SOUTHLAND ELECTIONS : ASSEMBLY / 59TH DISTRICT : Margett, Decker in June Runoff for Mountjoy’s Seat

No candidate received a majority of the vote in Tuesday’s special election, setting up a runoff to fill the Assembly’s 59th District seat, which opened up as a result of the political maneuvering that enabled Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) to retain his leadership post.

Republican Bob Margett, an Arcadia councilman and developer, finished well ahead of eight other GOP candidates to qualify for a June 6 runoff. He will face Democrat Brent A. Decker, a county real estate appraiser.

Even though he failed to receive the majority of votes to win the seat outright, Margett crossed his biggest hurdle Tuesday by defeating Republican rival Ginny Joyce, a Duarte councilwoman.

Voter registration in the district favors Republicans over Democrats, 48% to 40%, leaving Decker with an uphill battle.

Margett emerged as a front-runner after receiving the endorsement of state Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), who held the 59th Assembly District seat before he moved to the Senate. Joyce was endorsed by Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and county Supervisor Deane Dana.

The other Republicans seeking the seat were Christopher (Chris) Lancaster, a former Covina councilman and the son of former Assemblyman Bill Lancaster; Glendora Councilwoman Lois M. Shade; Gary L. Woods, a member of the Citrus Community College Governing Board; James M. Oghigian, a businessman; Idris (Ed) Lloyd, a businessman; Gary V. Miller, a teacher, and Jeffrey L. Ruffner, an engineer.

The 59th District includes all or parts of Arcadia, Claremont, Covina, Duarte, Glendora, La Verne, Monrovia, Pomona, San Dimas and Sierra Madre.

The special election was called after Mountjoy was ousted from his Assembly seat during the recent leadership battle between Brown and Republican Leader Jim Brulte. Mountjoy won reelection in the 59th District last November while also winning a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat.

With the Assembly deadlocked--40 votes for Brown and 40 for Brulte--Mountjoy attempted to stay in the lower house to stymie Brown while keeping his Senate seat on hold. But Brown was able to force Mountjoy out of the Assembly and into the Senate. Brown then won the speakership.

The winner of the race for Mountjoy’s Assembly seat will fill the remainder of his term, which expires in 1998.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Key to Election Tables

An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent candidate.

Elected candidates and approved measures--or those leading with 99% of precincts reporting--are in bold type. Runoff elections may be required in races where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote. Results are not official and could be affected by absentee ballots.

Party affiliation is indicated in parentheses:

(D) Democratic

(R) Republican

0% indicates returns were unavailable at edition time or only absentee ballots had been counted.

Uncontested races are not included in the tables.

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Contributing to The Times’ election coverage:

Technical assistance: Deputy systems editor James D. Angius, systems architect Victor I. Pulver, systems analyst Jane Hwa.

Compiled by: Cecilia Rasmussen, Rossana Flores, Christina Kelch, Anthony Kelker, Roshawn Mathias, James McCaffrey, Ethan Thomas and Tomas Torres.

Sources: Election returns provided by Los Angeles County registrar of voters.

EDITION-TIME ELECTION RETURNS: California Assembly

DISTRICT 59

Claremont, Covina, Monrovia, Pomona, San Dimas

Partial Term

100% Precincts Reporting Votes % Bob Margett (R) 10,786 32% Ginny Joyce (R) 8,042 24% Brent A. Decker (D) 6,024 18% Gary L. Woods (R) 3,623 11% Christopher Lancaster (R) 2,245 7% Lois M. Shade (R) 972 3% Gary V. Miller (R) 911 3% James M. Oghigian (R) 426 1% Jeffrey L. Ruffner (R) 344 1% Idris Lloyd (R) 212 1%

Note: Runoff between leading Democrat and Republican