ELECTIONS / 49th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT : Minority Candidates Try to Make Ethnicity a Minor Issue

Assemblywoman Diane Martinez (D-Monterey Park) and challenger Judy Chu, Monterey Park’s mayor, say they would just as soon forget about the issue of ethnicity as they campaign for the June 7 Democratic primary.

“It’s not really something I concern myself with,” Martinez said in an interview. “The issues are not about color.”

Said Chu: “I’m presenting myself as a candidate for all people.”

But Martinez and Chu are members of ethnic groups that have sought to increase political representation, and ethnicity in politics is a factor that voters are likely to consider. That includes races where candidates from different minority backgrounds are bucking not the majority old guard but each other.

Upon her election two years ago, Martinez joined a small but growing pool of Latinos in the Assembly. Chu would become the first Chinese American in the Assembly since March Fong Eu, now ambassador to Micronesia, left the Legislature in 1974.

The 49th District is considered friendly toward Asian candidates because of a pronounced Asian presence. On some streets in Monterey Park, where people of Asian descent make up 53% of the population, store signs written in Chinese characters are as common as English-language signs.

But districtwide, Latinos account for about 55% of the population, whereas Asians make up 29%, according to census data. The district includes parts of Monterey Park, Alhambra, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City, El Monte, Los Angeles and unincorporated East Los Angeles.

The picture is even more favorable for Latino candidates when voter turnout is considered. Estimates provided by both campaigns indicate that Latinos cast about 50% of the votes in the 1992 Democratic primary and Asians 9%.

Although ethnicity may hurt Chu at the ballot box, it apparently has helped fill her campaign coffers. She has raised $163,000 so far, most of which has come from donors with Asian surnames. Martinez has raised about half as much, but that could change as the election nears.

As an incumbent, Martinez has the ability to tap into campaign donors from a range of special interests concerned with issues from education to gambling. In addition, she has the support of the Assembly’s Democratic leadership and the state Democratic Party, which could provide mailers and campaign workers to help get out the vote.

Chu declines to concede an ethnic advantage to Martinez, but she has acknowledged that her appeal must go beyond the Asian community. “I think that people will vote on the issues and on the quality of candidates, and I’m running on that basis,” she said.

A psychology professor at East Los Angeles College, Chu won a seat on the Monterey Park City Council in 1988, in part by promising to bridge cultural gaps in the community. Chu worked toward that goal in 1990, when she spearheaded Harmony Week, an event to celebrate Monterey Park’s ethnic diversity.

The winner of the primary is virtually guaranteed victory in November; Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 49th District by more than 2 to 1.

Martinez and Chu largely agree on issues such as improving education and the economy and reducing crime. Their campaigns have focused on who is more qualified to achieve common goals.

Chu’s challenge in the primary grates on Martinez, who sees her opponent as overly ambitious. With term limits in effect, Chu should have waited for an open seat, the assemblywoman said.

“To me, it’s unfortunate that someone has so much ambition that they can’t wait their time,” Martinez said. “Instead of dividing our efforts in contested primaries, we should be working to elect a (Democrat as) governor.”

Chu says the 49th District can’t wait. She cites a recent survey by the California Journal, a magazine on state politics, that rated Martinez as a poor legislator.

“Our district is clearly being shortchanged,” Chu said in a recent interview. “She doesn’t get along with legislators up there and people don’t respect her. This district needs new leadership.”

Considered feisty and outspoken for an Assembly freshman, Martinez conceded she has rankled some lawmakers by aggressively pursuing her goals--and said she does not intend to change.

“If I start to concern myself with how the other legislators view me, and not the issues, I’m in trouble,” she said.

Martinez irked state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) when she grilled him on his proposal to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District, which the assemblywoman opposed. She later referred to the former Senate leader, who is of Italian descent, as the “godfather.”

Martinez defended her legislative record, dismissing the magazine survey results as “tantamount to gossip.” She noted that she authored a new law that prohibits school district officials from spending public money on alcoholic beverages. She co-authored another law that increases the punishment for armed adults who sell drugs near school bus stops.