ELECTIONS : GOP Sets Its Sights on 2 Seats in the Assembly That It Lost Last Time : Best chances for the Republicans are thought to be in the 53rd and 54th districts, where registration is split almost evenly between the two parties.

Republicans have begun their effort to recapture the two South Bay Assembly seats they lost two years ago, with a field of primary candidates largely unknown beyond their hometowns.

Insurance adjuster David Bohline and insurance agent Julian Sirull, both of Redondo Beach, are seeking the nomination in the June 7 primary in the 53rd Assembly District, which stretches from Venice to Palos Verdes Estates. The winner will face Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) in the November general election.

In the neighboring 54th District, which includes the Palos Verdes Peninsula and Long Beach, Rolling Hills Estates restaurateur Jeffrey Earle and Rancho Palos Verdes Mayor Steve Kuykendall are running for the GOP nod to face Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach).

Democrats now hold all five of the Assembly seats that encompass parts of the South Bay.

The only Democratic primary race for the Assembly with opposition is in the 52nd District, which includes Gardena. There, incumbent Willard H. Murray Jr. faces former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia A. Moore and Los Angeles businessman Stephen Hamlin.

Among the South Bay seats, Republicans have their best chances in the 53rd and 54th districts because registration is split almost evenly between the two parties.

Many Republicans considered it a fluke that Bowen and Karnette won in 1992. Bowen, a lawyer, beat Redondo Beach Mayor Brad Parton, whose fundamentalist Christian views and opposition to abortion turned off some of the GOP faithful. Karnette, a math teacher, defeated 14-year Republican incumbent Gerald N. Felando in a race many Democrats had written off as lost.

“We got fried” in 1992, said Keith McCarthy, chairman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party. He says Republicans were hurt in 1992 by Ross Perot’s independent candidacy and by President George Bush’s decision to give up campaigning in California.

“But now we don’t have Bush or Perot to contend with,” he added. “The candidates will be selected on their own merits.”

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In the 53rd District, Bohline and Sirull each base their campaigns on improving the state’s business climate.

Bohline, 26, who was a delegate to the Republican National Convention and a Republican volunteer as a student at USC, says the state needs to cut taxes, further reform the workers’ compensation system and limit tort lawsuits in civil courts.

For example, he said, the legal system encourages criminals to file frivolous claims against cities in hopes of winning a big payout.

Sirull, 36, says businesses should get more tax incentives, and he too favors further workers’ compensation reform. He also says the state could set up job-training programs that are customized to new businesses.

“The state’s role is to create an environment to get the companies here and to help entrepreneurs create their own businesses,” Sirull said.

The candidates differ on only a few issues. Sirull favors a ban on assault weapons. Bohline does not. Sirull says he would accept the recent Assembly pay raise; Bohline says he would not.

Bohline said he has spent about $10,000, and Sirull said he has spent $2,000.

Raising funds has not been as easy this year as it was for Parton in 1992, when the candidate spent about $740,000 on his losing campaign, McCarthy said, explaining that Bohline and Sirull don’t have the same name recognition that Bowen or Parton do. Bohline and Sirull “are straight out of grass-roots politics,” he said. “It’s great that they are running, but unfortunately, (not being well-known) is a disadvantage.”

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By contrast, McCarthy said, Republicans are “sweating and drooling” over a match in the 54th District with either Earle or Kuykendall against Karnette.

Earle, 35, runs a Red Onion Restaurant his family owns in Rolling Hills Estates. Kuykendall, 47, is a mortgage banker who has served on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council since 1991.

Democrats still have a slight edge in registration in the district, but both Republicans have lined up high-profile endorsements. Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese supports Earle, and former California Gov. George Deukmejian backs Kuykendall.

They also have strong financial support. Earle said he has raised about $175,000 for his campaign, including a personal loan for $25,000 and a $50,000 loan from his mother.

“I’m spending money like a drunken sailor,” Earle said.

Kuykendall said he has spent about $70,000 so far, most of it raised from small contributors.

“I haven’t written myself any big checks,” Kuykendall said.

Both have chided Karnette, saying she would take a pay raise that a citizens commission recently granted state legislators. (Karnette has taken no position on the raise.)

Effective in December, lawmakers’ annual pay will rise 37%, from $52,500 to $72,000. And like their counterparts in the 53rd District, Earle and Kuykendall consider themselves more fiscally conservative than the incumbent.

Earle also has tried to show differences between himself and Kuykendall, saying his GOP opponent has supported tax increases as a City Council member. Kuykendall voted for a utility tax last year to help raise revenue for road repairs and street maintenance.

“My opponent has supported some tax increases while on the (Rancho Palos Verdes) City Council,” Earle said. “I’m for lowering taxes. I would not support any further taxes.”

But Kuykendall said he doesn’t “have any intention of raising anybody’s taxes.”

Rather, he calls for reducing the number of state regulations that force cities to spend extra money to meet their requirements. In addition, he says, the state can operate more efficiently, just as Rancho Palos Verdes has had to do in the face of declining revenue.

“I would use Rancho Palos Verdes as an example of how to deliver government services,” Kuykendall said. “We’re getting a lot of bang for our buck.”

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The Democrats’ race for the 52nd Assembly District had the makings for a true political thriller, featuring two candidates whose public lives have been peppered by controversy.

Incumbent Murray (D-Paramount) has been widely condemned by Compton civic leaders for supporting a state takeover of the insolvent Compton school district last year. And Moore, the former Compton City Councilwoman, has provoked criticism that she is a political opportunist.

Despite the potential for a raucous campaign filled with accusations, the contest has instead turned into a sleeper.

There have been no forums and little campaigning. Murray, 63, said he has been speaking to church and community groups when he flies home from Sacramento.

Murray already is predicting victory over Moore, 46, and Hamlin, 29. The winner of the primary will face Republican Richard A. Rorex, a Gardena engineer, in November.

“I’ve won three elections fairly handily,” said Murray, who beat Moore two years ago and is seeking his fourth term. “There’s no indication that this time should be any different.”

Moore says she’s had little time for the campaign trail because she has been caring for her ailing mother in Ventura County. Moore said she had not planned to enter the race but changed her mind after receiving numerous phone calls from residents complaining that Murray had lost touch with the district, which covers Gardena, Compton, Lynwood, Paramount and the southeastern tip of Los Angeles.

Murray said the state takeover of Compton schools should be considered one of his significant achievements. Last year, Murray sponsored legislation granting the school system an emergency, multimillion-dollar bailout loan. The district fell under state control as a condition of the loan.

School board members denounced the state intervention, arguing that it was wrong to usurp local control, but Murray said the move was necessary to salvage a district in financial and academic ruin. “I will accept any unpopularity that decision caused,” he said.

Murray’s critics portray him as an aloof legislator unconcerned with his constituents’ problems and say he received the lowest rating among 78 Assembly members in a recent survey conducted by California Journal, a magazine that covers state politics.

Murray dismissed the survey’s findings, pointing out that less than 17% of those polled actually returned the survey.

Moore also has some political liabilities. She is an alleged target in an FBI bribery probe dating to her time as a Compton city councilwoman. Moore said she has not been contacted by federal authorities and knows nothing of the case.

First-time candidate Hamlin, meanwhile, believes he offers a fresh alternative for voters. A resident of southern Los Angeles, Hamlin said he is walking door-to-door in the district to highlight his platform, which calls for improved schools, more jobs and police reform. “I won’t say I’m very well-known right now, but I’m building up a lot of support in the community,” he said.

Times staff writer Duke Helfand and community correspondent Psyche Pascual contributed to this report.

* VOTERS’ GUIDE: 4