWER PLAY: State Sen. Rob Hurtt last week became, arguably, the most powerful Orange County politician in Sacramento. Still in his first term, Hurtt made an ambitious bid to become the GOP leader of the Senate. That effort fell short. Instead, GOP lawmakers put the Garden Grove conservative in charge of all of next year’s Senate races. Said Hurtt after the vote: “This action quiets any speculation of Republican unrest as we enter 1994.”