ELECTIONS / STATE SENATE : GOP Candidates in 18th District Are Poles Apart

Voters in next month’s primary election will have little trouble distinguishing between the two Republican state Senate candidates battling it out in the district that covers western Ventura County.

Both Steve MacElvaine and Steve Decker are fiscally conservative businessmen who propose to slash government regulations to revitalize the California economy.

But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.

MacElvaine, a former San Luis Obispo supervisor, favors abortion rights and gun control. Decker, who runs a family owned New Jersey car dealership from his Santa Barbara home, is anti-abortion and supports efforts to repeal the federal ban on assault weapons.

They differ on other issues as well.

For instance, MacElvaine advocates placing a moratorium on the sale of offshore oil leases, adding that dozens of undeveloped leases now exist.

“There’s plenty of opportunity for the oil companies to develop what they got,” he said.

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Decker, on the other hand, backs additional offshore development, saying that Santa Barbara County receives millions of dollars in benefits from offshore oil drilling as well as hundreds of high-paying jobs.

“I want to keep the door open,” he said. “I never again want to see our country have to spend tens of billions of dollars to send troops over to the Middle East to protect our oil reserves over there when we have tons of reserves here at home.”

The two candidates will square off in the June 7 primary. Each is hoping to win the Republican nomination for the seat held by state Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara), who is retiring. Hart’s 18th District includes Ventura, Ojai, Santa Paula and all of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

The question voters will have to decide is who is the most qualified to compete against better-known Democrat Jack O’Connell in November. O’Connell, a 12-year veteran of the state Assembly, has already raised more than $316,000 in contributions and is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The 18th District post has long been coveted by Republicans. Hart has held the seat since 1982.

But Republican leaders say 1990 reapportionment, which shoved the district into conservative San Luis Obispo County, has increased the party’s chances of grabbing the seat away from Democrats this year. The redistricting narrowed the voter-registration gap, leaving it 43% Democrat and 41% Republican.

“This is definitely a targeted race,” said Bob Larkin, chairman of Ventura County’s Republican Central Committee. “This is one of the better voter registrations we have in the state. I think we have a 50-50 chance of taking this seat.”

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Although MacElvaine has more government experience and has been a tireless campaigner, Larkin said Decker has strong name recognition in Santa Barbara because of his activism there on water issues.

“I think both are qualified to run against O’Connell,” Larkin said.

MacElvaine, 49, said his extensive business and government experience sets him apart from his opponent. The developer and operator of a mobile-home park, MacElvaine was elected to the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors in 1978 and served one term. In 1983, then Gov. George Deukmejian appointed him to the California Coastal Commission where he remained until 1992.

The candidate said his experience in both instances taught him how to work with others and how to govern with an even hand.

“When I was on the board in San Luis Obispo, I was the swing vote,” MacElvaine said. “On the conservative side, I was a strong supporter of law enforcement and firefighters. On the liberal side, I strongly supported libraries and the county hospital.”

Despite his stand on new offshore oil development, he said he agrees with Decker on supporting Mobil Oil’s controversial “slant-drilling” proposal. The company wants to develop onshore oil rigs that would use special drills to tap into oil deposits offshore without exposing oil-carrying pipes to water.

“They have the ability to drill down 5,000 feet, make an angle turn and then extract oil from underneath the ocean floor,” MacElvaine said. “This could generate as much as $800 million in revenues.”

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While he acknowledges that illegal immigration is a growing problem, MacElvaine said he is hesitant to support the proposed “Save Our State” initiative that would ban illegal immigrants from hospitals and schools.

“I’m not sure it will stand up in court,” he said. “We’re under federal mandates to provide medical and educational benefits.”

But MacElvaine said he backs Gov. Pete Wilson’s lawsuit against the federal government demanding that it reimburse California for the cost of imprisoning illegal immigrants.

On other issues, MacElvaine said he favors using military bases as boot camps for nonviolent criminals as an alternative to building costly state prisons. On education, he said he strongly opposes the new California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) test.

“That’s crazy to be testing the psychology of a child when you should be teaching the basics,” said MacElvaine, who has a degree in farm management from Cal Poly.

The candidate raised $38,316 in campaign contributions, including a $15,000 personal loan, according to reports filed in March. He has also secured endorsements from former Rep. Bob Lagomarsino (R-Santa Barbara), the Santa Barbara Lincoln Club, Ventura City Council members Rosa Lee Measures and Jack Tingstrom as well as a host of other officials in the district.

Meanwhile, Decker is painting himself as an outsider in the race, emphasizing his role as a businessman and community activist. In 1991, he ran unsuccessfully for the proposed Montecito City Council and last year pulled out of a congressional race, citing personal and business reasons.

But Decker is best known for leading a successful campaign to tie Santa Barbara County into the State Water Project. Voters in 1991 approved a measure to import Northern California water into the drought-plagued region for the first time.

Decker said conservative Republican leaders persuaded him to jump into the state Senate race because of his community activism. In addition to reducing government regulations on business, he said his priority will be to find ways for government to work more efficiently.

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To help cut down on construction and operating costs, for instance, Decker has proposed privatizing the state’s prison system.

“The prison system in Texas is significantly privatized,” he said. “As a result, they can build two prisons for every one we build.”

He said prisons could also be turned into manufacturing centers, where prisoners could learn a skill and also earn money that could be used to pay debts, outstanding child support and victim restitution.

“There’s a lot of room for innovation,” he said.

Decker said he has not read all of the details of the proposed statewide initiative that would ban benefits to illegal immigrants, so he has not taken a formal position on the issue.

“But generally speaking if it goes toward eliminating the abuse of our social services I would go along with it,” he said. “We cannot be a free lunch to the world.”

Decker has raised $19,249 in campaign contributions, according to his most recent finance report. He has also been endorsed by a number of conservative groups, including the California Republican Assembly, the California Pro-Life Council, California College Republicans and the National Rifle Assn.

Decker has criticized MacElvaine as a “career politician” who represents the status quo.

“Mr. MacElvaine talks a lot about his ability to work with others,” Decker said. “Well, I don’t want to go along to get along. If I go up to Sacramento, I want to shake things up.”

MacElvaine said his experience as a San Luis Obispo County supervisor and with the California Coastal Commission taught him how government works, which he said is an advantage. He said it also “taught me to be realistic,” and to know when to compromise to get things accomplished.

For his part, MacElvaine has criticized Decker for not having paid state income taxes since moving to Santa Barbara in 1986.

“I don’t understand how you can be in that position and understand the real problems facing this state,” MacElvaine said.

Decker, who is also a licensed realtor, faulted government regulations and a bad economy on his inability to develop a 17-acre parcel he owns in Montecito. As a result, he has not generated enough income to pay state taxes.

“But I’ve paid more than $100,000 in property taxes,” he said.