Firestone Won’t Seek Reelection to Assembly

Saying he has accomplished the goals of his 1994 campaign, Republican Assemblyman Brooks Firestone announced Thursday he will not seek reelection to his 35th District seat.

The move leaves the district--which includes Ojai, Santa Paula and Ventura along with southern Santa Barbara County--up for grabs in the June primary election.

Firestone refused requests for interviews, deferring comment to a two-page news release issued Thursday afternoon.

“When I first ran for the Assembly in 1994, I set two very simple goals: to begin to make government run like a business and to start reforming education,” Firestone said in the release. “In three years, California has made great progress in both areas and I have played a material role in that progress. I feel I have done what I set out to do; now it’s time to give others a chance.”

Santa Paula rancher Dan Pinkerton has already announced his candidacy for the seat, along with Alan O. “Lanny” Ebenstein, a teacher from Santa Barbara who lost a bid for the seat in 1992. Both are Republicans.

Former Ventura City Councilwoman Rosa Lee Measures, a Republican, also has been mulling a bid but has yet to declare one way or the other.

Neither Pinkerton nor Measures returned phone messages late Thursday afternoon.

Firestone’s announcement comes nine days after he lost a special election called to replace the late Walter Capps (D-Santa Barbara) in Congress.

The more moderate Firestone was beaten in the Jan. 13 special election by conservative Tom Bordonaro for the right to run against Capps’ widow, Lois.

“The hope, of course, was that Brooks would go on up to Congress and we’d fill in behind him,” said Karen Kurta, former chairwoman of the Ventura County Republican Central Committee.

Firestone’s move, therefore, does not affect the Republican game plan.

“Obviously, it’s a big disappointment that Brooks is not going to finish out another two years, but I understand it was a pretty bruising [congressional] campaign and it was kind of discouraging,” Kurta said.

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With reported prodding from House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former President Gerald Ford, Firestone had dropped plans to run for California lieutenant governor and instead focused his efforts on Capps’ seat.

The outgoing assemblyman harbors no plans to run for any other state office, legislative assistant Leon Page said Thursday from Firestone’s Sacramento office.

John L. Davies, Firestone’s political consultant, said Firestone did not change his mind about seeking reelection, despite considerable pressure from his Assembly colleagues.

“He’s still eager,” Davies said. “But it’s hard after a really hard-fought battle from your own party to go in with that same innocent enthusiasm to get things done.”

Firestone, Davies said, felt he had accomplished all he could within the minority Republican Party in the Assembly.

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In his news release, Firestone cited his audit of the Assembly, elimination of the Council for Post Secondary Education, partial privatization of the California Student Aid Commission and state tax cuts as his proudest moments in the Assembly.

He also cited class-size reduction, stemming increases in higher education costs and the “scholarshare” bill, which eliminated taxes on college savings for parents.

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Firestone, a two-term assemblyman, is a staunch supporter of term limits. He once told The Times that the state is better off with such limits, because it allows “people from the real world” to serve in the Legislature, rather than career politicians.

“I always said that I was not looking for a job but saw a job that needed to be done,” the 61-year-old Firestone said in his announcement Thursday. “My goal was to return to my family and the vineyard after I accomplished what I set out to do in the Assembly. Now I’m pleased to do so.”

Firestone, whose grandfather founded the Firestone tire company, owns a Los Olivos winery.

Firestone’s term ends in December.