SANTA CLARITA / ANTELOPE VALLEY : ELECTIONS / STATE ASSEMBLY : Lancaster Councilman to Announce Candidacy

Lancaster City Councilman George C. Runner will announce today that he is a candidate for the state Assembly seat to be vacated next year by William J. (Pete) Knight (R--Palmdale).

Runner, who administers a private Christian school and has served on the council since 1992, confirmed Wednesday that he will officially announce his candidacy at a news conference.

Runner shares many of the conservative views of the other declared candidate, public school board member Billy A. Pricer. Both are Republicans with close ties to local churches, and both express philosophical views that emphasize traditional family values and law and order.

As a member of the Antelope Valley Union High School District board, Pricer, 52, was the key proponent of a recently implemented reward program for students who turn in classmates carrying drugs and weapons on campus. Earlier this week, Runner backed a city plan to force parents to pay the cost of enforcing Lancaster’s curfew law.

Pricer is a retired sheriff’s deputy and associate pastor at a Lancaster church that produced a nationally distributed anti-gay video. Runner founded a local group that opposed gay rights, pornography and abortion.

“I think that certainly both Billy and I are fiscal and social conservatives,” Runner, 42, said Wednesday.

Runner pointed out that he also possesses extensive business experience as the founder and executive director of Desert Christian Schools, with more than 1,800 students and 200 employees.

Because the district, which covers the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, is heavily Republican, the March, 1996, primary is viewed as crucial. Other Republicans who said they are considering entering the race include Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford and Santa Clarita Councilman George Pederson.

Lancaster Mayor Frank Roberts, who serves with Runner on the Lancaster council, said Wednesday that he has decided not to run for the Assembly seat “at this point in time.”

Knight is leaving the post to run for a state Senate seat.