Local Races in Fall Will Offer Clear Contrasts

These are the battle lines for November in Ventura County: A prosecutor versus a deputy public defender for Superior Court judge, conservative Republican versus a moderate Democrat for state Assembly, and hand-picked successor versus private businessman for county assessor.

After failing to muster a majority vote in the three-way race to replace suspended jurist Robert Bradley, Kevin McGee--Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury’s second-in-command--will face a runoff election in November with public defender Gary Windom.

In the race to succeed outgoing Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard), Republican Tony Strickland, a conservative 28-year-old legislative aide, will face moderate Democrat Roz McGrath, a schoolteacher and member of one of the county’s most influential farming families.

And in the campaign to replace retiring county Assessor Glenn Gray, in-house hopeful James Dodd and appraiser Dan Goodwin are headed for a November runoff after besting Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton and four other candidates in a wide-open contest.

Other showdowns on the November ballot include the campaign to replace retiring Assemblyman Brooks Firestone, a battle that will pit Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson against Republican Chris Mitchum; the 24th Congressional District race that matches U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) against Republican Randy Hoffman, and the 23rd Congressional District race featuring U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) versus Democrat Daniel Gonzalez.

County Races

East county voters overwhelmingly reelected incumbent supervisors Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo in Tuesday’s election, rejecting neophyte candidates who ran campaigns focusing almost entirely on growth, according to semiofficial results.

In the 2nd Supervisorial District, Schillo, a Thousand Oaks financial advisor, received 16,143 votes, or 64.9% of the ballots cast. His opponent, appraiser Vince Curtis of Oak Park, received 8,548 votes, or 34.4% of the ballots cast. Schillo’s district spans from Oak Park and Thousand Oaks into Port Hueneme.

In the 4th Supervisorial District, Mikels, a Simi Valley small-business owner, collected 15,664 votes, or 69% of the ballots cast. Her opponent, industrial paint salesman Jon Palo of Simi Valley, received 6,824 votes, or 30% of the ballots. Mikels’ district includes Simi Valley, Moorpark and Somis.

In the race for county auditor-controller, incumbent Tom Mahon beat challenger Steve Maulhardt to win a second term. Mahon received 58,549 votes, or 55.1% of the ballots cast, contrasted with 47,135 votes, or 44.4% for Maulhardt.

In the race for county superintendent of schools, incumbent Charles Weis took 69.6% of the vote against challenger Wayne Edmonds, an Oxnard Union High School District administrator.

And in the seven-candidate assessor’s race, Dodd and Goodwin outdistanced longtime Simi Valley Mayor Stratton, who had never before lost an election, to pull ahead of the pack and enter November’s runoff.

Dodd collected 24.8% of the vote, while Goodwin received 23.8%, and Stratton 18.8%. They were followed in the polls by appraiser Roy Villa with 13% of the vote, county attorney Larry Matheney with 8.1%, Los Angeles County assessor’s employee Des Kester with 6.8% and tax consultant Charles Taylor with 4.2%

Dist. Atty. Bradbury, County Clerk Richard Dean and Treasurer-Tax Collector Hal Pittman were unchallenged, as was Chief Deputy Sheriff Bob Brooks, who will take the place of retiring Sheriff Larry Carpenter.

Judge’s Runoff

Tuesday’s election raised questions for two candidates and provided an unwelcome answer for a third in the race for a Superior Court judgeship.

McGee took the top spot with 40.3% of the vote while deputy public defender Windom came in second with 30.8%.

They will now square off in a November runoff--a contest that has not occurred in a judge’s race for at least a decade, according to election officials.

Meanwhile, they must grapple for the support of the 32,714 voters who backed third-place finisher Cathleen Drury, a family law attorney from Thousand Oaks who drew 28.5 percent of the ballots.

Seeking to thwart the rise of another prosecutor to the bench, Drury on Wednesday urged her supporters to vote for Windom.

In her campaign, Drury sounded what has become a familiar theme for challengers outside the law-and-order establishment: The court needs the perspective of judges who have not ascended to their jobs from the district attorney’s office. About 80% of the county’s Superior Court judges once worked for Bradbury.

“McGee and his fellow prosecutors run the same campaign year after year after year,” she said. “The sheriff and the district attorney write the same letter and it goes to every household in the county because they’ve got the same deep pockets. It’s very difficult for anyone else to get through.”

For his part, McGee said the people who voted for him saw through such complaints. He said he was confident he would draw many of Drury’s backers.

“I think I have an appeal to women looking for someone sensitive to those issues of concern to them,” he said, citing his office’s aggressive pursuit of deadbeat parents who owe thousands of dollars in child support payments.

McGee also cited his endorsements from three of the Superior Court’s four female judges.

Windom, meanwhile, said he and his campaign staff members could develop new strategies after analyzing the primary election’s results precinct by precinct.

“We’ve got to find out how to pick up the areas we were weak in and maintain those where we were strong,” he said.

Even so, Windom said he was heartened by the primary’s outcome.

“The people were saying they want more balance,” he said. “They were saying they’re tired of the prosecution believing that they’re the only persons who can be fair and impartial judges in this county. Sixty percent were saying they want something different.”

Open Assembly Races

In the Assembly campaign to succeed Firestone, Jackson trounced her Democratic opponent, gas company employee Al Pizano, receiving 34.7% of the popular vote to Pizano’s 10.4%.

Mitchum, meanwhile, pulled ahead of his two GOP opponents, contractor David Lack and Santa Barbara school board member Alan Ebenstein. Mitchum received 27.6% of the popular vote, contrasted with 14.1% for Lack and 12.0% for Ebenstein.

Mitchum and Jackson will square off against Natural Law Party candidate Eric Dahl in November.

In the campaign to succeed Takasugi, who cannot seek reelection due to term limits, Strickland easily outdistanced the four other Republican challengers to face McGrath and Reform Party candidate Michael Farris in November. Takasugi’s 37th Assembly District includes Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Oxnard and Camarillo.

Strickland received 27.6% of the popular vote, followed by fraud investigator John Patrick Lane of Moorpark with 12.2%, taxpayer advocate Jere Robings with 8.3%, toy company executive Rich Sybert with 7.3% and Port Hueneme Councilwoman Toni Young with 5.2%.

An emotional Sybert said Wednesday that the loss, which came weeks after he was caught on videotape ripping Strickland’s signs, will be the end of his political career.

“It obviously was very damaging,” Sybert, who spent more than $150,000 of his own money on the race, said of the tape. “But frankly, the numbers were so bad that it looks like the right wing came out to vote and no one else did.

“I have the satisfaction of knowing that I’ve done everything possible to change the minds of voters,” he added. “But this is the end for me.”

Sybert said he could never throw his weight behind Strickland in November.

“I don’t believe he’s qualified,” Sybert said. “I worked with the Legislature for years, and in my opinion, he is incapable of being an effective representative. He can’t put two sentences together.”

Now that Strickland has emerged as her Republican opponent in November, Mcgrath said Strickland was the foe she was hoping for all along.

The reason: Mcgrath says she believes Strickland’s far-right views on issues such as gun control and abortion will scare off more moderate Republicans.

“I think the contrast is going to be very evident once the issues are out,” she said. “I think there is a greater contrast between myself and Mr. Strickland than myself and Mr. Sybert.”

McGrath, who hardly campaigned for the primary and spent less than $1,000, said she will work hard to secure support--and money--from state Democratic leaders in Sacramento.

Strickland, meanwhile, said he will continue championing the issues that led him to victory in the primary. He countered McGrath’s contention he is too conservative for the district by arguing she is too liberal.

“I don’t need a focus group to tell me what my views are,” Strickland said. “I am who I am, and I’m not going to change for the November election or anything else. I think voters are going to respect that.”

He shrugged off Sybert’s decision not to back him, saying other Republicans will band together to win the seat in the coming months.

“Republicans have primary fights, but we’ll be unified by the time of the November election,” he said. “Given a choice between a conservative Republican and a liberal Democrat, I think voters here are going to choose the Republican.”

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* PROP. 227: County educators debate vote on bilingual education. B1

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* VENTURA RETURNS: A28, A30