GOP Faces Upset in One of Nine Races

Democrat Lou Correa burst from obscurity Tuesday to pull nearly even in early returns with incumbent Assemblyman Jim Morrissey, providing the only possibility for an upset in a likely Republican sweep of nine county legislative contests.

As county Democrats held their breath, Correa, a little-known financial consultant and political neophyte, inched closer to the 66-year-old Santa Ana lawmaker in the heavily Latino 69th Assembly District.

“Holy mackerel,” said Morrissey, when told that early results showed a virtual dead heat with Correa. “Now that’s scary. . . . The worst that can happen to me is that I get to retire.”

At a Democratic gathering across town, a buoyant Correa motioned to the dozens of young Latino campaign workers. “Looking at all the people out here who worked their butts off the past few months, I got to make it happen for them,” he said. “If we win it, it will be a tremendous boost in their eyes.”

Larry G. Engwall from the Natural Law Party was running a distant third.

In the county’s other spotlight legislative race, freshman Assemblyman Scott Baugh gathered with jubilant Republicans at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel to celebrate his apparent win not only over his two political challengers, but over Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi.

Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) won a special election in November 1995 to fill the seat of recalled Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), who was elected speaker after defying Republicans and casting her lot with Assembly Democrats. Capizzi charged that Baugh misreported substantial campaign loans and contributions during his run for Allen’s seat and falsified campaign reports to hide connections with a GOP scheme to recruit a friend of his to run as a decoy Democrat.

Capizzi refiled charges of campaign finance wrongdoing against Baugh last month after a judge gutted the case against the freshman lawmaker in September.

“The voters have elected me three times in a year despite all of this,” said Baugh as a stream of well-wishers slapped him on the back. “I’m sure it doesn’t help to go into a campaign with an indictment against you.”

Early results showed Baugh running well ahead of Democrat Cliff Brightman and Reform Party candidate Donald W. Rowe in the conservative 67th Assembly District.

As they have in years past, Republicans rolled over all challengers, including a slate of candidates from the nascent Natural Law Party.

It was business as usual in the county’s two state Senate contests. Veteran GOP lawmakers John R. Lewis and Ross Johnson--with 34 years in the Legislature between them--once again appeared to be sauntering to easy wins.

Lewis (R-Orange) defended his 33rd state Senate seat against Democratic political newcomer and self-proclaimed “sacrificial lamb” David Robert Heywood, 26, a political science student at Cal State Fullerton and part-time customer representative in the cellular phone industry.

Johnson (R-Irvine), who won a special election for the 35th Senate district last year, was handily recapturing the seat--again defeating chief rival Democrat Madelene Arakelian, owner of the South Coast Refuse Corp. Arakelian’s blunt charges that Johnson was simply a politically savvy product of the county GOP machine did little to sway voters.

Johnson, now the second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, also beat out Natural Law candidate Nat Adam for control of the district, which includes Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach.

In the 68th Assembly district, Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle was holding back a rancorous challenge from Democrat Audrey L. Gibson late Tuesday. Although the district, which includes Anaheim, Buena Park, Westminster and Garden Grove, is not overwhelmingly Republican, Pringle has had a lock on his seat since his 1992 election.

Incumbent Marilyn C. Brewer also appeared on the way to victory in the coastal 70th Assembly District, beating back accusations that she had joined “the boys” in the GOP hierarchy and dodged key votes. Democrat Shirley W. Palley, a retired schoolteacher and political activist, was running a distant second, followed by Libertarian Gene Beed and Paul R. Fisher of the Natural Law Party.

Democrat Jack Roberts didn’t get the miracle he said it would take for him to defeat Republican Bill Campbell in the 71st Assembly district. Campbell, owner of more than a dozen Taco Bell restaurants, was leading Roberts, a union official, by a 2-to-1 ratio in the heavily Republican district.

In the vast 73rd Assembly District, which includes most of southern Orange and parts of northern San Diego counties, Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) appeared headed to an easy win over Democrat Robert D. Wilberg, a county parks employee who had accused Morrow of being anti-union, and the Natural Law Party’s Catherine Carter.

First-term Assemblyman Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) had the easiest race of the night in the 72nd District, winning handily over no challengers.

Also contributing to this report were Times staff writers Michael G. Wagner, Nancy Cleeland, Lily Dizon, David Reyes and Times correspondent Bonnie Hayes.