ELECTIONS / COUNTY RACES : Democrats, GOP Plot Fall Campaign Strategies : Politics: At stake in the balloting are four legislative posts, two congressional seats and host of city, school and countywide contests.

Ventura County Democrats hold their annual barbecue and political rally in Camarillo today, while Republican candidates and supporters plot their own campaign strategies and battle plans for the weeks ahead.

Labor Day has traditionally marked the start of the fall political season, a time when candidates on both sides of the political field turn up the volume on their campaigns, holding fund-raisers, launching voter-registration drives and organizing volunteers to lead get-out-the-vote efforts in November.

Candidates are jockeying for four legislative posts and two congressional seats representing Ventura County as well as a host of city, school and countywide races.

Democrat and Republican leaders say how well their candidates do in the Nov. 8 election will depend on a number of factors, ranging from voter turnout--which some fear could be affected by the O.J. Simpson trial--to the performance of both Gov. Pete Wilson and President Clinton.

The statewide initiative Save Our State, which calls for banning health and education benefits to illegal immigrants, could also be a factor because it elicits such strong emotional reactions from conservatives and liberals.

“I think it’s going to bring conservatives out to vote,” said Bob Larkin, chairman of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee. “And if it does, it’s going to help Republicans all down the line.”

But Democratic leaders and organizers say while the ballot measure may boost voter turnout, that does not necessarily mean Republicans will have the advantage.

“If SOS brings out conservatives, it will also bring out liberals,” said Vince Ruiz, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, a co-sponsor of the Democratic barbecue today. Besides, said Ruiz, who is helping to lead get-out-the-vote efforts in the county, not all traditional Democratic voters oppose the measure.

“Latinos are as divided on this issue as everybody else,” he said.

Still, Ruiz said Democrats have their work cut out for them in Ventura County, where Republicans have gained a significant lead in voter registration.

“The problem with Democrats is that we need to get people out to vote,” he said. “We need to get united more than anything else. We need to spend the off years doing what the Republicans do, registering voters and getting organized.”

Ruiz said proceeds from the Labor Day barbecue will be used to open a united Democratic headquarters in downtown Ventura, one that will provide telephones, fax machines and volunteers for the party’s state and federal candidates. Also, he said the Labor Council is planning to launch an aggressive voter-registration drive in coming weeks.

Democrats are also hoping the campaigns of gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Brown and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) will also attract Democratic voters to the polls.

Paul Chatman, chairman of Democrats United of Ventura County, said both candidates have already spent time campaigning in Ventura County and are expected to make return visits.

“Ventura County has become an important county for a lot of statewide races,” Chatman said. “We’re growing, so we get a little more attention. We used to be the county where the campaign train went through real fast. But now they’re willing to stop and talk to us.”

Meanwhile, Republicans say a historic midterm backlash against the party in power will favor GOP candidates. They’re also hoping the slight decline in Clinton’s approval rating and Wilson’s proven ability to fight his way back in public opinion polls will boost the chances for all Republicans.

“It’s obvious the Democrats are doing everything they can to distance themselves from the President,” said Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley), who is seeking his fifth term. “In the eight years I’ve been in Congress, I’ve never seen more confusion and a lack of leadership than I’ve seen in the last eight months.”

In the November election, Gallegly will face Kevin Ready, a Santa Barbara deputy county counsel who has little campaign cash or public name recognition.

But Gallegly, who won his congressional seat in 1986 after an upset primary victory over Tony Hope, said he doesn’t take any opponent lightly. “Every race is the toughest race of my life,” he said.

Both candidates agree that one of the most pressing issues facing the county is the possible threat of closing or scaling back the Point Mugu and Port Hueneme naval bases as part of the continuing defense cutbacks.

With 11 years of military experience in both the Army and Navy, Ready said he is better suited to lead the fight to keep the bases open.

“It’s interesting because I’ve got more military experience than my conservative opponent,” Ready said. “It’s usually the other way around.”

Although he has no military background, Gallegly said he has always enjoyed strong support in the military community, noting that the Veterans of Foreign Wars named him California legislator of the year in 1992.

“You don’t get that type of endorsement unless you’re sensitive to the needs of veterans and strongly support the military services in this country,” Gallegly said.

In the county’s other congressional race, Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) is being challenged by Richard Sybert, a former cabinet-level official in Gov. Wilson’s Administration who has poured more than $300,000 of his own money into the race.

Sybert has run a tough-talking campaign, accusing Beilenson at every opportunity of being an “off-the-rack liberal, who is soft on crime, soft on immigration . . . and tough on taxpayers.”

But Beilenson said voters in the 24th Congressional District, which stretches from Thousand Oaks to Sherman Oaks, will not be swayed by such campaign rhetoric.

“I go through this every two years,” said Beilenson, who handily beat Tom McClintock, a former Thousand Oaks assemblyman and dyed-in-the-wool conservative, to retain his seat in 1992.

Beilenson acknowledged that President Clinton’s drop in opinion polls would not help him this November to win his 10th term in Congress. But he said he did not believe it would hurt him either.

“My experience has always been that voters in California are pretty independent,” he said. “They don’t necessarily pull the lever all the way for one party or the other. Back in the ‘80s, people all over the Valley were voting for Reagan, and at the same time they were voting for me for Congress. So I don’t really think it makes a lot of difference.”

Democrat and Republican leaders both covet two open legislative seats that represent Ventura, Santa Paula, Ojai and other west Ventura County communities.

In the 35th Assembly District, Brooks Firestone, a Santa Barbara winery owner and a descendant of the founder of Firestone Tires, is competing against Democrat Mindy Lorenz, a college professor and former Green Party congressional candidate. The seat is available because Assemblyman Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria) has decided to run for the state Senate.

Republican officials say the well-financed Firestone, who narrowly lost his first bid for the Assembly seat to O’Connell in 1982, is better prepared this time. But Firestone said he is not waging his campaign as a sure thing because voter registration in the Assembly district is split almost evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

Firestone recently distributed a letter to supporters of Lorenz’s Democratic primary opponent, Bob Ream, in hopes of luring them to his campaign. In the letter, Firestone made reference to Lorenz’s former affiliation with both the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party.

“At best Mindy Lorenz is a political candidate looking for a party and a belief,” Firestone wrote in the letter. “At worst, she’s an opportunist.”

Lorenz views her political background as an asset, saying it demonstrates her willingness to take a stand on issues and her openness to view them with a fresh perspective.

“I think one of the things people like about me is that I have a demonstrated record of having the courage of my convictions,” she said, adding that Ream had no success exploiting her history of switching political parties.

Lorenz and her supporters hope voters will be more impressed with her ability to overcome personal struggles. Once a single mother living on food stamps, Lorenz has managed to earn a doctoral degree and a job as an art history teacher at Cal State Northridge.

“I think I really understand the everyday needs of people,” she said.

In the state’s 18th Senate District, O’Connell faces Steve MacElvaine, a cattle rancher and former San Luis Obispo County supervisor for the seat left open by retiring Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara).

O’Connell has enjoyed bipartisan support for a decade in his 35th Assembly District, which encompasses the southern half of the 18th Senate District.

But MacElvaine said that while O’Connell has done well with voters in his Assembly district, he is not well known in the northern half of the district that includes MacElvaine’s home turf in conservative San Luis Obispo County.

O’Connell has captured a wide advantage in campaign cash, amassing more than $247,000 for the fall campaign. In contrast, MacElvaine shows only $3,000 in his campaign bank account.

Nonetheless, MacElvaine said he will run an aggressive campaign. And he adds that O’Connell has spent 12 years in the legislature, and therefore must take some of the blame for the economic, education and crime problems facing California.

“You don’t get to be the No. 2 man in the state Assembly and not be part of the problem,” MacElvaine said.

In the 37th Assembly District, Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard) is seeking his second term to represent most of Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Port Hueneme and Oxnard. He faces his old nemesis, former Oxnard City Councilwoman Dorothy Maron, in the fall election.

Democrats concede that Maron is a long-shot because Takasugi is better known and better financed. He has stockpiled nearly $60,000 for the fall campaign, contrasted with Maron’s reserves of less than $3,000.

“It’s going to be hard for her,” said Ruiz, of the Labor Council. “Takasugi has defeated her for mayor before. And he’s in a district that includes conservative areas like Thousand Oaks and Camarillo.”

Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), whose 38th Assembly District includes Simi Valley and Fillmore, will face 19-year-old Democratic challenger Josh Arce of Chatsworth in November.

Although Arce has little name recognition or financial support, he said he plans to run an aggressive grass-roots campaign against Boland, who is seeking her third term.

Two longtime county politicians are also making bids for statewide office this November. State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) will square off against state Controller Gray Davis for lieutenant governor, while former Republican Assemblyman Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks will go up against Los Angeles businesswoman Kathleen Connell for state controller.

Meanwhile, candidates for Ventura County offices have also been busy opening campaign offices in recent days, collecting endorsements and rustling up scarce campaign dollars for the fall election.

In one Thousand Oaks-based supervisorial district, longtime Thousand Oaks Councilman Frank Schillo is competing against first-time candidate Trudi Loh, an attorney. The race is expected to focus on growth and environmental issues.

In another supervisorial district, this one covering Simi Valley and Moorpark, Moorpark Councilman Scott Montgomery faces Simi Valley Councilwoman Judy Mikels. Both candidates are running on their public records and government experience.

The only other countywide race on the November ballot is for county auditor-controller. Appointed incumbent Thomas O. Mahon is running against Oxnard accountant Richard Morrisset.

Although more than 500 Democrats are expected to attend the barbecue pep rally in Camarillo today, Larkin said county Republicans have no special events planned.

“We’ve been working hard all year, so we’re going to take the day off,” Larkin said. “But we’ll be ready to kick into overdrive on Tuesday.”