36th Assembly Race Gets Nasty

Like off-road racing enthusiasts, High Desert voters are used to watching the mud fly come election time.

But this year’s Republican primary fight in the 36th Assembly District has amazed even seasoned onlookers, particularly the feuding between front-runners Sharon Runner and Phil Wyman.

Though incumbent George Runner is forced out of office because of term limits, his wife, Sharon, is hoping to carry on his legacy in this conservative stronghold. Her fiercest competition comes from another law-and-order Republican, 34th District Assemblyman Phil Wyman of Tehachapi, whose hometown was relegated to the 32nd District in last year’s reapportionment.

Much of the 34th District, meanwhile, was absorbed by the new 36th, and Wyman, a 16-year veteran of the Assembly, decided to relocate to a one-bedroom apartment in the 36th District town of Phelan.

Runner supporters such as Lancaster attorney R. Rex Parris say the move is pure carpetbagging. “It is a 700-square-foot garage,” Parris said.

In turn, Wyman campaign chairman Doug Haaland has accused Parris employees of posing as Wyman campaign workers to snoop around the apartment. Haaland also has written to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, accusing the Runners of illegally using Sharon Runner’s political consulting company--which counts George Runner among its clients--to skirt contribution limits set out in the Political Reform Act. FPPC officials won’t comment on the matter, but Parris calls the charges “nonsense.”

At this point, some residents, such as Palmdale barber Gary Lindsey, have rendered a similar judgment on the entire political season.

“It’s definitely out of hand,” Lindsey said. “We need a whole lot more of the issues, instead of bringing in all this personal stuff.”

The focus on politics over policy may stem from the fact that the two candidates aren’t too far apart philosophically. Sharon Runner said she shares the worldview of her husband, one of California’s more conservative assemblymen. Last year, Assemblyman Runner railed against the quarter-cent state sales tax increase, and unsuccessfully introduced a resolution to honor the Boy Scouts after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the group could exclude gays.

When asked what differentiates her from Wyman--who was once part of an ultraconservative Assembly clique known as “The Cavemen”--Runner describes herself as a “compassionate conservative.”

“I would say we have ... not necessarily different views, but different abilities in getting things accomplished,” she said. “I have relationships with Democrats in Sacramento, and I believe they see me as someone who generally cares about them and doesn’t bash what they do.”

Runner said she is worried that Sacramento puts too much emphasis on urban public schools at the expense of those in outlying areas. She also wants to work for better all-around transportation for her district, one of the fastest-growing suburban areas in California.

One of the answers to California’s energy problems, she said, is building new power plants in the High Desert, where land is plentiful and well-paying jobs are needed to help eliminate the grueling commute thousands make to Los Angeles daily.

Wyman, a rancher with a law degree, was first elected to the Assembly in 1978. In 1992, he gave up the seat to run for Congress, but lost in the primary to Howard “Buck” McKeon. Wyman then served in the state Senate after winning a special election in 1993 for District 17, but lost to Democrat Jim Costa a year later. He was elected to the 34th Assembly District in 2000.

During his years in Sacramento, Wyman has established a reputation as an unwavering conservative.

He was a Senate author of the 1994 three-strikes law, as well as a 1987 Assembly bill that would have required minors to get a parent’s consent before having an abortion. (The Supreme Court struck down the legislation in 1997.)

This session, Wyman has introduced legislation to speed up the widening of dangerous California 138, known locally as “Blood Alley.” Another bill provides incentives and tax credits for the aerospace industry.

“I’ve been working on these issues for years,” Wyman said. “My knowledge of the [Antelope Valley] and its job needs totally eclipses Mrs. Runner.”

Also vying for the Republican nomination are Palmdale Councilman Mike Dispenza, a local businessman, and Ollie McCaulley, a Palmdale resident who works for a nonprofit housing group.

But the big money is with Runner and Wyman: Each campaign has spent at least $200,000 so far. Wyman, however, is taking a hit from the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., which has endorsed Runner and has been flooding local mailboxes recently with $250,000 worth of mailers.

Wyman said the union is angry that he helped kill a bill last year that would have shut down a number of privately operated prisons in the High Desert.

In the Democratic camp, Lancaster businessman Byron Bostic and Palmdale TV producer Robert Davenport are vying for the nomination.