Smith Could Turn Contest Into 3-Way Race

Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills) and businessman Robert Oltman were considered front-runners for the Republican nomination in the 21st state Senate District, when retiring state Sen. Newt Russell threw them a curve ball: He endorsed their opponent Wilbert Smith.

The nod from Russell has the potential to turn the contest into a three-way race if perennial candidate Smith, director of community relations for Gov. Pete Wilson, can parlay it into campaign donations needed to spread the word to Republican voters.

The surprise endorsement from Russell, who had promised to stay out of the fray, apparently came about because of a poll commissioned by a Smith supporter which concluded that Smith stands the best chance of winning crucial crossover Democratic support from fellow African Americans in the general election in November.

While acknowledging that Boland would have liked to have had Russell in her corner, her aide Scott Wilk pronounced it a “sad day in Republican politics” when an endorsement is based on the race of a candidate.

Smith, a former Bank of America vice president who opposes affirmative action, says that race is not, and should not be, an issue in the campaign. Besides, Russell also extolled Smith as an “articulate spokesman for conservative causes” with “energy and new ideas.”

In addition to Russell’s blessings, a letter from retiring Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) concludes that Smith is the most qualified Republican candidate.

The winner of the Republican primary will meet Democratic nominee Adam Schiff, who is unopposed in the March 26 primary. Schiff is a former federal prosecutor with the kind of law enforcement credentials that appeal to moderate voters of both parties.

“He’s the most formidable Democrat to be fielded in this race for 30 years,” said Wellington Love, Russell’s district office chief.

Love said much has changed in the district in the two decades Russell has been in office. Republican voter registration has plummeted from 58% to 42%, so Democratic support is essential in holding onto the seat.

Boland, who is leaving her Assembly seat in the northwest Valley because of term limits, says the endorsement will help her in the end by diluting Oltman’s support.

“That’s probably the end of Oltman,” said Boland, who by virtue of her name recognition alone has been a strong candidate from the minute she entered the race.

Since then, however, Boland has frequently been absent from the campaign trail, citing her Assembly responsibilities and presumably hoping to prevail on her high profile and strong endorsements.

Not surprisingly, Oltman, a wealthy businessman who lost a state Assembly primary in 1992, doesn’t see the race as Boland does. He portrays her as worse than a carpetbagger in that she’s flouting the will of the voters by running for the state Senate after losing her Assembly seat to the term limits that she favors.

Boland retorted that if voters wanted to make it illegal to run for the other house in the state Legislature, they would have done so.

“I want to go and represent the district because I speak their voice,” Boland said.

She already dropped a mailer slamming Oltman for claiming to support Proposition 187, the initiative aimed at restricting public services for illegal immigrants, then conceding at a campaign forum that he voted against it.

Oltman will not discuss his vote further, saying it’s a “confidential matter.” But he did say he donated money to the campaign and has the backing of Proposition 187’s chief proponent, Ron Prince.

Though consultants familiar with the area consider him a longshot, Smith is hoping the escalating acrimony between Oltman and Boland, coupled with the support of Russell and Moorhead, will help him pull off an upset.

“Boland and Oltman are doing a good job of beating each other up,” said Smith, a former Pasadena school board member, who has lost races for state school superintendent and the state Legislature. “We’re going to focus on our strengths.”

When they are not squabbling, Boland and Oltman--as well as Smith--espouse views heavily weighted toward the social-conservative agenda. They favor publicly funded private-school vouchers and school prayer.

At a campaign forum, all responded to questions of the government’s role in the AIDS epidemic by decrying loose sexual mores and the dangers of sex education in school.

Boland, perhaps best known for her efforts to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District, went so far as to call the district “one of the most immoral institutions in our country.”

On abortion, Smith holds the most moderate view--favoring government funding when a mother’s life is in danger as well as in cases of rape and incest.

Boland has changed her position. She no longer believes abortion should be an option for rape victims, but only in cases of incest and to save a mother’s life. Oltman opposes abortion under any circumstance.

While all three support tough crime-fighting measures, Smith tempers the punishment side with crime-prevention strategies, especially early intervention with children in fatherless homes.

As chair of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Boland has major law enforcement backing and has sponsored numerous public safety measures during her six years in Sacramento representing the northwest San Fernando Valley. Currently, Boland said she is working on a bill to “remove conjugal visits to prisoners.”

For his part, Oltman says California prisons are too cushy and advocates modeling one on jails in other parts of the world, such as Mexico and China.

“That’s where all the illegal aliens [in prison] will spend their time,” Oltman said.

Former Glendale school board member, Sharon Beauchamp, is the fourth Republican seeking to represent the 21st District, which includes Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena and parts of Los Feliz.