Democrats Recapture Control of Assembly

Democrats on Wednesday were savoring a surprisingly strong election comeback in the state Legislature, where they strengthened their 25-year dominance in the Senate and edged out Republican Speaker Curt Pringle to narrowly recapture the Assembly.

Even with some races still up in the air, Democrats were talking about extending an olive branch to Republican Gov. Pete Wilson and collaborating on a moderate agenda, including implementation of federal welfare reforms and expansion of the governor’s popular plan to reduce the size of public school classes.

Eyeing the closeness of many contests, Democrats indicated that they had no plans to add new state spending programs but expect that the conservative Republican social agenda, such as limiting abortion rights, will go nowhere.

Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), a big winner in Tuesday’s elections, was restrained in his forecast. He said that legislative programs would “reflect the necessity of compromise” with Wilson.

In post-election jockeying for power, some Republicans were complaining about losses that occurred on the watch of Senate GOP Leader Rob Hurtt, a staunch Orange County conservative whose fate was made uncertain by Democratic wins.

Democrats in Los Angeles County picked up two Senate seats in Republican strongholds, with former federal prosecutor Adam Schiff beating GOP Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland in the Burbank-Glendale area and teacher Betty Karnette topping Assemblyman Phil Hawkins in the Bellflower-Cerritos area.

In the Assembly, behind-the-scenes maneuvering began immediately over Pringle’s successor as speaker.

Assembly Democrats knocked off two-term Assemblyman Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena), the only incumbent lawmaker defeated. He was beaten by former Pasadena City College President Jack Scott.

In other closely watched Assembly races, Democrat Sally Havice, an English professor, held a narrow lead over Republican Richard Lambros in a classic swing seat in the Cerritos area with final ballots still uncounted. And Democrat Scott Wildman, a teacher, held a slim lead against Republican John Geranios in a Glendale battleground.

The final outcome of these and a few other tight races statewide, including contests in the Central Valley and Contra Costa County, will probably be decided by thousands of absentee ballots, some of which might not be tallied until next week.

In one Contra Costa County race, the candidates were separated by 20 votes.

Assembly Democrats could control as many as 44 districts, although both sides say it is more likely that the Democrats will have a paper-thin 41- or 42-seat majority in the 80-member lower house.

Assembly Democratic Leader Richard Katz of Sylmar, who is leaving because of term limits, said voters viewed Pringle of Garden Grove as an extreme conservative in the mold of House Speaker Newt Gingrich and failed to buy into GOP stands against abortion rights and in favor of legislation that would have allowed virtually anyone to carry a concealed gun.

“The Pringle agenda was much like the Gingrich agenda, and that got rejected both on the national level and here in California,” a beaming Katz told reporters. “The voters have proved once again that they are moderate. . . . That’s why our candidates won.”

“The Assembly Democratic caucus did a phenomenal job in a year they weren’t expected to,” Katz said.

Pringle said it appears that the GOP controls 36 seats and could capture as many as 39.

“You don’t have to be a surfer to know when you’ve been hit by a big wave and that is what happened to Republicans across this state last evening. . . . We saw that this was not a good year for Republican candidates,” Pringle said, adding that he expects to remain the GOP’s Assembly leader.

A surprisingly cheerful Pringle told a news conference: “I was, of course, quite surprised.”

Even before the votes were counted, speculation was running rampant through the Capitol about Democratic lawmakers jockeying to succeed Katz and become the first Democratic speaker since Willie Brown, now mayor of San Francisco, was forced to give up the reins of power after the GOP’s gains in 1994.

Several Democrats were openly in the race, including Sheila J. Kuehl of Santa Monica, Kevin Murray of Los Angeles and Cruz Bustamante of Fresno. Others regarded by Democrats as potential candidates are Wally Knox of Los Angeles, Carole Migden of San Francisco, Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles and newcomer Don Perata of Oakland.

Kuehl was equally focused on keeping her caucus united.

“We’re rolling up our sleeves . . . trying to organize a new government,” she said.

Still, a bruising internal fight is expected between now and Dec. 2, when the new Legislature convenes. Whichever Democrat emerges as speaker will share center stage with Lockyer, who has been the Capitol’s most powerful Democrat. Lockyer flexed his muscle as a fund-raiser by amassing millions of dollars that he dumped into targeted races.

On election day, Lockyer’s Democrats scored victories to give him, at minimum, one more seat or, at maximum, three additional seats--depending on final vote counts--which would give him a 25-14 majority with one independent in the 40-member house.

Among the seats still in play were a swing district in the Monterey-Santa Cruz area, which Democrats believed was within their reach, and a neck-and-neck race in suburban Contra Costa County east of San Francisco.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Sandy Harrison, Lockyer’s press secretary.

But Lockyer was very restrained in assessing his wins.

“There’s a Democratic majority in the Senate, with 22 now. It’s likely to be 23 and could be 24 or 25,” Lockyer told an afternoon news conference.

Meanwhile, storm clouds gathered over Hurtt’s job as head of Senate Republicans. It was the wealthy Hurtt whom Republicans installed in 1995 to lead their battle to become the majority party in the Senate.

“I think the results put his job in jeopardy,” said Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno), whom Hurtt ousted as GOP leader. “Certainly he owes the Republican caucus an explanation of what happened, why and what he has to offer from a leadership point of view.”

Hurtt has given millions of dollars to conservative legislative candidates over the past several years. He had said he hoped to win at least one and possibly two new seats for Republicans on Tuesday as building blocks for an all-out effort in 1998.

Maddy, who will retire in 1998, said he is not seeking to retake Hurtt’s minority leader post. But he cited Sen.-elect Jim Brulte of Rancho Cucamonga as a potential contender. Brulte is a former Republican Assembly leader who oversaw GOP victories in 1994.

A spokesman for Hurtt defended Hurtt’s performance in his first general election contest against Lockyer.

“The strong national ticket for the Democrats cleaned us out in California,” said press secretary Rob Stutzman. “If Hurtt hadn’t raised the money and spent what he did, we could very easily have dropped another couple of seats.”

Stutzman said Hurtt intends to remain GOP floor leader. “His plan is to oversee Senate elections in 1998” as the Republicans’ leader, Stutzman said.

Stutzman complained that Lockyer outspent Hurtt by $3.7 million--$9.5 million to $5.8 million, according to GOP figures.

Lockyer acknowledged that he raised and spent “a little more” than $10 million.

A GOP source who asked not to be identified said Lockyer’s constant characterization of Hurtt and Republicans as “extremist” had a major impact.

“We got beat on the word ‘extremist,’ ” the source said.

Among the other factors that influenced Democratic gains were President Clinton’s strong showing in California; organized labor’s coordinated attacks on Republicans running for open seats, and a strong push by environmentalists against the GOP Assembly caucus.

Another factor was the Democrats’ use of energy and money in areas with overlapping legislative and congressional contests.

At his post-mortem news conference Wednesday, Wilson said Bob Dole’s poor showing in California had undeniably influenced the fate of some Republicans in Assembly races.

Wilson, who funneled about $1 million into legislative races, noted that in 1994, a gubernatorial election year, he had finished 1.2 million votes ahead of his Democratic opponent, Kathleen Brown, and the Republicans--enjoying a coattail effect--had picked up eight Assembly seats.

“This time, we lost by 1.2 million votes at the top of the ticket,” he said. “And you certainly cannot take that kind of a hit and not expect shock waves all the way down the ticket.”

Wilson said the television networks bore some of the blame for Republican losses, saying that early projections of a Clinton win had kept some voters from going to the polls.

“I think that Congress should look very seriously at restraining the networks from projecting the outcome,” Wilson said. “It does affect West Coast turnout. . . . It certainly risks depressing turnout in an artificial way which is really not fair to candidates for other offices.”

Lockyer, who often was at odds with Wilson, offered to work with the governor, now beginning his final two years in office.

“My own view is that the combat phase is over,” he said, adding that compromise with Republicans will be necessary to “kick the can down the road” and advance a progressive agenda for California.