Winner of Race Will Be History--as First Latino or Armenian

One is an attorney who went to Hoover High School, and supports abortion rights, handgun registration and a lower threshold to pass school bonds.

The other is a former prosecutor who graduated from cross-town rival Glendale High School, and wants to restrict abortions and opposes handgun registration and the proposal to lower the two-thirds majority required for school bonds.

What Democrat Dario Frommer and Republican Craig Missakian, who are battling for an Assembly seat, have in common is the challenge of being heard above the noise generated by the nationally watched congressional contest between Rep. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) and state Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank).

The winner on Nov. 7 will make history in the 43rd Assembly District, which stretches from the entertainment industry centers of Burbank and Glendale to the trendy bohemian streets of Silver Lake and the working-class neighborhoods of East Hollywood.

Frommer would be the first Latino elected to the seat, and Missakian would be the first Armenian American.

Armenians make up about 8% of the registered voters, while Latinos account for about 15%. Tensions between the district’s young Armenian Americans and Latinos have been rising this year, and both candidates have reached out to the other’s community.

History appears to be on Frommer’s side.

Once a Republican stronghold represented in the 1980s by GOP leader Pat Nolan and early ‘90s by Rogan, the district has seen a shift in population that has given Democrats an 11% edge in voter registration.

And although both candidates have garnered significant support from their parties, and each expects to break $1 million in campaign spending, Frommer has raised more since the primary and had $105,000 in the bank as of Sept. 30, compared with $95,000 for Missakian.

Missakian Down but Not Out

Longtime Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum, who publishes a respected guide that gauges legislative races, said that Frommer appears to have the advantage less than three weeks before the election.

But Hoffenblum said Missakian has a chance, especially if he succeeds in rallying the district’s large and active Armenian community to his candidacy.

“You’ve got to give the edge to Frommer, but Missakian is still in the game, and if things break his way he could still win it,” Hoffenblum said.

A poll last week by Missakian’s campaign put Frommer 3 1/2 percentage points ahead, a narrower margin than a month ago and within the margin of error. But Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said Democratic polling indicates Frommer’s lead is in double-digits.

“He is comfortably ahead, but we are not taking it for granted,” Sragow said.

Because Frommer and Missakian are both relatively unknown to the electorate, the two have spent much of their campaigns introducing themselves to voters.

In more than a dozen forums they have sparred over hot-button issues such as education reform, crime, health care reform, gun control and abortion.

Frommer, 37, is an attorney who has served as a Sacramento lobbyist, a legislative chief of staff and most recently as appointments secretary for Gov. Gray Davis, who has endorsed him in the race. Frommer also teaches a political science class at Glendale Community College.

Missakian, 40, is a former deputy district attorney and business attorney. He ran for the Assembly seat in 1996 but did not survive the GOP primary.

Missakian lives in Glendale; Frommer lives in the Los Feliz area.

Both candidates tout their experience.

Missakian said his work as a county prosecutor gives him special knowledge to deal effectively with crime, while his work as a business attorney will help him understand how to improve the state’s business climate.

He charged that Frommer is a Sacramento insider.

“People have a right not to have their representative beholden to interests in Sacramento, as opposed to the interests of the district,” Missakian said. “I am independent.”

That Sacramento experience will benefit the district, Frommer said.

“I know how to cut through red tape and get things done in Sacramento,” said Frommer, who teaches a political science course at Glendale Community College. “On education, as someone who has first-hand experience as a teacher, I will go to Sacramento better prepared to make judgments about which reforms will work.”

Candidates Differ on Prop. 39

The state can help ensure teachers are better trained and compensated, and red tape that delays new school construction should be cut, Frommer said.

Frommer supports Proposition 39, which would reduce the margin required for passage of school bonds from two-thirds to 55%. Missakian, who has been endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., opposes the measure. Voters have shown a willingness to approve school bonds when necessary, and the standard should not be lowered, Missakian said.

His education platform promotes the creation of charter schools to give parents more control of their children’s educations.

On health care reform, Missakian proposes tax credits to help small-business people and the self-employed obtain insurance, while Frommer has suggested the state use part of the national settlement with tobacco companies to make health insurance more accessible to working families.

Also dividing the candidates is how best to aid the film industry. Frommer proposes using bond money to help finance small films made in California. Missakian says that is too risky and would instead provide tax incentives for films made in California.

They have clashed most fiercely over abortion and gun control.

Frommer said he is the only candidate who is “100% pro-choice.”

Said Missakian, “I support a woman’s right to choose at the onset of pregnancy, but I don’t support late-term abortions.” He said he also opposes government funding of abortion and supports requiring minors to get parental consent for abortions.

As for handguns, Frommer supports registration, which Missakian opposes. He favors more safety measures, such as childproof locks.

“My experience as a prosecutor is that [registration] will only affect law-abiding citizens and will not reduce gun violence,” Missakian said.

The Republican’s position has made him a target of Handgun Control Inc., which is calling independent and women voters with a taped message from Sarah Brady, the wife of injured former White House aide James Brady, urging support for Frommer.

Both candidates are running Armenian television commercials.

At the same time, Missakian has walked precincts in Latino neighborhoods of Los Feliz and East Hollywood.

“That’s a part of this district that Republicans have traditionally ignored,” Missakian said.

Both Reach Across Ethnic Lines

Although a majority of Armenian voters are registered as Democrats, Wayne Johnson, a political consultant for Missakian, said the Republican candidate has a large lead among Armenian voters surveyed by the campaign.

But Frommer has done extremely well among Latinos, Sragow said.

“He doesn’t have a Latino last name, but the minute people realize he is Latino they are locked in,” Sragow said.

The two candidates have slightly different takes on the historical significance of the race in a district that is rapidly changing demographically.

“It would be exciting,” Frommer said of the prospect of becoming the first Latino elected to the seat. But he hastens to add, “I’m not running as a Latino; I am a candidate who happens to be Latino, who has deep roots in the community and is reaching out to all people.”

Missakian, a third-generation Armenian American who has been endorsed by former Gov. George Deukmejian, also says he is reaching across ethnic lines, but he has made more of an issue of the significance of his candidacy in public appearances.

“There are a lot of young kids out there in the Armenian community, many of them new to this country, and if my example as a representative from this area in Sacramento paves a path for them, that would be great,” Missakian said.