Amid Eulogies, Parties Size Up Capps’ Seat

Even as the tributes to Walter Capps continued, political operatives on both coasts Wednesday started quietly assessing their party’s prospects of capturing the congressional seat vacated by the sudden death of the Santa Barbara Democrat.

The seesaw nature of the Central Coast district, the slim GOP margin in the House and the timing of a special election on the cusp of the 1998 campaign mean that the contest will be closely watched across the country--and richly endowed by the national parties and their allies.

“It will be a magnet for party-building and for [special interest group] spending. Whoever wins will get a week of spin out of it,” said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report, a handicapper’s guide to congressional contests. “Everyone wants to play. It’s a very competitive district, not a slam-dunk for anybody.”

Capps, 63, died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack suffered as he flew to Washington after a weekend at home in the 22nd Congressional District.

His collapse was eerily presaged by an incident in the 1996 campaign, when Capps passed out at a radio station during an interview.

“It had to do with electrical impulses from the heart,” said Bryant Wieneke, his campaign treasurer and a congressional aide. “It shook him up. He was given the go-ahead to get back into the campaign, slowly testing himself. That was seen as a minor incident and his energy returned.”

Subsequently, Capps survived a massive car crash that left him hospitalized for weeks.

On Wednesday, much of the morning business in the House of Representatives was given over to eulogies for Capps, from Republicans and Democrats, veteran legislators and Capps’ fellow freshmen alike.

Gov. Pete Wilson has two weeks to call a special election to fill Capps’ seat. The primary is likely to be in December or January, and followed, if necessary, by a February or March runoff.

After several decades of Republican rule, the 22nd District has recently grown highly competitive. Last year, Capps became the first Democrat to win the seat since World War II, defeating Republican Andrea Seastrand in a costly and bitter contest.

Given the close party registration, the district is seen as a tossup-- and a critical test at a time when the GOP holds a meager House majority.

Even before Capps’ death, at least four Republicans were weighing the race. Along with Seastrand, they are Rick Bravo, a pediatrician and former chairman of the San Luis Obispo County Republican Party; state Assemblyman Tom Bordonaro of Paso Robles, and former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker.

By Wednesday afternoon, however, efforts were quietly underway to rally the party around Assemblyman Brooks Firestone of Los Olivos, currently a candidate for lieutenant governor.

Among Democrats, two names that repeatedly surfaced in Wednesday’s speculation were state Sen. Jack O’Connell and former state Sen. Gary K. Hart, two longtime Santa Barbara-area legislators. Also mentioned as a possibility was Capps’ wife, Lois.

A memorial service for the lawmaker and longtime UC Santa Barbara religious studies professor is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the Santa Barbara Mission.

Times staff writers Jodi Wilgoren and Kenneth R. Weiss contributed to this story.