Primary Outcome Will Test Pringle’s Influence

The June 2 primary for the 68th Assembly seat will test the political staying power of Assemblyman Curt Pringle, who is trying to pick his successor in the working-class central Orange County district.

Pringle, who went from political novice to Assembly speaker during eight years in office, has given his endorsement and campaign machine to Garden Grove Councilman Ken Maddox, 34, a Tustin police officer.

Several other GOP leaders in the area have other ideas, however, about who should fill the seat and are backing other candidates.

John Kellogg, a 39-year-old Westminster attorney, is endorsed by Sen. Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove) while Garden Grove Councilman Ho Chung has the backing of County Supervisors Jim Silva, William G. Steiner and Charles V. Smith.

Also seeking the Republican nomination are Paul D. Gonzales, 39, a businessman from Buena Park, and Westminster Councilwoman Joy L. Neugebauer, 70.

Democrat Mike Matsuda, 40, who teaches reading at Orangeview Junior High School in the Anaheim Union High School District, is running unopposed and will advance to the November election and face the GOP winner.

Pringle (R-Garden Grove) is running for state treasurer.

The race has been conducted largely through door-to-door campaigning. Chung has the lead in fund-raising, having used his ties with the Asian American community to hold events in San Diego, Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The largely working-class district includes almost all of Stanton, Garden Grove and Westminster, most of Anaheim and Buena Park, and small parts of four other cities. Its registration is 43.5% Republican, 39% Democratic and 12% independent.

Political observers believe that ethnic demographics could play a role in the primary, boosting the vote totals of Gonzales and Chung. Registration is 13% Latino and 12% Asian, with the balance mostly Anglo.

Two years ago, Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), then an unknown, squeaked by three white men in a four-way Democratic primary. Many believe her ethnicity and gender were a significant factor in the win.

That fact is not lost on Neugebauer, who believes being the lone woman in a race with four men will play to her advantage. “I love seeing all those . . . men at the forefront,” said Neugebauer, who has been elected to various local offices 11 times in the past 30 years. “I want them to ignore me.”

Chung, a Korean immigrant, touts his six years on the Garden Grove council and 26 years running his own insurance agency, saying that he is the “most experienced of the candidates.” A proven vote-getter in the city, he ran first among eight candidates for council in 1996, besting Maddox, who was also elected, 12,809 to 11,297.

“I am the American dream,” he said. “I came here 30 years ago and I am a success due to self-motivation and will bring that to pay back my community, my state and my country.”

His campaign had nearly $43,000 in cash on hand in mid-March, the end of the recent reporting period. He also has been endorsed by Treasurer-Tax Collector John M.W. Moorlach.

Chung is against abortion, and supports both Proposition 226, which would limit union spending in political campaigns, and Proposition 227, which would dismantle bilingual education programs.

Chung, who as a teenager learned English in his native South Korea, believes immersion is the way for youngsters to be taught English. He supports school vouchers for parents who send their children to private schools. He said he is unsure of whether he would support an increase in the minimum wage to $6.50 an hour, a proposal before the Assembly. He opposes gun control.

Chung said he supports allowing employers the flexibility to pay overtime after 40 hours of work in a week rather than after eight hours of work in a day. Democrats in the Legislature are seeking to overturn a recent state commission ruling that ended the eight-hour overtime rule and created a flexible 40-hour workweek.

Gonzales, the owner of a Buena Park jewelry store, expects to capitalize on being the only Latino in the race and only resident from the north end of the district. His campaign has no paid staff and $50 in the treasury.

“My friends and I are knocking on doors,” he said. “I have a big heart. I am a kind person who is always going to do what would benefit my constituents most.”

Gonzales, who finished third to the two winners in a six-person race for the Buena Park City Council in 1996, said the key issue in the race is education. He calls for more classroom space and advocates getting federal grants or federal backing for school construction bonds.

Gonzales supports legal abortion and opposes Proposition 226 and 227. He said 227’s limit of one year in bilingual education is too short for students to learn English, and should be extended to three years. He favors the 40-hour flexible workweek and opposes the minimum wage increase, saying the 75-cent increase is too large. He opposes gun control and school vouchers but supports increasing choice within the public school system by allowing through vouchers.

Kellogg, a lawyer who represents out-of-state trucking firms from his office in Newport Beach, is concentrating on Republicans and independent voters.

His message is pro-business, anti-tax and anti-regulation. “We need to be business friendly and be competitive with Texas, Nevada and Oregon,” he said. “We can’t have business leaving here. If Texas is doing something, why aren’t we?”

His activism in GOP campaigns has earned him the support of Hurtt, Assemblymen Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) and Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana), and the California Republican Assembly. He had about $10,800 in his treasury at the end of March. “I have never run for office before and that is good,” he said.

Kellogg is against abortion rights and in favor of Propositions 226 and 227. He supports the flexible 40-hour week and opposes a minimum-wage hike. He calls himself “a pro-gunner” and has the endorsement of the National Rifle Assn. He supports school vouchers.

Maddox, who ran unsuccessfully for the council in 1994 before being elected in 1996, is targeting independents and Republicans. He sometimes walks precincts at the end of his shift as a Tustin police officer.

“It is a tough balancing act,” he said. “I still get up and work every day like the people of my community.”

He takes credit for continuing the city’s support of growth and cleaning up blighted neighborhoods, as well as contributing to the effort to zone a cannabis co-op out of the city. He describes himself as anti-tax and has opposed creating special tax districts to support parks and street lighting.

In addition to Pringle, he has been endorsed by Assembly members Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) and Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Irvine).

He opposes abortion rights and backs 226 and 227. Maddox backs a 40-hour week and says the minimum-wage hike is “too much too soon.” He is a supporter of gun rights and of school vouchers for parents of children in under-performing schools.

Neugebauer, who ran a manufacturing company for 16 years after her husband died in 1975, has been Westminster mayor three times and on the council for 21 years over four decades. She also has been elected to the GOP Central Committee twice and the Midway City Sanitary District Board, on which she still serves.

She describes herself as anti-tax and calls her experience unmatched by the other candidates. She said the biggest issue is returning more tax dollars to cities instead of allowing the state government to divert local dollars to state programs.

“I have the track record--voters can look back and evaluate my performance in business and government and the community to improve the quality of life,” she said. “What Job says, Joy will do.”

Her campaign treasury showed no contributions as of mid-March. “I am not going to let those four fine gentlemen think I am a threat,” she said, adding that the mid-May report would be different. She declined to discuss strategy or her funding.

Neugebauer opposes abortion rights and backs 226 and 227. She supports the flexible 40-hour week and said she needs to study the minimum-wage hike before responding. She supports gun rights. She favors charter schools as the way to improve public education, but would consider school vouchers depending on the exact proposal.

Times correspondent Cathy Werblin contributed to this report.