Assessor Jacobs Not on List of Candidates Filing for Local Races

Last-minute filers turned in their paperwork Friday to run in the June 2 primary, a contest that for the first time since the 1960s will not have an incumbent in the race for Orange County sheriff or district attorney.

Among the surprises was longtime Assessor Bradley L. Jacobs’ decision not to seek reelection. Among those in the running to succeed Jacobs, who served for 22 years, are Larry L. Bales, a veteran auditor in the assessor’s office; James Bone, a certified public accountant and former chairman of the assessment appeals board; and real estate broker Jeff Scott Reid.

In all, incumbents will be leaving five top county offices. Deadlines for races in which incumbents did not file are extended until Wednesday. In addition to the assessor’s office, the open contests are the supervisor seat in the 4th District around Anaheim, as well as the offices of sheriff, district attorney and auditor-controller.

Besides those key races, two incumbent supervisors--Jim Silva and Thomas W. Wilson--are seeking reelection against challengers.

The major partisan primary fight is for the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), the county’s only elected Democratic legislator.

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Seeking to unseat Sanchez in November in the 46th Congressional District are four GOP candidates: former Congressman Robert K. Dornan, who lists his occupation as broadcast journalist-historian; former Cypress City Councilman Cornelius Coronado; Superior Court Judge James P. Gray; and family lawyer Lisa Hughes.

Hughes on Friday pressed the double-barreled boost she gained last week when Anaheim City Councilman Bob Zemel quit the race and the politically influential Lincoln Club announced that it would oppose Dornan for the GOP nomination. She released a short list of local endorsements headed by Supervisor Todd Spitzer. “The team is coalescing,” she said.

Dornan, who lost to Sanchez by less than 1,000 votes amid charges of illegal voting, acknowledged he was looking past the primary to the general election and a rematch with the freshman Democrat. “Why Bob Dornan? Because we are running out of time, and I can raise the most money, and I can beat [Sanchez],” he said.

Judge Gray, whose campaign is considered a long shot because in the past he has discussed legalization of some drugs, including marijuana and heroin, was in Washington, D.C., Friday seeking campaign financing.

Coronado said he decided to run after sending letters to GOP leaders warning that the party would continue to lose minority support in California unless it began to promote minority candidates. “I don’t care what Bob Dornan raises, he’s dead politically,” said Coronado, who is Latino.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) also is facing a GOP opponents in what could be a heated primary. Challenging Rohrabacher are former Westminster City Council member Charmayne Bohman, a teacher and administrator at Cal State Dominguez Hills; and Long K. Pham, a mechanical engineer.

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Democrats seeking the nomination to oppose Rohrabacher are Huntington Beach lawyer Lud Gerber and Patricia W. Neal, past president of the California Association of Realtors.

Bohman, in a news release announcing her candidacy Friday, called Rohrabacher “a phony patriot” who “falsified medical records” to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War. Rohrabacher’s office would not comment on her statement.

In state legislative races, Assemblyman Scott R. Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) is the only incumbent facing a primary challenge. Baugh, who goes on trial in June on felony charges that he violated state campaign reporting laws in a controversial 1995 special election, will square off against two of the Republicans he bested then in the 67th Assembly District.

Former Assembly Speaker Doris Jean Allen, who was recalled in that race, and Huntington Beach businesswoman Haydee Velazquez Tillotson, who quit the 1995 contest under pressure from GOP leaders, will run again against Baugh. Others in the contest on the GOP side are police officer and Fountain Valley Councilman Chuck Conlosh, Seal Beach Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings and Orange County Board of Education Trustee Felix Rocha Jr.

Democrats in race are longtime party activist Marie Fennell, and Rima Nashashibi, a member of the Democratic Central Committee.

Of the three supervisorial races, the open seat in the 4th District drew the most candidates. But the candidate drawing the most speculation among political observers has yet to file: Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly. Daly, who has said he intends to run, could not be reached Friday.

Already in the race are Daly’s council colleague Lou Lopez, Anaheim businesswoman Cynthia P. Coad and County Board of Education member Eric H. Woolery, an accountant. La Palma Councilman Paul F. Walker and Steve White, an Anaheim real estate broker, both said they intend to file before next Wednesday’s deadline.

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Hopefuls emerged this week in the other supervisorial races. Challenging incumbent Silva in the 2nd District are Huntington Beach Councilman Dave Sullivan, a retired dentist; and former Costa Mesa Councilwoman Sandy Genis, a city planner.

Running against incumbent Wilson in the South County 5th District is Newport Beach Councilman John Hedges, an airline pilot.

In each of the contests to succeed Sheriff Brad Gates and Dist. Atty. Mike Capizzi, the races have narrowed to two candidates. Gates is retiring, leaving Orange County Marshal Michael S. Carona and Santa Ana Police Chief Paul M. Walters in a battle to succeed him. Capizzi is running for state attorney general; he has endorsed Assistant Dist. Atty. Wallace J. Wade, who faces Anthony Rackauckas Jr., a Superior Court judge.

* IN THE RACE: The list of candidates for area congressional, state and county offices. B3