Primary Candidates Hurry to Beat Deadline : Politics: Much of the talk focuses on who isn’t running as filing period ends. Several Republicans drop out for sake of party unity, while 1994 offers Democrats ‘hope for upsets,’ official says.

Candidates seeking to run in the June 7 primary rushed to beat Friday’s filing deadline, but the talk among political watchers centered more on those who decided not to run.

Fearing the outbreak of intraparty squabbles in two Assembly races, several Republican candidates withdrew Friday, the filing deadline for candidates seeking local, state and congressional races.

Orange County GOP Chairman Thomas Fuentes lauded the candidates for setting aside their own political ambitions for the sake of “party unity.”

For county Democrats, 1994 offers the “hope for upsets,” Orange County Democratic Party Chairwoman Dorianne Garcia predicted. “We have a wonderful set of candidates this year,” she said.

The Democrats’ quest to expand their political base is most evident in the 46th Congressional District in central Orange County, where six Democrats have lined up to take on the incumbent, Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

But Dornan was one of three of the county’s Republican congressmen who will not face any opposition in the primary.

The other two are Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who drew only one Democratic opponent, and Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), who will face a Democrat and a Libertarian in the November general election.

The incumbent Republican drawing the most opponents in the June 7 primary was freshman Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar), who is under federal investigation for alleged campaign finance irregularities during his first election in 1992. Four Republican challengers signed up for the primary. The Democratic primary drew one candidate.

But most of the attention was focused on the 70th Assembly District seat being vacated by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach).

Republican power brokers met with some of the candidates in recent days to whittle down their number in an attempt to diminish the risk of losing the nomination to a moderate Republican. Their efforts proved successful when three previously announced candidates--attorney Phillip B. Greer, business owner Scott McDougle, and attorney Bruce Peotter--abandoned the race.

Those Republicans remaining in the hunt include Marilyn C. Brewer, a businesswoman who also serves as an aide for Supervisor Thomas F. Riley; Irvine Councilman Barry J. Hammond, who picked up additional political endorsements as Greer left the race; and Newport Beach attorney Thomas G. Reinecke.

“It’s important there be a unified and joint effort for the sake of the nomination of conservative candidates,” Fuentes said. “I think there will be a very clear choice of liberal versus conservative candidates” in the Republican primary.

State Sen. Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove), who was among those trying to talk candidates out of running, said: “There was a consensus that some of the people were spinning their wheels and it didn’t make a lot of sense for them to be in the race.”

Greer’s short-lived candidacy had drawn significant financial and political backing but became a lightening rod of controversy among conservatives. He said in a prepared statement that he withdrew out of concern the conservatives would split the vote and allow “a moderate or even liberal Republican to win the nomination. I could not allow that to happen.”

Peotter echoed the sentiment. “I don’t feel that the conservative vote should get split and allow someone who’s not conservative to win,” he said.

The conservative Republicans’ target is Brewer, who describes herself as the “only conservative mainstream Republican” in the race. She was the founding president of a bipartisan political group designed to help female candidates in local and state races.

In the 69th Assembly District in central Orange County, a heavily minority area where the Republican Party hopes to take away the only legislative seat now held by an Orange County Democrat, Santa Ana school board member Rosemarie Avila did not return her nomination papers. She had been the only Latina seeking the Republican nomination.

Friday would have been the filing deadline for three seats up for election on the Board of Supervisors. But with two incumbents choosing not to seek reelection, the deadline for those two seats was extended until Wednesday.

Of the three supervisorial races, the most competitive contest is the 2nd District seat being vacated by Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder. Businesswoman Haydee Tillotson and Huntington Beach City Council members Linda Moulton-Patterson and Jim Silva are widely considered the main contenders.

Wieder, the first woman to serve on the Board of Supervisors, is retiring in January after 16 years on the board.

In the 5th Supervisorial District, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) was the first to announce her candidacy to succeed Riley, who is retiring. Bergeson so far is the only candidate seeking the seat.

In other races:

* Supervisor William G. Steiner drew a challenger in Anaheim community college professor Phil Knypstra, a critic of government waste and inefficiency who regularly appears before the Anaheim City Council.

* Orange County Marshal Michael S. Carona said that he will not run against Sheriff Brad Gates but will instead return more than $20,000 to supporters who had contributed to his early candidacy.

Carona said his campaign hinged on Gates’ intention to seek the office of lieutenant governor. When Gates decided to remain in Orange County, Carona said his own candidacy became “a different story. . . . I guess it’s just not in the cards this time.”

* Dennis Patrick O’Connell, an Anaheim attorney, announced that he will run against Claude E. Whitney, a Municipal Court judge in Santa Ana who is now under investigation by the state Judicial Performance Commission. The watchdog agency, which monitors the state judiciary, is looking into whether Whitney denied basic constitutional rights to hundreds, if not thousands, of defendants who appeared before him between June and December of 1992. Whitney has denied the allegations.

The only city holding a council election in June is Dana Point. It promises to be a wide-open affair, chiefly because two of the three incumbents have opted not to run for reelection. Council members Eileen Krause and Mike Eggers, both members of the young city’s charter council, announced in recent weeks they would not seek new terms.

Times staff writers Len Hall, Kevin Johnson and Dan Weikel contributed to this report.

June 7 Primary Candidates

The following candidates filed in Orange County to run in the June 7 primary election. Candidates who filed elsewhere for districts that include some or all of Orange County are not included.

U.S. SENATOR

Republican

- William E. Dannemeyer, Fullerton

Libertarian

- Richard Benjamin Boddie, Huntington Beach

CONGRESS

39TH DISTRICT

Democrat

- R.O. (Bob) Davis, Buena Park

Republican

- Edward R. Royce, Fullerton ***

Libertarian

- Jack Harris Dean, Fullerton

41ST DISTRICT

Democrat

- Richard Waldron, Anaheim

Republican

- Robert Kerns, Ontario

- Jay C. Kim, Diamond Bar ***

- Valerie Romero, Upland

- Ed Tessier, Pomona

- Todd R. Thakar, Orange

45TH DISTRICT

Democrat

- Brett J. Williamson, Costa Mesa

Republican

- Dana Rohrabacher, Huntington Beach ***

46TH DISTRICT

Democrat

- Madelene E. Arakelian, Laguna Hills

- Robert John Banuelos, Santa Ana

- Norman Z. Eckenrode, Placentia

- Michael P. Farber, Santa Ana

- J.M. Ivler, Los Alamitos

- Don Payne, Anaheim

Republican

Robert K. Dornan, Garden Grove ***

Libertarian

Richard G. Newhouse, Garden Grove

47TH DISTRICT

Democrat

- Gary Kingsbury, Irvine

Republican

- Christopher Cox, Newport Beach ***

- Steven J. Frogue, Lake Forest

Libertarian

- Victor A. Wagner Jr., Mission Viejo

48TH DISTRICT

Republican

- Edward A. Mayerhofer, Santa Ana

- Ron Packard, Oceanside ***

ORANGE COUNTY

SUPT. OF SCHOOLS

- John F. Dean, Newport Beach ***

- Darrell Opp, Laguna Beach

COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION

Trustee Area 2

- Sheila R. Meyers, Huntington Beach ***

Trustee Area 5

Elizabeth Dorn Parker, Costa Mesa ***

SUPERVISOR

2nd District*

- Raymond Thomas Littrell, Garden Grove

- Steven E. Malone, Huntington Beach

- Linda Moulton-Patterson, Huntington Beach

- Jim Silva, Huntington Beach

- John A. Thomas, Huntington Beach

- Haydee V. Tillotson, Huntington Beach

4th District

- William G. Steiner, Orange ***

- Phillip Knypstra, Anaheim

5th District *

- Marian Bergeson, Newport Beach

COUNTY ASSESSOR

- Larry L. Bales, Tustin

- David J. Holbert, Mission Viejo

- Bradley L. Jacobs, Mission Viejo ***

COUNTY AUDITOR

- Steven E. Lewis, Irvine ***

COUNTY CLERK / RECORDER **

- Lee A. Branch, Tustin ***

- Gary Granville, Orange ***

- Ella M. Murphy, Huntington Beach

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

- Michael R. Capizzi, Orange ***

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR

- William A. Baker, Irvine ***

- Michael K. Stark, Newport Beach

- Mitchell T. Tracy, Anaheim

SHERIFF-CORONER

- Brad Gates, San Juan Capistrano ***

- Bonnie Rae Streeter, Capistrano Beach

TREASURER-TAX COLLECTOR

- Robert L. Citron, Santa Ana ***

- John M.W. Moorlach, Costa Mesa

MUNICIPAL RACES

DANA POINT CITY COUNCIL*

- Toni Gallagher

- Karen Lloreda

- Wit Muller

- Ernie Nelson

- David Pytleski

- Bill Shepherd

- Robert Wilberg

*The filing deadline has been extended to Wednesday because the incumbent is not seeking reelection.

** The offices of county clerk and county recorder have been combined.

*** Incumbent