With Labor Day Here, Politicians Go to Work

While the nation’s presidential candidates elbow for the political center, Ventura County voters will choose this fall among candidates with starkly different views on such hot-button issues as school vouchers, gun control and abortion.

As the traditional election season kicks off this Labor Day weekend, dozens of candidates will take to the stump, championing education, the environment, aid to working-class families and local control of tax dollars.

Holding center stage among local initiatives is Measure O, which would wrest $260 million in tobacco settlement money away from Ventura County government and give it to private hospitals. Some analysts say the nonpartisan measure is taking on partisan overtones, with Republicans supporting it and Democrats opposing it.

The most contentious races threaten to break spending records.

Steve Bennett and Jim Monahan--opposites in style and ideology--have already broken the record for fund-raising in a race for county Board of Supervisors, about $300,000 total.

And incumbent Supervisor Kathy Long is in an expensive brawl with challenger Mike Morgan, a Camarillo councilman.

Two Assembly races pit first-term incumbents who are darlings of their parties--Democrat Hannah Beth Jackson (Santa Barbara) and Republican Tony Strickland (Thousand Oaks)--against well-funded challengers, Santa Paula Councilwoman Robin Sullivan and Somis teacher Roz McGrath, respectively. Both races have been targeted as must-wins by party leaders, so spending in each campaign could approach $2 million.

“These will be high-dollar, competitive races,” said Jamie Fisfis, political director for the Republican Assembly Caucus. “We view Tony as a real up-and-coming member. And beating Hannah Beth is absolutely a top priority for us.”

For the first time since 1992, seven-term Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) is facing a serious challenge. But former Ventura County Bar Assn. President Michael Case, a Democrat who has stolen some of the incumbent’s traditional farmer support, still trails badly in fund-raising since Gallegly has $1 million to start the two-month push to election.

In a second congressional race, Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks) is seeking a second term in a district that includes Thousand Oaks. He is challenged by Republican actor Jerry Doyle of Calabasas.

And in a race for an open 19th District state Senate seat, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) is stockpiling donations to defeat Simi Valley Democrat Daniel Gonzalez, who has raised little money and is fighting a State Bar of California suspension of his right to practice law.

In nearly every campaign, the candidates’ positions could hardly be more different. But they have taken care to position themselves as moderate, or at least mainstream for Ventura County.

“The politicians are sifting out from brand X to whatever the brand is in the middle,” said Hank Lacayo, chairman of the county Democratic Party. “They’re all trying to be more human, Mr. Nice Guy. They’ve sensed the mood of the electorate, who are tired of the mudslinging.”

Paul Leavens, immediate past chairman of the county Republican Party, said everybody’s strategy is to capture the voters in the middle of the political spectrum.

“That’s our push, and Democrats are trying to push to the middle ground too,” Leavens said. “We’re trying for the same set of undecided voters.”

Council races in nine cities also offer an array of political views and a wide variety of professional experience among about 50 candidates. Consider the high-profile campaign in Thousand Oaks, where free-spending consumer lawyer Ed Masry, the real-life boss of movie subject Erin Brockovich, is one of seven candidates.

Mayoral elections will lead the municipal ballots in Simi Valley and Moorpark, where incumbents are seeking new terms. Four-term Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez is unopposed.

Trustee seats in two west county community college district areas are on the ballot, as are school board races from one end of the county to the other.

The latest round of Ventura County’s anti-sprawl battle is being waged in the scenic Santa Clara Valley, where Fillmore voters will consider rival ballot initiatives and Santa Paula residents will decide whether their small city should expand into a huge cattle-grazing canyon north of town.

Ventura voters, meanwhile, will decide whether to build a regional park on 100 acres of protected farmland.

Two statewide initiatives expected to grab local interest include Proposition 38, which would allow parents to use state-paid school vouchers in private schools, and Proposition 39, which would lower the vote needed to increase property taxes for school bonds from a two-thirds super majority to 55%.

A third proposition would punish first-time drug offenders guilty of simple possession with counseling instead of jail.

“It’s a very complicated ballot, with lots of variety,” said county elections chief Bruce Bradley. “We have 147 unique sets of ballots in the county. That’s a lot of choice, unless you live in Ventura, where you have no council or school board or water district race.”

The fall campaign season--a two-month push to the Nov. 7 election day--officially opens Monday, when local Democrats hold their Labor Day picnic at Conejo Creek Park in Republican-dominated Thousand Oaks.

When it’s over, Bradley expects about 300,000 voters, or 80% of those registered, will have cast a vote. That compares to only 66.4% in 1996, and would be the highest locally since 1980.

“If the presidential race stays close, and everybody isn’t turned off by negative campaigning, it’ll be high,” Bradley said. “Plus we have Measure O, the SOAR campaigns, school vouchers and the 55% vote on school bonds. And education is everybody’s No. 1 priority.”

Already with a voter edge countywide, Republicans have increased that margin slightly since the March primary.

Precisely 158,031 Republicans were qualified to vote last week, compared with 144,827 Democrats. That is an increase of 3,870 Republican voters and 3,123 Democratic voters since the March primary.

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Of all the races, perhaps the one with the greatest contrast between candidates is for the Ventura-based seat Supervisor Susan Lacey is relinquishing by retirement.

Bennett, an Ojai vice principal and former Ventura councilman, is citing his credentials as an environmentalist and anti-sprawl activist in a run against Monahan, a wily Ventura councilman who has championed the rights of businessmen since first elected in 1977.

Bennett won a three-person primary race with 44.3% of the vote, while Monahan got 31.7%.

Now Bennett is stressing his experience in balancing budgets and slowing growth, while pledging to push for campaign contribution limits, as he did as a council member.

“I think my honors degree in economics from Brown University and my service on the council budget committee make me clearly superior to Mr. Monahan in terms of handling the county’s budget.”

But Monahan said his experience in running his family’s Ventura Avenue-area welding business for 40 years and more than two decades as a councilman overshadow Bennett’s less than real-world experience.

“He’s never had any real practical experience,” Monahan said. “All of his experience has been in theory in the classroom. He had one term on the council, and I don’t think he could have gotten elected again.”

Monahan said he has always favored smart growth, not rapid growth. “We have never once encroached on a greenbelt. You’re going to have growth. But I don’t want Ventura to become Orange County.”

A key additional issue could be the candidates’ position on Measure O, the tobacco money initiative, which Bennett opposes and Monahan said he needs to learn more about before he decides.

In the Camarillo-centered 3rd Supervisorial District, Morgan has accused incumbent Long of mismanagement because of a Medicare billing scandal that has cost the county at least $25 million and a failed 1998 merger of the county mental health and welfare departments.

“The major issue is the failure of the Board of Supervisors,” said Morgan, who trailed Long 48% to 44% in the primary. “Their judgment failed and it cost us millions.”

Long said Morgan forgets to mention that she voted to rescind the merger eight months after she voted for it, when problems arose, and that the Medicare scandal resulted from actions that occurred years before she was elected.

The key issue to the one-term supervisor is her leadership on task forces that have helped protect the county’s farmland, helped make state Highway 126 safer and fought the huge Newhall Ranch project on the county’s eastern border.

“I certainly have experience and leadership that go beyond the boundaries of Camarillo,” she said, noting that Morgan has served only as a councilman.

Long said she will spend $140,000--the same as in her 8-percentage-point defeat of Morgan in 1996--if necessary. Morgan, who has raised only a fraction of Long’s total so far, said he will have enough money to wage a strong campaign.

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Among the local races for statewide office, the rematch between Republican Strickland, a burly 6-foot-5 bear, and Democrat McGrath, a diminutive grammar school teacher, shows the greatest promise for high drama.

McGrath, descendant of a pioneer farm family, nearly defeated Strickland, a self-described Reagan Republican, in 1998, losing by 1% in a district long dominated by Republicans.

The affable Strickland became the Republican whip in his first term, and his Sacramento colleagues say they want to keep him around.

“Tony has sharp political instincts for the cutting issues,” Fisfis said.

Indeed, Strickland said he is running on a record that includes few legislative victories, but has illuminated issues important to Ventura County as part of the Republican minority in the Assembly.

“It’s a much different campaign than it was in 1998,” he said. “It’s a referendum on the job I’ve done. I’ve got a great relationship with both sides of the aisle. I’m high energy. I bring Ventura County up to Sacramento. I’m conservative, but that’s mainstream for Ventura County.”

He cites his votes for high school exit exams and more discretionary funding for local school districts as examples. He voted for the Democrats’ HMO reform package. And he said he has championed elimination of double taxation on gasoline, an issue whose time will come.

But McGrath said Strickland’s support of school vouchers would undercut the public education system. “It’s the most important part of our democracy, and he would undermine it.

“My opponent says this race is about his record, and he’s right,” she said. “He puts kids last and senior citizens last and the environment last and working families last. On this gas tax, I think he’s grandstanding on an issue that he won’t be able to accomplish.”

There are key differences in this race, as there were two years ago: McGrath supports abortion rights, while Strickland opposes abortion except when necessary to save a woman’s life or pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. She favors bans on assault weapons and cheap “Saturday Night Special” handguns. He opposes limits on citizens’ right to arm themselves.

McGrath says her race will probably cost $750,000. And she will get strong help from party leaders, who recruited her to run again. Strickland, bolstered by a $100,000 loan from religious broadcast mogul Edward Atsinger III of Camarillo, said he will raise what is necessary.

Also finishing her first Assembly term is Jackson, whose Santa Barbara-based district includes Ventura, Ojai and Santa Paula.

Like Strickland, Jackson, a party leader chairing two committees in her first term, says she is running on her two-year record.

She has already received a boost from Gov. Gray Davis--a $10,000 donation.

“The key issue is certainly my effectiveness as a legislator,” she said. “Last year I had nine bills signed [into law]. This year I’ve had three bills signed and seven are awaiting the governor’s signature. That’s one of the highest pass rates of any legislator in the Assembly.”

Jackson has made her mark especially on environmental and domestic violence issues, helping push $90 million in coastal cleanup money into a bond issue passed in March and writing an anti-stalking bill to protect women.

As a small-city councilwoman, Sullivan says she knows local needs and issues better than Jackson, who never held a local elective office.

“The weakness I see is [Jackson] maybe not having an understanding of local communities, such as what types of services people want,” said Sullivan, a Santa Paula councilwoman. “We’re emphasizing getting our tax dollars back into the local community.”

Sullivan said that both she and Jackson favor abortion rights, unlike Republican Chris Mitchum, whom Jackson defeated handily two years ago.

“So I see that as a level playing field,” she said.

Sullivan starts out behind, because of a 43% to 37% Democratic edge in voter registration. She says she is preparing for a $2-million race. She spent three days last week in Sacramento, talking with party leaders.

“I’ve been working on commitments,” she said. “We’re going to be doing some polling in the next month or so, and we’ll know what’s going on.”

As of June 30, Jackson had $190,000 in cash on hand while Sullivan had almost $48,000 in the bank.

The state Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) hasn’t materialized yet.

Assemblyman McClintock, who has never lost a local race, is a heavy favorite in a Republican-controlled district that straddles eastern Ventura County and the west San Fernando Valley. McClintock had a cash balance of $128,000 at midyear compared to opponent Gonzalez’s $35. A loan of $100,000 from the Republican Senate leadership accounts for most of McClintock’s edge.

And that was before Gonzalez’s suspension by the State Bar of California for not responding to client complaints.

Gonzalez said he is still a viable candidate and is now opening three campaign offices. He said that the bar suspension is a mistake that will be cleared up this week when he and his lawyer meet with bar officials. He said he changed addresses but the bar sent the complaints to his old one, and since he did not respond in 25 days, he was suspended.

“I thought it was really going to hurt me a lot,” said Gonzalez, who lost a congressional race in 1998. “But incredibly I received a lot of phone calls from people voicing their support . . . . Now I don’t view this as a setback. I’m an underdog, without a doubt. But all I can do is to continue to work hard and get our message out.”

McClintock received 52% of the voice in the open March primary, while Gonzalez received 30%.

McClintock said he is taking Gonzalez seriously.

“The Democratic leadership has an enormous amount of money to spend, and he’s an experienced campaigner. So I intend to devote all my attention to the November election,” McClintock said. “But obviously, he has some serious problems to deal with.”

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In the end, the race for Ventura County’s congressional seat may be the most compelling of the fall, and perhaps the biggest quarrel over who is moderate and who is not.

Case, partner in a Ventura law firm, is taking on an incumbent who has cruised to reelection six times since surprising Bob Hope’s well-funded son, Tony, in 1986.

Case insists that Ventura County’s traditionally conservative voters are ready for a moderate congressman instead of Gallegly, whom he describes as a die-hard conservative.

“We’re going to compare his voting record of 14 years with what he says today,” Case said. “Let’s look at the reality versus the image. We think that will be enough to carry the day.”

Gallegly is vulnerable, Case said, because the incumbent’s positions on abortion, gun control and illegal immigration fly in the face of his constituents.

Case said he supports abortion rights, that Congress needs to further restrict the sale of guns and that Gallegly has used the “politics of division” in cracking down on illegal immigrants. He opposes school vouchers as harmful to public education.

Gallegly said that he has consistently opposed spending federal dollars on abortions but supports the law that allows them, that he supports the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and that he strongly supports immigrants who come to this country legally. He has taken no position on school vouchers.

But that doesn’t make him a conservative, Gallegly said. For example, he said he voted for the Brady bill twice and for bills requiring trigger locks, limiting bullet clip sizes and requiring background checks for purchases at gun shows.

“If you look at my overall voting record for the last six months or the last four or five years, I’m certainly a fiscal conservative,” Gallegly said. “But, according to some of my conservative friends, I’m way too moderate on social issues.”

The congressman, a former Simi Valley mayor, points to several recent votes that he says show his true colors.

Gallegly said he voted for the so-called Patients Bill of Rights, a measure that has bipartisan support. But Case said Gallegly supported the bill only after favoring an alternative that provided fewer protections by insulating HMOs from patient lawsuits.

Gallegly said he supported a bill to increase from $2,000 to $5,000 the amount workers not covered by 401k retirement plans can set aside tax free in Individual Retirement Accounts. Case said he also supported the bill.

Gallegly said he voted for elimination of the inheritance tax because it hurts farmers and small-business owners. President Clinton vetoed the bill because he said it was a tax break for the rich. Case opposed the bill.

Gallegly said he recently voted to change the tax code by eliminating the so-called marriage penalty, a bill that was vetoed by Clinton. He said Case favored an alternate bill proposed by one of the most liberal members of Congress, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York.

“If you’re going to use votes as bellwethers of who is conservative and who is moderate these are very telling,” Gallegly said.

Gallegly said he has $1.15 million tucked away for his push to election day, while Case said he has raised about $450,000 and has $250,000 to $300,000 left. In the end, Case said he will raise $900,000 and that will be enough to take his message to voters.

“There’s only so much money you can spend effectively in this race,” he said. “Nobody can afford television here, so it’s going to be mail and radio and maybe some cable TV.”

Gallegly said money won’t make the difference.

He cites a 64% to 24% edge over Case in the March primary, where voters could vote for any candidate regardless of party. He notes that his district is evenly split between Republican and Democratic voters.

“How do you get 64% when the district is only 41% Republican, unless you serve everybody?” Gallegly said.