Illegal Immigration Dominates Costly, Fiery O.C. Supervisor Race

In what could become the most expensive county supervisor race in Orange County history, the two top candidates are locked in an increasingly contentious battle over an issue on which local officials have little say: illegal immigration.

Former Assemblywoman Patricia Bates has the name recognition and the endorsements, but former Laguna Niguel Mayor Cathryn DeYoung has the money, having lent her campaign $1.1 million. The dollars have fueled a race for the South County seat so fiery that Bates recently went to court in an unsuccessful attempt to stop DeYoung from distributing campaign literature attacking her.

Two other candidates are also running for the 5th District seat: former Laguna Niguel City Councilman Eddie Rose and Gary V. Miller, who was an El Toro anti-airport activist and West Covina councilman. They are seeking the seat held by Tom Wilson, who is leaving because of term limits.

The June 6 election is the first in the district since voters decided to turn the former El Toro Marine base into a park instead of a commercial airport, an issue that for a better part of a decade dominated politics in the area. The district spans an overwhelmingly white, wealthy and conservative patch of Orange County.

The race has generated its share of local issues: Reducing traffic congestion is a priority for DeYoung and Bates, both Republicans. But those concerns have become secondary as illegal immigration has taken the stage.

DeYoung has made a major issue of Bates’ support for a 2002 Assembly bill to recognize the validity of an identification card the Mexican consulate issued its citizens in the U.S. The DeYoung campaign sent a mailer to voters in the district with Bates’ picture superimposed on an image of the identification card, known as a matricula consular. Bates’ campaign sued to block its distribution, but two courts, including one ruling Tuesday, turned her down.

The bill was not controversial at the time it passed and garnered wide support from Republicans and Democrats. There was no recorded opposition.

Now, four years after it passed, DeYoung has sought to cast Bates as weak on illegal immigration, noting that she signed on as a co-author of the bill and voted for an earlier version of it. DeYoung has said undocumented immigrants use the cards to “fraudulently obtain government benefits,” among other things.

“Basically, she co-authored a bad bill, and she’s trying to run from the facts on it,” DeYoung said in an interview.

Bates has acknowledged she was an initial supporter of the bill. She has also maintained that she voted against the final version because she did not receive a guarantee from its sponsors that the cards would have enhanced security measures to prevent illegal immigrants from receiving government benefits.

But the Assembly’s register from Aug. 30, 2002, shows she voted for it, then changed her vote in the official record.

The Assembly permits members to change the record of their votes as long as it does not affect the outcome. The purpose is to give lawmakers an opportunity to correct mistakes, but the allowance is also used to avoid angering lobbyists, colleagues or constituents.

Bates did not respond to repeated requests for comment Tuesday. Her campaign manager referred calls to her Sacramento political consultant, Dave Gilliard, who said the vote change was “not a big issue.” He said he did not know why Bates voted for the measure on the floor and changed it afterward but speculated that she may have been continuing to negotiate amendments that she didn’t get.

Bates has touted her role as chairwoman of the South County Working Group for Immigration Reform, and says illegal immigration costs the county $850 million per year. DeYoung has joined a national group called Mayors and County Executives for Immigration Reform, which is trying to focus attention in Washington on what illegal immigration costs local governments.

“The Board of Supervisors has virtually nothing to do with the issue of immigration reform,” said Mark Petracca, a political science professor at UC Irvine. “But voters don’t necessarily always think that way. They want to elect candidates who share” their values, he said.

Rose, the candidate and former Laguna Niguel councilman, said the federal government had primary responsibility of solving the immigration problem.

He has focused his campaign on preserving open space in the district and hefty spending by Bates and DeYoung, saying the large sums threaten to compromise their votes as supervisor. His campaign has received $11,000, mostly from Rose himself, being spent on brochures and signs.

“They’ve both got a lot to spend and think they can buy this office,” Rose said.

Miller, the fourth candidate, could not be reached for comment Tuesday. In his campaign statement filed with the county, he described himself as an educator and anti-airport activist and served on the West Covina City Council before moving to South County. He said his priorities included job creation, open space protection and public safety.

He has not filed a campaign finance statement with the county.

Bates was Laguna Niguel’s first mayor and went on to represent the area in the Assembly for three terms. She has locked up a long list of Republican endorsements, from members of Congress to local party activists.

She is facing a fierce challenge from DeYoung, a lawyer who after lending her campaign the $1.1 million has spent more than $836,000 of it, according to her most recent campaign finance statement, filed in March. She paid nearly $500,000 to her consultants, a top Republican firm named Forde & Mollrich. The firm has worked for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Irvine Co., and has used some of DeYoung’s money for cable TV advertising and bombarding the district with mailings.

Bates has raised less than $350,000, including $129,000 in personal loans to her campaign, and has spent about $230,000, her campaign filing shows.

“Sure, we’ve spent a lot of money,” DeYoung said, “but we have to do it to level the playing field against her.”