Special Election to Fill State Senate Seat Today

A special legislative election today in a key Inland Empire district is being watched as an early test of voter sentiment before the presidential primary only eight weeks away.

In the first legislative contest of 2000, rookie Assemblywoman Nell Soto (D-Pomona), 73, an energetic great-grandmother, and Republican businessman Rob Guzman, 45, of Fontana, are running for a vacant seat in the state Senate.

Soto, elected to the Assembly in 1998, received national attention as the author of a new state law requiring service stations to provide free air and water to their customers. She calls herself the “mom” of the Assembly.

Guzman, the buttoned-down co-owner of a company that provides job training for immigrants, advocates chopping student fees in half at the University of California and California State University systems. He has run unsuccessfully for Congress five times.

At stake in the conservative-leaning Democratic district, which stretches from Pomona in Los Angeles County to Loma Linda and San Bernardino in San Bernardino County, is the seat of ex-Sen. Joe Baca (D-Rialto), who was elected to Congress in November. Also running is Democrat David R. Eshleman, Fontana’s mayor.

Until he retired in 1998, conservative Democrat Ruben Ayala of Chino held the 32nd District office for 24 years against Republican challengers.

The district has been seen as a pivotal area in state elections--with many working-class Democrats who often voted Republican at the top of the ticket. In recent years, as suburbs have sprung up in place of dairies, Republicans have focused on it as a target of opportunity.

In this contest, where Latinos make up 30% of the population, two candidates of Mexican ancestry are squaring off.

“Nell Soto fits this district like a glove,” said Sen. Richard Polanco of Los Angeles, a recruiter of Latino candidates who backs Soto.

The district, considered a bellwether, especially in presidential election years, is a regular site for photo opportunities by White House candidates who fly into Ontario Airport to solicit votes.

For victory Tuesday, the winner must receive 50% of the vote plus one, a goal that campaign tacticians on both sides concede will be difficult to achieve. If no one wins outright, a runoff will be held March 7, the same day that voters will cast ballots in California’s presidential primary.

Democrats dominate the Senate 24-15, and view a victory by Soto as a further cementing of control as they gear up for November.

But Republicans see a win by Guzman as a potential launching pad for a recovery from the heavy losses they suffered in the 1998 elections, when Democrats recaptured the governor’s office and strengthened their dominance of both houses.

“We want to hold the seat because it’s been a Democratic seat,” said Senate President Pro Tem John L. Burton of San Francisco. He dismissed the notion that a victory by Guzman would give Republicans an early foothold for recovery and new momentum in the election year.

“It’s always a hard-fought district. If they win it, it means they picked up a seat and we lost a seat. It has no effect on any other election,” Burton said.

But Republicans assert that they have a good chance of defeating Soto, whose Assembly district is nestled in the Senate district.

“I think the fact that Republicans are even competitive [in this race] is the sign of a rejuvenated party,” said GOP strategist Sen. Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga). “This race should have been over the minute Nell Soto announced she was running. It isn’t.”

In campaign mailers, Guzman has branded Soto, a former member of the Pomona City Council, as part of an “L.A. political machine” that is “trying to steal our Senate seat.”

“We’ve never had a Los Angeles County resident represent San Bernardino County in the state Senate,” Guzman said. “We are concerned about having someone from L.A. County represent us.”

Pomona, which calls itself the “Gateway to the Inland Empire,” is a western niche in the Senate district, 90% of whose voters live in San Bernardino County.

Soto dismisses the charge that she’s part of a political machine and a carpetbagger. “I’ve been representing San Bernardino County since I’ve been in the Assembly,” Soto said. “I sat on the Air Quality Management District for 4 1/2 years. Guess what? I represented the entire San Bernardino County.”

In the meantime, supporters of Soto sent to voters last week a mailer charging that Guzman and his business had been hit with more than $54,000 in liens for failure to pay state, federal and county taxes in the mid-1990s.

Guzman conceded that he had not paid all his taxes on time, and said one of the liens cited in the mailer was not issued to him but to a nephew.

“I have paid all my taxes. I was late a few times. There’s been times in my business when I’ve been late. This is something every businessman goes through,” he said.

The mailer was sent by an independent Democratic political committee in Sacramento called Former Leaders for an Effective Government. A spokesman said the committee was financed by Burton and included former Assembly Democratic leaders Mike Roos of Los Angeles, Jerome Waldie of Antioch and Tom Hannigan of Fairfield, who is currently state director of water resources.