Winning Morrissey’s Assembly Seat Is a ‘Top Priority,’ Democrats Say

Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana) wears the bull’s-eye in the state Democrats’ plan to broaden the Orange County beachhead made by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) and to expand the party majority in the Assembly.

“It is a top priority . . . the top incumbent Republican seat in the state we want to take away,” Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) said. “We see this entire [central county] area becoming more and more Democratic.”

In an Assembly district where Democrats are more than half the voters and where Morrissey won by just 93 votes in 1996, the two-term Republican knows he has a lot of hard campaigning to do if he is to beat lawyer Lou Correa a second time.

Morrissey, who owned an Anaheim manufacturing plant, has been walking precincts for more than six months, knocking on doors and speaking his choppy Spanish to Latino voters, who make up about a third of the voters.

“I don’t speak Spanish very well, but the people I meet give me credit for trying,” he said recently.

The challenge facing Republicans in this central Orange County district is not lost on GOP leaders, who have been steaming since 1996, when Sanchez broke the Republican monopoly on county, state and federal elective offices here.

Morrissey is unopposed in the June 2 primary. But the county GOP recently took the unusual step of endorsing him prior to the primary so it could give his campaign $10,000. The conservative Lincoln Club dropped in another $25,000, and GOP colleagues in the Assembly another $20,000. Party leaders plan a get-out-the-vote drive for Morrissey in the primary so he will rack up enough votes to show he is not vulnerable in the fall.

“The reelection of Jim Morrissey is our No. 1 priority, and we need to show the Democrats [in Sacramento] that this district and this county are behind him,” GOP County Chairman Tom Fuentes told party leaders recently.

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The current lineup in the Assembly is 43 Democrats and 37 Republicans. Sixteen seats, split evenly between the two parties, are considered competitive. Of the other seven seats Republicans hold, four Assemblymen are retiring or seeking other office. Morrissey and three others are seeking reelection in sharply contested races. They include seats held by Robert Prenter J. of Hanford, Peter Frusetta of Tres Pinos and Lynne Leach of Walnut Creek.

On the Democratic side, there is one open seat, where Debra Bowen of Marina del Rey is running for state Senate. The seven incumbents include Michael Machado of Linden, Dennis Cardoza of Merced, Jack Scott of Altadena, Susan A. Davis and Howard Wayne of San Diego and the two toughest seats for the Democrats, Sally Havice of Cerritos and Scott Wildman of Los Angeles.

The Democrats vow not to be outdone. Villaraigosa promises that “there will be more in the way of resources” than the $130,000 the party and its leaders put behind Correa in 1996. Correa also had substantial backing from labor and raised a total of $366,000 for that campaign.

Morrissey, though, raised about $210,000 more than Correa two years ago and is off to a better start again. His campaign reported $83,000 in cash on hand as of this week’s spending report.

“Ouch,” said Correa, when he learned of his opponent’s finances. Correa has about $21,000 on hand, including $10,000 he lent the campaign.

Regardless, he is spoiling for the rematch in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 39,199 to 25,295 and where Democrats outnumber Republicans among Latinos 4 to 1.

Most of the 69th Assembly District is made up of Santa Ana, with about a third coming from Garden Grove and Anaheim and slivers from Fountain Valley and Orange.

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In 1996, Morrissey won because he received enough votes outside Santa Ana to overcome Correa’s 1,940-vote advantage there. Significantly, Correa was outpolled in the district by fellow Democrat Sanchez, who beat incumbent Rep. Robert K. Dornan by 6,514 votes there, and by President Clinton, who bested GOP candidate Bob Dole by nearly 10,500 votes.

“Morrissey worked the district well” and was a stronger opponent than Dornan or Dole, Correa said.

Both candidates live in Anaheim, cast themselves as moderates and talk about promoting education and fighting crime. But there are significant differences on a number of issues.

Correa, 40, is pro-choice and favors some gun control, such as banning cheap handguns. He opposes a recent ruling that permits employers not to pay overtime until an employee has worked 40 hours in a week, opposes school vouchers and is against the GOP-backed Proposition 226, which restricts the use of union dues for political purposes.

Correa is secretary of the school bond construction ballot measure that goes to a vote in Anaheim City School District on April 14.

Morrissey, 67, opposes abortion rights, declined to state a position on school vouchers and said he has taken no position on Proposition 226. He supported the GOP-backed overtime-pay restriction, saying it brings the state in line with the rest of the country.

He opposed a bill last year that would ban some assault weapons and large-magazine semiautomatic handguns and rifles, but said he “will take another look at it” when it comes to a vote again in the next month.

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While Republicans are united behind Morrissey, some local Democrats remain unhappy with Correa’s effort. They say his campaign should have been able to follow Sanchez and Clinton to victory in 1996. Two possible primary opponents surfaced this winter, but state Democratic leaders helped clear the field for Correa.

“I had never been in politics before,” Correa said, explaining the narrow loss two years ago. “I didn’t have a feel for how the campaign should be run. Now, I do.”

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Assembly Rematch

Republican Assemblyman Jim Morrissey and Democrat Lou Correa will meet again this year in a rematch of their 1996 election battle for the 69th District; Morrissey won by 93 votes. The seat is a top priority for both state Republican and Democratic parties. Here is a quick look at the race:

The 1998 Candidates (Residence)

* Jim Morrissey (Anaheim)

* Lou Correa (Anaheim)

* Reform Party candidate Jim Benson (Anaheim)

* Libertarian Bolynda Schultz (Santa Ana)

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1996 Results

Jim Morrissey (Republican) 24,545

Lou Correa (Democrat) 24,452

Larry G. Engwall (Natural Law) 2,010

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District Registration

Democrat: 51%

Republican: 33

Decline to state:11

Other: 5

Total registration: 76,481

Sources: Orange County registrar of voters, Times reports; Researched by PETER M. WARREN/Los Angeles Times