GOP Activist Vies for Capps’ Seat in House

The head of a statewide group promoting female Republican candidates announced Friday that she will challenge Democratic Rep. Lois Capps, whose congressional district includes portions of western Ventura County.

The announcement by Camarillo businesswoman Beth Rogers, 56, president of the Seneca Network, came on the filing deadline for candidates taking on incumbents in federal, state and local races in 2002. Other challengers in the Capps race include Libertarians James Hill of Grover Beach and Frank Coates of Santa Maria and Republican physician Donald Regan of Grover Beach.

Thousand Oaks Democrat Fern Rudin, 48, filed paperwork to challenge longtime incumbent Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) for the congressional seat representing the remainder of Ventura County.

Meanwhile, elections officials said two candidates will seek the post being vacated by county Clerk and Recorder Richard Dean: Oxnard City Clerk Daniel Martinez and John Reid of Simi Valley.

Elections officials said a complete listing of challengers for state, local and congressional seats will not be available until next week. The deadline for candidates in state and local races without incumbents is Wednesday. Many candidates had announced their bids prior to the deadline, however.

In nonpartisan county races on the March 5 ballot:

* Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Greg Totten and Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron S. Bamieh will compete to fill the office being vacated by Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury.

* Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector Larry Matheny will run to fill the seat being vacated by his boss, Harold S. Pittman.

* Supervisor Judy Mikels is expected to face a challenge from John Lane of Moorpark, a fraud investigator in the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

* Thousand Oaks Councilwoman Linda Parks and businessman Randy Hoffman will compete for the seat being vacated by Supervisor Frank Schillo.

* No challengers were expected against 12 county Superior Court judges, all seeking reelection.

In state races:

* District 35 Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) is expected to face Republican Bob Pohl of Santa Barbara, Reform Party candidate Cary Savitch of Ventura and Libertarian Craig Thomas of Ventura in the Nov. 5 general election.

* District 37 Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark) is expected to face Democrat Bruce Thomas of Moorpark in the general election.

* District 38 Assemblyman Keith Richman (R-Northridge) is expected to face Democrat Paula Calderon of Santa Clarita and Libertarian Karl Lembke of Montrose in a district that reaches into Simi Valley.

* District 41 Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) is expected to face Republican Michael Wissot of Woodland Hills and Libertarian Brian “Max” Kelly of Santa Monica. The district includes Port Hueneme and half of Oxnard.

Also on Friday, Hank Lacayo, chairman of the county’s Democratic Central Committee, said he will step down from his post next spring after four years at the helm. The 70-year-old Lacayo, also president of the local advocacy group El Concilio del Condado de Ventura and the state Congress of California Seniors, said he felt it was time to turn the reins of the county party over to someone new.

“I want to leave it to someone younger,” Lacayo said. “We need some new blood.”

In Ventura County, registered Republicans have a slight edge over Democrats, 41% to 39%.

Rogers could tap fund-raisers and supporters who have worked with her to promote other female candidates throughout California. As managing general partner of Pacific Earth Resources and Pacific Sod in Camarillo, Rogers, who lives in Carpinteria, also may find a base of support in the agricultural community.

Still, her bid pits her against an incumbent who already has about $500,000 in her campaign chest. Capps took office in a special election in 1998 after the death of her husband, who was elected in 1996. Before his election, the district had been Republican-controlled for half a century.

This year’s redistricting eliminated several Republican areas, and registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans 45% to 33%. The district sweeps along the coast through San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties and across the Ventura County line into Oxnard, Port Hueneme and about one-fourth of Ventura.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been unable to unseat Gallegly since his election in 1986. He has about $850,000 in his war chest. And redistricting bolstered his hold on the seat, with registered Republicans now outnumbering Democrats 46% to 35%. The district includes Camarillo, Fillmore, Moorpark, Ojai, Santa Paula, Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and three-fourths of Ventura. It also reaches into Santa Ynez wine country and Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County.