High voter turnout predicted Election Day

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press November 3, 2000

By LISA WAHLA
Valley Press Staff Writer

Days before Tuesday's election, local politicos are mobilizing their forces, with Republicans confident of continued success and Democrats hoping to buck the Valley's "bastion of conservatism" label.

With the combination of the presidential election and a bevy of heated local campaigns, the secretary of state's office is projecting a 76% voter turnout statewide. Palmdale City Clerk Victoria Hancock predicted a high local turnout as well, as Palmdale voters will decide two City Council races and the fate of Measure T, the referendum on a proposed east Palmdale Wal-Mart.

While party activists on both sides walked the precincts and manned phone banks, talk continues to swirl about the partisan nature of officially nonpartisan races. Growing Democratic activism has meant a deepening of the partisan divide in local elections, as leaders have joined the game mastered by the local GOP leaders.

At Democratic Party headquarters in Lancaster, longtime activists Norma Oppenheim and Martha Dodson said the clubs registered between 2,500 to 3,000 Democrats since the March primary. Palmdale Republican leader Dawn Charlton, meanwhile, said Valley Republicans registered 2,127 Republican voters.

The Democrats continued to pick up ground in voter registration in Palmdale and Lancaster, but it remains to be seen whether that will translate into a break from traditional Republican dominance on Election Day.

The Republicans strengthened their reputation as the Valley's party of record during the March primaries, when 25% of Palmdale Democrats and 29.3% of Lancaster Democrats voted for a Republican presidential candidate.

Republican state Assemblyman George Runner alluded to those numbers, saying that Democrats need "seven or eight points" more than the Republicans to be competitive, based on Democrat voting habits. Democrats, he said, typically choose individual candidates rather than follow a strict party line, or they don't make it to the polls at all.

Democrats have a 42% to 40% lead among registered voters in Palmdale; Republicans maintain a 46% to 36% margin in Lancaster.

Democratic leaders, however, say that this election will be different.

"We're making sure that we're getting back to normal - that our Democrat base, the voters in Palmdale, will feel excited about voting for their Democrat candidates," said Robert Alvarado, president of the Democratic Club of the High Desert. "We have very good candidates running right now - candidates with a mission, candidates who are very well known in the community."

The High Desert club also has a new partner this year; Alan Lee, who is running for Palmdale City Council, broke off from Alvarado's group to start the Antelope Valley Democratic Club.

"When you all think alike, you don't think much," Lee said, adding that the new club has about 50 members, most of whom did not come over from the High Desert club.

Lee and Alvarado say that rather than compete for membership, the two clubs have combined forces in voter registration and other community activities. They cite an increase in interest and organization among Valley Democrats.

"We're laying an infrastructure to establish a political action committee," Lee said, "in order that Democrats might have a real presence."

Many Democratic leaders attribute the increase in Democratic registration to the influx of minorities who are attracted by the Valley's lower housing prices.

A greater presence of minorities, who tend to vote Democratic, may help the party, but it doesn't necessarily forecast an end to Republican domination.

"We have had an influx of minorities, and minorities tend to be Democratic, but they tend not to register," said former Palmdale mayor and longtime Democratic leader Larry Chimbole. Plus, "Republicans are making a strong bid to open doors to the minority voters."

At the Republican headquarters, campaign literature is available in both English and Spanish. Other handouts claim that the GOP is the best party for black Americans.

Randy Hall, who heads the 36th Assembly District Republican Central Committee, said his group isn't concerned about changing demographics spelling out doom for the Republicans. He believes that the longer minority immigrants are here, the likelier they are to vote Republican.

"We're the party that says to stand on your own two feet, the one for more personal responsibility," Hall said.

Meanwhile, the partisan nature of local nonpartisan races has proven to be an issue again this election season.

In September, Democrats Lee and Sandy Corrales had fund-raisers to support their council campaigns. State Assemblymen Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, and Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, attended. The next week, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, spoke at another Lee fund-raiser.

Lee has said that the Republicans made the council race partisan, and the Democrats are merely responding.

Indeed, the Republican "machine," as some observers call the local GOP leaders, has actively endorsed and raised funds for local politicians in the past. Those leaders include Runner, businessman Frank Visco and attorney R. Rex Parris.

In September, the local chapter of the California Congress of Republicans presented a forum for council candidates and only allowed those registered with their party to speak.

One of the Republicans competing for a council seat is Richard Loa, who acknowledged the current state of Palmdale politics.

"While the seat itself is nonpartisan, the race for it is (partisan)," Loa said. "I don't necessarily argue with that."

Perhaps seeking to distance himself from party politics, Loa had a fund-raiser headlined by Democrats last week.

Loa's event featured L.A. City Councilman Alex Padilla and his brother-in-law, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Los Angeles. Loa said he sought to show that he can work well with Democrats and Republicans alike to get things done for Palmdale.

And partisanship is alive and well elsewhere, demonstrated by the negative television ad campaign in the county district attorney race. Incumbent district attorney Gil Garcetti presented a scathing attack on challenger Steve Cooley, who was head deputy district attorney in the Antelope Valley for eight years.

The last message in Garcetti's ad: "Republican Steve Cooley, the plea bargainer we can't trust to be district attorney." Garcetti is a Democrat and Cooley said he hasn't "quite figured that (campaign tactic) out yet."