Official Deals Setback to Own Reelection Bid

She is a longtime advocate of ethnic diversity on the Santa Paula City Council, but incumbent Laura Flores Espinosa has made it more difficult for one Latino to get elected in November. Herself.

Espinosa missed a filing deadline last week for council incumbents seeking reelection.

To compete with at least five other candidates vying for three seats, she must either obtain a judge’s order permitting her name to appear on the Nov. 5 ballot or mount a write-in campaign.

Both are uphill battles, a political analyst said Wednesday.

“Lawsuits are expensive and don’t always go your way, and write-in candidates rarely win,” said Herb Gooch, chairman of the political science department at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. “Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.”

Espinosa’s fumble, ironically, comes as Santa Paula considers changing to a district voting system to increase Latino representation on the council.

A measure on the fall ballot asks voters whether the council’s five members should be elected from separate districts or continue to be elected citywide.

The initiative was prompted by a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that faulted the city’s current at-large system for keeping low the number of Latino council members in a city where Latinos represent two-thirds of the city’s population and 52% of registered voters.

After spending $500,000 to defend the city, the council agreed late last year to settle the lawsuit by putting the issue before voters in November.

Espinosa was the only Latino candidate at the time the suit was filed, but has since been joined by Mayor Ray Luna.

At least one other Latino is seeking a council seat in November. Al Escoto, a former councilman and mayor, is a candidate.

Gabino Aguirre, a high school educator, took out candidacy papers early Wednesday but it was uncertain whether he had filed by the 5 p.m. deadline.

Other candidates are incumbent Rick Cook, seeking a second term; Rita Graham, a land-use planner; Mary Ann Krause, an urban planner; and real estate agent John Wisda.

Because Councilman Donald Johnson announced he would not seek another term, the Friday filing deadline was extended for five days--but only for challengers, County Clerk Richard Dean said.

Cook got his papers in on time but Espinosa did not, Dean said.

Although Santa Paula City Clerk Steve Salas allowed Espinosa to submit her candidacy documents Wednesday, Dean said he would reject them when they come to county offices.

The county Elections Division has the final say on which documents are appropriately filed, the county clerk said.

“The extensions do not apply to incumbents,” Dean said. “That’s the way we have always interpreted elections law and that’s the way it’s been interpreted up and down the state.”

Espinosa said the filing lapse was a simple misunderstanding and is prepared to take legal action to correct it. Election law is ambiguous on filing deadlines, she contends.

“Of course, it would have been easier if I had filed the day I pulled my papers,” the two-term incumbent said. “But there was never any doubt of my intention. I am the front-runner. I’ve printed my campaign literature. I’ve walked precincts. I’ve organized voter registration drives. So this issue points to intent as well.”

Dean said he would not oppose a lawsuit, but said his office must have a court order by Wednesday so it can begin printing ballots.

If she fails in the courts, Espinosa said she will still run as a write-in candidate.

She met with her campaign team Wednesday and, she said, was urged to go forward.

“It was unanimous--’Go for it,’ ” she said. “We know it will be difficult. But Santa Paula is worth fighting for.”