Down to the Wire in GOP Primary

Capping an election season marked by surprise and scandal, Californians go to the polls today to pick party nominees in the race for governor while Central Valley voters decide the fate of embattled Rep. Gary Condit.

The gubernatorial race has been spirited, with three Republican candidates vying for the right to face Gov. Gray Davis in the fall. Davis has run largely unopposed in the Democratic primary.

In the Central Valley race, Democrat Condit has labored under a tabloid cloud since last year’s disappearance of federal intern Chandra Levy.

The polls will be open statewide from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Despite good weather--the only chance of rain is on the far north coast--experts were forecasting a 36% turnout of the state’s roughly 15 million voters, the second lowest on record.

Candidates, led by the three GOP hopefuls for governor, did their best Monday to excite interest in their contests and exhort followers to the polls.

Bill Simon Jr., the unexpected front-runner in the Republican gubernatorial race, made the rounds among the crowd at Philippe, a lunchtime institution in downtown Los Angeles.

Richard Riordan stumped with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Van Nuys while Bill Jones rallied supporters at his Sacramento headquarters.

Democratic incumbent Gray Davis, whose $10-million advertising assault on Riordan helped scramble the Republican contest, faces no major competition for his party’s nomination.

Along with the top-of-the-ticket race for governor, voters will choose nominees for seven statewide offices--four of them open--thus promising at least some turnover in Sacramento next year.

Voters also will decide state measures involving term limits, gasoline taxes and environmental protection, as well as myriad local ballot questions, among them Orange County’s divisive fight over the former El Toro Marine base.

Los Angeles County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky and Sheriff Lee Baca are up for reelection, along with Orange County Superior Judge Ronald C. Kline.

Kline, who is charged with child molestation and possession of child pornography, has no opponent on the ballot but faces a write-in campaign by election opponents.

There are heated races for district attorney in Ventura and Orange counties, and voters in the east San Fernando Valley will choose between Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Panorama City) and businesswoman Wendy Greuel to fill an open seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Once they reach the polls, Californians will face the third set of voting rules in as many primaries. Gone is the “blanket” primary of two years ago, in which registered voters could cast ballots for any candidate of their choosing, regardless of party affiliation. Instead, the state will conduct its first “semi-open” primary, allowing roughly 2 million unaffiliated voters to participate by requesting a partisan ballot.

However, Democrats, Republicans and others registered with a political party will not be allowed to vote in any other primary.

It is not the new rules but the early timing of the primary that has led to woeful turnout predictions. The first gubernatorial primary to be held in March--historically it has been in June--the contest also was overshadowed until nine days ago by the Winter Olympics.

Davis, a first-term governor without the press of serious opposition, spent his primary attacking former Los Angeles Mayor Riordan from across the aisle.

The onslaught helped boost Simon in the GOP contest and drove a frustrated Riordan to compare the governor Monday to the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. “Gray Davis is gloating about hijacking the Republican Party and it’s just like Mussolini bragging about killing a lot of his enemies,” Riordan said.

Stressing Party Unity

The ex-mayor began a hectic day of campaigning in Walnut Creek, where he greeted morning commuters at the leafy BART station. Later, at a Sacramento stop, Riordan voiced themes of party unity, saying it was time for the GOP to put aside divisive feuds among moderates and conservatives and focus on areas where Republicans all agree, such as fiscal prudence.

Riordan also attempted to turn Davis’ ad blitz into a sign of his own potency, pleading with Republicans not to let Davis have his way by ousting Riordan from the race.

“He has hijacked the Republican primary,” Riordan said of Davis. “We can’t let him get away with that.”

The former mayor concluded his day appearing alongside Schwarzenegger, who introduced him at his campaign launch in November. “Should we listen to Gray Davis on who we should pick as the Republican nominee,” the actor called out from a stage to roughly 75 Riordan supporters gathered at a Van Nuys hotel. “No!” the crowd shouted back. “Exactly,” Schwarzenegger replied.

Emphasizing Tax Cut

In Los Angeles, Simon worked the luncheon crowd amid Philippe’s sawdust-covered floors and famous French dip sandwiches.

Surrounded by television cameras, the millionaire businessman and novice candidate shook hands, telling people: “Hi, I’m Bill Simon, I’m running for governor” and apologized for disrupting their lunch. Everyone was friendly, even those who seemed less than convinced by his candidacy.

“Are you going to support the union boys?” asked electrician Jon Woods, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11.

Simon responded by saying he would cut Woods’ taxes. “You think you pay enough in taxes?” he asked.

“I think wages should go up,” Woods replied. “You need to support our union.”

“The first thing I’m going to do,” Simon said, “is reduce your taxes.”

After maneuvering into a corner to avoid a backdrop of Riordan signs, Simon spoke briefly with reporters, offering his standard response when asked how his conservative stance on social issues would stand up in the general election.

“Every candidate is free to choose the issues they talk about on the campaign trail,” Simon told reporters, stating his intention to focus on the budget and tax cuts, improving education and the state’s infrastructure.

Targeting Gray Davis

In Sacramento, Secretary of State Jones took shots at his Republican opponents and Davis during an appearance at campaign headquarters.

“This election has to be about Gray Davis,” Jones said. “And we can make it about Gray Davis with a correct nominee.”

Jones said the election is also about building a new majority of independents, conservative Democrats and Republicans. He said he is the only one of the three GOP candidates who has been able to deliver in elected office for 20 years.

“I will win this election because in the final analysis people are still looking for leadership they can trust,” he said, alluding to his two wealthy opponents. “You cannot buy leadership no matter how much money you spend.”

When asked about the White House’s role in California’s primary, Jones said: “I expect my phone call on Wednesday morning. Everybody else has gotten theirs.”

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was asked whether Bush still preferred Riordan over Simon or Jones in the GOP contest. “The president has always said he’ll support the nominee,” Fleischer replied.

Democratic leaders were somewhat less circumspect in making their preferences known in California’s 18th Congressional District, where the national scandal over the disappearance of Washington intern Levy overtook the usual discussion of agricultural policy and economic development. The party establishment abandoned Condit, leaving him struggling to hold on to his seat after 13 years.

Reelections used to be a waltz for the Ceres Democrat, who never won without landslide support. But last spring, Levy disappeared and Condit became the staple of sensational headlines and the butt of late-night comedy jokes.

Relatives of the 24-year-old intern--who is still missing--have said she and the 53-year-old Condit were having an affair. Condit, who is married, has refused to discuss details of their relationship, other than to say they were close.

Emboldened by Condit’s precipitous fall in polls, a onetime friend and protege, Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza of Merced, jumped into the primary and immediately won support from leading Democrats.

Four Republicans are vying in the GOP primary and will face the top Democratic voter-getter in November.

However, that heated competition in the Condit race is something of a rarity in California’s congressional races.

All 52 House members are up for reelection, but few are seriously threatened, thanks to the incumbent-protection plan that passed the Legislature as part of the once-a-decade redrawing of the state’s political boundaries.

Two new House seats have been carved out to reflect population shifts over the last 10 years. Voters will decide among three candidates in the Democratic primary for one of the new districts, carved out of southeast Los Angeles County. The winner--attorney Linda Sanchez, South Gate City Councilman Hector De La Torre or Assemblywoman Sally Havice of Cerritos--seems a shoo-in to head for Washington in November, given the district’s heavy Democratic registration.

For the opposite reason, the winner of today’s GOP primary appears to be a sure bet to go to Congress from California’s other new congressional district, which is centered in the eastern part of the Central Valley.

The placid political dynamic is the same in most races for the state Legislature. With most incumbents secure, the intense competition will come in today’s primaries.

In San Diego and Riverside counties, conservative Assemblyman Dennis Hollingsworth (R-Murrieta) is seeking the same state Senate seat as moderate Assemblywoman Charlene Zettel (R-Poway). In north Los Angeles County, a similar contest pits Assemblyman Phil Wyman (R-Tehachapi) against Sharon Runner, wife of the incumbent, Assemblyman George Runner (R-Lancaster).

A hard-fought contest in the San Fernando Valley pits fellow Democrats Andrei Cherny and Lloyd Levine in a race to replace outgoing Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg of Sherman Oaks.

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Times staff writers Miguel Bustillo, Michael Finnegan, James Gerstenzang, Julie Tamaki and Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.

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