O.C. State Senate Race Pits Right vs. Right

Two Orange County Republicans battling for Ross Johnson’s 35th Senate District seat are both conservative, have received high marks by taxpayer groups and already work in Sacramento.

But Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) has two things that colleague Ken Maddox (R-Garden Grove) doesn’t: endorsements from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who hasn’t endorsed many legislators, and from Johnson, who is being forced from office because of term limits.

Still, the race is considered too tight to call as they head into the March 2 primary. Because the district, which stretches across much of coastal Orange County, is mostly Republican, next month’s victor will presumably win the November general election.

“You’re looking at a pair of good conservatives,” said Barbara Stone, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State Fullerton and a party activist.

“In fact, if they were running against a Democrat somewhere else in the state, they would appear to be of the same cloth.”

Also running in the Republican primary is Dana Point Mayor Joe Snyder, a retired Marine colonel. Snyder has raised only $4,500 and is running a low-key campaign compared to Campbell and Maddox.

Campbell, 48, a former owner of Orange County car dealerships, was elected to the Assembly in 2000. His campaign has raised nearly $1 million, nearly double Maddox’s campaign chest, according to spokesmen from both campaigns.

Maddox, 39, was a Tustin police officer before being elected to the Assembly in 1998.

He served in the Army National Guard from 1981 to 1989 and rejoined after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Facing term limits prohibiting his reelection to the Assembly, he moved to Dana Point late last year to run for the Senate seat.

. Each man has been trying to show he’s the more conserva- tive.

In talks and campaign mailers, Maddox has portrayed Campbell as soft on illegal immigration while Campbell calls attention to Maddox’s heavy support from unions, especially the AFL-CIO, which opposed the October recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis.

“Have you seen a single piece of campaign literature saying why you ought to vote for my opponent? There hasn’t been any,” Campbell said.

“He’s running a negative campaign.”

Within the district, Campbell has the stronger name identity as a local assemblyman and businessman.

Maddox is hoping to capitalize on voter support among Asians, Iranian Americans and Latinos. Maddox’s central-county Assembly district has a substantial number of Latino and Asian voters.

The Senate district is 66% white, nearly 18% Asian, 15% Latino and 2% African American.

Maddox said he hopes to benefit from the growing ethnic diversity of the district, which stretches from Seal Beach to Dana Point and includes inland cities like La Palma and Irvine.

“The district is very different. It’s very mixed and that’s where I flourish,” Maddox said.

Although Maddox noted that Campbell has raised thousands of dollars in contributions from car dealers up and down the state, Campbell said he believes his constituency is “the average Joe” who doesn’t seek government subsidies.

“They’re the most underrepresented group in Sacramento,” Campbell said.

During campaign talks, Campbell highlights his efforts helping the governor on state budget issues. He was among the first legislators to assist Schwarzenegger’s campaign, contributing $100,000 to beat Davis.

Last month, as some Republicans criticized President Bush’s proposal calling for an immigrant guest-worker plan, Maddox wasted no time attacking his opponent as soft on illegal immigration.

Campbell said Maddox’s mailers have misrepresented facts.

Campbell said he voted for Mexican Consulate identification cards, for example, because their use was supported by Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas and other county law enforcement officials. “Law enforcement wanted to have a way of identifying and knowing who these people were,” Campbell said.

The bill was passed by the Legislature but was vetoed by Davis.

Campbell’s vote to allow illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition was not warmly received by some conservatives in the district.

Campbell said he supported the measure because it helped a limited group -- immigrant students who have lived in California for at least three years and are California high school graduates and have applied for legal status.

Rita B. Siebert, a legal secretary, is running in the Democratic primary, while Timothy Johnson, an independent businessman, is running on the Libertarian ticket.