Assembly Race Heats Up as Primary Nears

The race to succeed Marguerite Archie-Hudson in South-Central Los Angeles’ 48th Assembly District traipsed along for weeks as a rather genteel affair, with none of the candidates speaking ill of their rivals as Tuesday’s primary election approached.

But no race involving Sacramento political operative Richie Ross could remain that way for long, political insiders say. Ross, campaign consultant for Democratic candidate Bob Campbell, practically basks in descriptions of himself as an attack dog.

Three weeks ago, the Ross touch surfaced as Campbell denounced Rod Wright, one of his chief rivals in the Democratic primary, for accepting campaign contributions from the gun lobby.

“How can Rod Wright fight against the people who send the weapons of death and destruction into our community when he is owned by that lobby?” Campbell said.

Wright’s retort: “To say in 1996 that a black man is ‘owned’ by somebody is a bit over the top.”

The 48th District is 83% Democratic and only 5% Republican. Victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary assures election; Republicans did not field a candidate.

By most accounts, Wright, who runs Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters’ South-Central district office, is the man to beat in a seven-candidate scramble. Wright lost by 422 votes in a 1991 City Council race against Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Campbell, a deputy director of the Museum of Science and Industry, is regarded as Wright’s strongest challenger. A third candidate, former Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell--the man Ridley-Thomas replaced on the council--is a wild card with high name recognition who could knock all of the handicapping into a cocked hat. A consultant who decided in December to reenter politics, Farrell is making his second run for the 48th District seat.

The other candidates in the Democratic primary are: Addie “Time” Miller, Ocie Hinkle, contractor Robert Bridges and Bobbie Jean Anderson, an administrator in the county public defender’s office. Only Anderson, long an activist in South-Central, is expected to attract significant support among those four.

The head-on collision over guns between Wright and Campbell was triggered by a Wright mailer that said in part: “Kids on the streets of our community have more firepower than my father had in World War II.”

Once Wright raised the issue, Campbell said, he had to respond. “Gangs and guns are a serious problem for our community, but where do gangs get the guns?” Campbell said. “They don’t manufacture guns and they don’t own the stores which sell guns to our kids. Guns are sold to our community by the very people who support Rod Wright.”

Wright, Campbell noted in a written statement, ran the 1982 campaign against the California Gun Control Initiative in South-Central, and worked for Citizens Against the Gun Initiative, a group financed by the Gun Owners of California, the National Rifle Assn. and Smith and Wesson.

Wright said this week that he opposes ownership of assault weapons and is against convicted felons possessing guns.

Campbell acknowledged that he is not opposed to current laws that say “folks can purchase guns. But if I had my way, there wouldn’t be any guns.”

He said he and Wright “differ substantially on the principle of accepting money from the NRA, the gun manufacturers and the California Gun Owners--groups that are pushing the ownership of assault rifles. These people stand for everything that is anti-our community.”

Wright has endorsements from Waters and county Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, while Campbell has the blessings of state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) and Archie-Hudson.

Farrell has what could have been the prize endorsement, some observers say, but he has not done much with it. Former Mayor Tom Bradley endorsed Farrell at a fiasco of a news conference on the City Hall steps.

The endorsement announcement was overwhelmed by a colorful, balloon-filled conflicting news conference Mayor Richard Riordan called at the same time to honor individuals chosen to run in the 1996 Olympic torch relay this spring. Bradley and Farrell were virtually ignored.

Some political activists who say they once supported Farrell, who served 17 years on the City Council, now say that his campaign--or lack of it--has been a disappointment.

But Farrell said his campaign “is peaking on schedule. I got a headquarters open, signs up, flyers out, phone banks up.

“Friends are coming forward and rallying around me because I have been there for them.”

Wright and Farrell lost to Archie-Hudson in the Democratic primary for the 48th Assembly District seat six years ago, and Archie-Hudson went on to succeed Waters, who was elected to Congress.

Farrell has more name recognition than any other candidate in this year’s race, and his name appears at the top of the ballot. “This race is absolutely crazy, and you can’t rule Farrell out,” said one analyst who asked to remain anonymous.

Anderson, a county employee for 30 years, is making her first run for public office. “I’ve been involved in politics at the grass roots level for a long time,” she said, pointing out that she has worked in earlier campaigns for Waters, Archie-Hudson and Wright.