Brewer Claims Victory in O.C. Assembly Race

Still clinging to a narrow lead over her nearest opponent, businesswoman Marilyn C. Brewer on Wednesday declared herself winner of the hotly contested 70th Assembly District Republican primary, the survivor--for now--of a near-even split of votes among three candidates, the other two of whom had touted their conservative credentials.

“It’s all done,” said Brewer’s campaign consultant, Harvey A. Englander. “Marilyn is the Republican candidate.”

But attorney Thomas G. Reinecke, who was in second place after votes were counted Tuesday, did not concede victory to Brewer while an undetermined number of absentee votes remained to be counted. A Reinecke campaign official said the candidate was, in fact, “confident” he would follow his father, former Lt. Gov. Ed Reinecke, into public service.

The GOP primary winner is virtually guaranteed victory in the November general election because the district, which includes parts of Costa Mesa, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Tustin, is so heavily dominated by Republican voters.

Brewer played down the possibility that she could become the first Republican abortion-rights backer to be elected to the Legislature from Orange County in 22 years, saying she believes she won because she had solid credentials that appealed to GOP voters.

“The more mainstream Republican candidate has blazed a new trail,” Brewer said. “Hopefully, it will be easier for other mainstream Republican candidates in the future.”

Brewer, the apparent beneficiary of a split among the district’s most conservative voters between Reinecke and Irvine City Councilman Barry J. Hammond, leads by 250 votes, with an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 absentee ballots still to be tallied, according to her campaign. The absentee results are expected to be counted Friday or Monday.

The 70th Assembly GOP primary was just one of several tight contests Tuesday:

* In the race to succeed retiring Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, the stage is set in Huntington Beach for what promises to be an especially intense runoff election. The city’s mayor, Linda Moulton Patterson, will be pitted against Councilman Jim Silva.

In a race in which the top three candidates were separated by less than three percentage points, businesswoman Haydee V. Tillotson’s failure to make the runoff will go down as the most expensive personal loss of the local primary.

Tillotson lent her campaign more than $342,000--more than any other Orange County political candidate--only to fall short of the runoff by 1,286 votes.

* Longtime Anaheim City Councilman Irv Pickler, behind for a time on election night, edged education specialist Linda Kay Rigney in the Democratic primary in the 68th Assembly District. Pickler garnered 8,986 votes (53.3%) to Rigney’s 7,728 votes (45.8%). In November, Pickler will face incumbent Republican Curt Pringle, who was unopposed in the primary.

* In the four-way race for county clerk-recorder, Clerk Gary Granville was not able gain an outright victory over Recorder Lee A. Branch, despite Branch’s censure for misconduct earlier this year. Branch’s office will be merged with the clerk’s next year.

Like Silva and Moulton Patterson, the two will meet again in the Nov. 8 runoff election.

“Now it comes down to the two of us and that’s the way it should be,” said Granville, who finished with 42% of the vote. “I have to win for the good of government.”

* Pending misconduct charges against Municipal Judge Claude E. Whitney did not keep him from winning reelection. Municipal Judge Pamela L. Iles also successfully parried a challenge.

Municipal Judge Gary P. Ryan won the county’s only open Superior Court seat, while prosecutor Caryl Lee forced Municipal Judge Dan C. Dutcher into a November runoff.

Also in doubt is the outcome of the Democratic primary in the 69th Assembly District, where Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce President Mike Metzler was leading Santa Ana City Councilman Ted Moreno.

With both candidates saying that about 500 absentee ballots remained outstanding in the district, Metzler led Moreno by 265 votes, 3,338 to 3,075. But, he said, “I believe our numbers will increase.”

Moreno, however, refused to concede, saying he still believes he will win when all the votes are counted.

If he wins, Metzler said, his campaign against Anaheim manufacturer Jim Morrissey, winner of the Republican primary, will not vary much from the one he just conducted. Orange County Democrats are seeking to retain their lone legislative seat in a district that includes Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

The seat is now held by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), who is running for state attorney general.

After weighing all conceivable outcomes involving the uncounted absentee votes, Brewer’s campaign advisers said Wednesday that the “worst-case scenario” they could envision is Brewer winning by just 103 votes.

“Why would they make that assumption?” asked pollster Mark Baldassare, who, like some others, seemed mildly amused by the Brewer campaign’s assertion. “How do they figure?”

Englander said the number is based on the assumption that the late absentee ballots will reflect the voting on election day, not the early absentee results. The early absentee results actually favored Hammond, who trails Brewer by 997 votes.

Though he is still alive mathematically, Hammond said Wednesday that the race is between Brewer and Reinecke.

“She hasn’t won yet,” Hammond said. “Tom’s real close.”

Based on the voting, Hammond believes Reinecke has every reason to be optimistic.

“You had 27,400 votes cast for conservatives and 13,000 cast for the moderate,” Hammond said.

Throughout the campaign--dubbed one of the nastiest in the state--Brewer fended off the “moderate” label given to her because she favors abortion rights. Brewer said she prefers to call herself “a mainstream Republican who happens to be pro-choice,” a way of thinking that was reflected in her campaigning.

Pitching herself as the only fiscally conservative, socially moderate candidate, Brewer for the most part stayed away from the abortion issue and played to her strengths, mainly the economy.

Contributing $240,000 of her own money to her campaign, the first-time candidate also gained credibility with conservative voters via her business background and her ties to popular Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, for whom she was formerly an aide.

“The issue of choice was not a major issue in the election,” Baldassare said. Conversely, “the issue of fiscal abilities is one that Republican voters pay attention to.”

Hammond, on the other hand, was probably damaged by revelations of his past financial problems, including personal bankruptcy.

With only the late absentees outstanding, Brewer has 13,856 votes (34.2%), Reinecke 13,606 (33.6%) and Hammond 12,859 (31.8%).

The winner will face Democrat Jim Toledano in November. Toledano ran unopposed in his party’s 70th Assembly District primary.

Times staff writers Rene Lynch and Kevin Johnson contributed to this report.