Hopefuls Rush to File for June 7 Primary : Politics: Vacant Assembly seats are big targets. But dozens of local offices also draw candidates’ attention.

The mad dash to fill two Orange County state Assembly seats being vacated by incumbents got off to a quick start Monday, as would-be candidates for those seats and dozens of other local offices began taking out papers for the June 7 primary.

For Republicans, who make up about 52% of the county’s voters, the start of the 1994 election season carries with it the hope of taking away from the Democrats the only legislative seat they now hold--the 69th District seat now held by Assemblyman Tom Umberg of Garden Grove, who is planning a run for state attorney general.

The Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping to break through the Republican dominance by targeting two outspoken congressmen, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach). Democrats outnumber Republicans in Dornan’s district, but they represent only 34% of all Orange County voters.

Two city council members--Irvine’s Barry J. Hammond and Santa Ana’s Ted R. Moreno--registered their intent to run for the Assembly.

While usually having little impact in the local races, the Libertarian Party on Monday demonstrated its continuing campaign to appear on the ballot, with seven candidates among the first to take out papers for races ranging from the U.S. Senate seat now held by Democrat Dianne Feinstein to congressional and state legislative seats.

Between now and Feb. 9, candidates for Congress, the state Legislature, and the county’s judicial seats must file declarations of intent to run for office.

The county’s June 7 primary ballot also will include the Board of Supervisors races in the 2nd, 4th and 5th districts, election of other county officials, including the district attorney, sheriff-coroner and the superintendent of schools.

Candidates for those nonpartisan offices will begin filing their nomination papers on Feb. 14.

Even though Republicans are focusing on maintaining their grip on local legislative seats, most of the interest in recent days has centered in the 70th Assembly District, where the incumbent, Republican Gil Ferguson of Newport Beach, announced Friday that he would not seek reelection in order to run for the state Senate.

Ferguson’s departure from the Assembly is likely to create an intra-party clash. Among the first Republicans to express interest in Ferguson’s seat were: Irvine Councilman Hammond; Bruce E. Peotter, a Newport Beach lawyer; and Thomas G. Reinecke, an attorney and the son of a former California lieutenant governor. Several other prominent Republicans have been mentioned as possible candidates for Ferguson’s 70th District seat.

Democratic Party activist and Irvine lawyer Jim Toledano also declared his candidacy Monday for Ferguson’s seat.

Only one Republican, perennial candidate Virgel L. Nickell, had signed up as of Monday for the Assembly seat now held by Umberg, even though capturing that seat is a major goal of the Republican Party.

The state legislative and congressional districts in central Orange County, which have large Latino and Asian American populations, are high on the Democrats’ list of targeted races.

Umberg’s expected departure from the Assembly has left Democrats bracing for their own intramural battle. As of Monday, four Democrats had declared their intent to run in the 69th District: Zeke Hernandez, a Santa Ana resident and Latino political activist; Santa Ana Councilman Moreno; Santa Ana resident Wayman L. Nelson; and Enriqueta L. Ramos, a Rancho Santiago Community College District board member.

“We understand that we do have some work to do since we don’t have (Umberg) running in that spot,” local Democratic Party Chairwoman Dorianne Garcia said. “It sure would have made my life easier had he maintained that seat.”

As the Democrats try to hold on to Umberg’s seat, they also will target other districts with high Democratic registration numbers, including Dornan’s 46th Congressional District. Four Democrats have declared their candidacies so far, as well as one Republican and one Libertarian.