ATTY. GENERAL

MIKE CAPIZZI

The son of an Italian immigrant who was an attorney in Detroit, Capizzi has served as Orange County district attorney since 1990.

* Political party: Republican

* Age: 58

* Residence: Orange

* Education: B.A., Eastern Michigan University; J.D., University of Michigan law school.

* Career highlights: Has served his entire 34-year career in the Orange County district attorney’s office. Before becoming district attorney, he held a variety of posts in the department, including handling death penalty prosecutions and arguing a landmark 1973 case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that local community standards could be used to determine what is obscene.

* Priorities: Combat violent crime, drug trafficking and political corruption

DAVE STIRLING

The son of a retailer and City Council member in Morgan City, La., Stirling was hired by current Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren in 1990 to serve as Lungren’s top aide.

* Political party: Republican

* Age: 58

* Residence: Walnut Grove

* Education: B.A., Principia College in Illinois; J.D., Tulane University law school.

* Career highlights: Elected to the Assembly in 1976. After losing a race for attorney general in 1982, was appointed to head the Agricultural Labor Relations Board and later to a Superior Court judgeship in Sacramento. Before taking a leave from his post as chief deputy attorney general in order to campaign, he helped write the three-strikes law, a measure that imposes longer sentences on felons who use guns in the course of their crimes, and the so-called Megan’s Law, allowing the identification of paroled child molesters living in a community.

* Priorities: Crack down on violent crime and drugs

CHARLES M. CALDERON

The son of an insurance salesman and working mother who grew up in East Los Angeles and Montebello, Calderon serves in the state Senate.

* Political party: Democrat

* Age: 48

* Residence: Whittier

* Education: B.A., Cal State L.A.; J.D., UC Davis law school

* Career highlights: Served on the Montebello school board and worked as a Los Angeles deputy city attorney for two years; was elected to the Assembly in 1982 and state Senate in 1990, where he has served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

* Priorities: Make communities safe by fighting crime and providing alternatives to drugs and gangs.

BILL LOCKYER

The son of a roofer, Lockyer serves as a state senator from Hayward.

* Political party: Democrat

* Age: 57

* Residence: Hayward

* Education: B.A., UC Berkeley; J.D., McGeorge law school

* Career highlights: Elected to the Assembly in 1973 and state Senate in 1982; attended law school for 7 1/2 years while in the Legislature and is affiliated with a Hayward law firm; served as Senate president pro tem for four years, with responsibility for leading budget negotiations and making hundreds of appointments.

* Priorities: Combat crime and protect abortion rights, patients’ rights and the environment.

LYNN SCHENK

The daughter of a tailor who escaped from Hungary during the Holocaust, Schenk served one term in Congress and now works as a private attorney.

* Political party: Democrat

* Age: 53

* Residence: La Jolla

* Education: B.A., UCLA; J.D., University of San Diego law school

* Career highlights: A graduate of Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, she worked as a deputy state attorney general, a counsel to San Diego Gas & Electric, and as state secretary for business, transportation and housing. Elected to Congress in 1992, she now serves as a special counsel to the international law firm Baker & McKenzie.

* Priorities: Fight violent crime and enforce laws to safeguard the environment and to halt domestic violence and sexual harassment.

SUPT. OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

A nonpartisan race. Any candidate who captures more than 50% of the vote wins the election. If none does, there’s a November runoff between the top two finishers.

* Delaine Eastin, incumbent, San Francisco

* Gloria Matta Tuchman, teacher, Santa Ana

* Barbara Carpenter, educational career consultant, San Diego

* Miles Everett, teacher, Healdsburg

* Mark Isler, businessman, Van Nuys.