Early Primary Created Unexpected Headaches for Many Candidates

Although the incumbents like it, most local candidates say moving the primary election to March has made for some unexpected turns on an already rocky campaign trail.

Shaving nine weeks off this year’s primary campaign created a seasonal shift in politics that caught candidates unaware and sometimes unprepared.

Take the rain. It toppled some campaign signs, turned others into a sodden mess.

Or the short daylight hours. Early nightfall cut into the time candidates could knock on voters’ doors.

Or the Christmas holiday season. It diverted cash and attention, just when candidates needed their supporters’ charity the most.

“I’ve heard all the complaints,” said Ventura County Clerk Richard D. Dean, who oversees the county’s elections. “They’ve had problems with scheduling, raising money and walking precincts. This whole idea of a March primary was a bad idea.”

The Legislature decided to move the state primary from its usual date in June, hoping to give Californians more clout in the presidential contests and stir up some excitement among voters who seem more apathetic every year.

It seemed a grand idea at the time. That was in 1993, before New York moved up its primary ahead of California and other states jockeyed for a better position.

So now Sen. Bob Dole has clinched the Republican nomination before the first ballot is cast in California. And President Clinton never had any real primary challenger.

Lacking an exciting race at the top of ticket, local election officials are predicting that fewer than half of the county’s electorate, about 45% to 48%, will cast ballots.

The secretary of state’s estimate is even lower, about 40% for Californians statewide. One study forecast a measly 28% turnout in California, extrapolating the experience of other states that switched their primary dates. Apparently many voters in those states were caught off guard, unprepared to make it to the polls on election day.

“We’ve had a difficult time getting anybody’s attention,” said Ray Komar, campaign manager for Jim Monahan, a candidate attempting to unseat county Supervisor Susan Lacey.

“People get in a habit of voting at a certain time,” Komar said. “I think the June primary is as natural to people as putting away your summer shoes at Labor Day.”

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Roger Campbell, one of four candidates attempting to fill the seat of retiring Supervisor Maggie Kildee, said he fears some voters may still be unaware of the early primary.

“That is probably the one thing I hear more than anything else when I talk to voters: shock that the primary is in March,” Campbell said. Only in the last week or so, he said, has he seen any recognition in voters’ eyes that the election is near.

Moving the campaign season into the winter presented new challenges for candidates used to the long days and warm, dry weather that precedes California elections in June and November.

Fussing over every detail, Campbell bought a new pair of waterproof boots, hat and briefcase so he could keep to his ambitious schedule of knocking on the doors of thousands of voters.

But the shorter days made it tricky to reach people at home, particularly on weekdays between the time they arrive home from work and before dark.

“I don’t feel comfortable walking up to some stranger’s house after nightfall,” Campbell said. “I don’t like answering the door after dark, and I’m sure others don’t either.”

And then there was the problem of the wet, blustery weather ruining signs.

Bob Larkin of Simi Valley, one of six Republicans competing to replace Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills), said he spent extra on extra-strength material for his campaign signs.

“I paid a lot to have my signs stand up in the rain,” he said. “The big ones are made of materials like they use for Fed-Ex envelopes. You can’t tear it. The small ones are cardboard and plastic coated.”

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Campbell, leaving nothing to chance, had his sign manufacturer send him some demos. He planted them on the lawn and hit them with the sprinkler for a week to see how they would hold up.

Other candidates also went top drawer but found they often had to replant drooping, listing signs after heavy rain softened the soil and winds loosened their stakes.

“I would hope we never do this again,” Larkin said. “It really made it an ungodly effort to run a campaign this time of year.”

To gear up for a successful campaign, candidates needed to get started before the first of the year. That presented a host of problems, often related to the holidays.

“From Thanksgiving through Christmas, it was tough to get people focused on what I was trying to do,” said Kathy Long, who is one of the candidates running for Kildee’s supervisorial seat.

For one thing, she said, “It was much more challenging to raise money.”

If the primary were not held until June, she said, she “could have taken some time off during the holidays and still had a couple of months to put the campaign together.”

Democratic congressional candidate Jeff Lipow said he too found it difficult to raise money after the holidays. Potential donors were reluctant to part with their money after being overextended during the holidays, he said.

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Lipow is one of seven Democrats competing for the chance to replace Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), who will step down next year. Beilenson did not announce his decision to retire until the first week of November, setting off a scramble for his replacement in the district that stretches from Thousand Oaks to Malibu and into the San Fernando Valley.

Lipow believes the early primary has given great advantage to experienced politicians like his Democratic opponent, Brad Sherman, a twice-elected member of the board of equalization.

“Brad Sherman is tied to an organization that he can kick into gear,” he said. “Guys like me who had never run before were at a big disadvantage. We had to build an organization and follow a steep learning curve. I didn’t even know how to get my name on the ballot.”

Indeed, experienced candidates and incumbents appreciated the extra edge provided by the truncated campaign season. They seem to enjoy watching their competitors scramble to catch up.

“We’re ahead, so we’re happy to have the election now,” said former Assemblyman Tom McClintock. He said a poll last month showed him with a considerable lead over five other Republicans vying for Boland’s Assembly seat.

“I’ve been behind in races, and I’ve always wanted a few more weeks,” McClintock said. “But we’re ahead, so we’re happy.”

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McClintock moved to Simi Valley in December to attempt the political comeback. A veteran of seven previous campaigns, he was able to trade on his experience to get established quickly.

Rich Sybert is trading on the name recognition he built up during the 1994 race with Beilenson. Sybert spent about $1 million in that race, narrowly losing to the congressman.

Now, a mere 16 months later, he remains well known among Republican voters, giving him an edge over his two rival Republicans, both of them first-time candidates.

“Actually, the early primary worked to our advantage,” said John Theiss, Sybert campaign director. “From our standpoint, we were already mobilized and ready to go.”

Proponents of a special library tax measure in Ojai also hope to build on the momentum of their unsuccessful campaign last fall to save their county library branch from losing more hours to budget cuts.

The campaign fell short by a few percentage points of winning the needed two-thirds majority vote for a $35 parcel tax to subsidize the library branch.

It’s a goal that seems within reach, said George Berg, volunteer coordinator for the Save Our Library Campaign in Ojai.

Following so close to the November defeat, Berg said, “There is a noticeably greater sentiment among people that we have to do something to help the library.”

For the most part, candidates and organizers said they would just as soon have the extra nine weeks to mount their campaigns. It looks like they’ll get their wish next time.

The state Legislature created the March 26 primary as a one-time-only experiment, not a permanent change. So future elections will return to the first Tuesday in June--unless the Legislature has another bright idea.