Challengers Hit Stone Wall in Local Races : Incumbents Map Easy Route to Lopsided Wins in 9 Districts

The advantages of incumbency proved unbeatable in Tuesday’s local races for seats in Congress and the state Legislature.

Every incumbent representing the Glendale and northeast Los Angeles area was reelected with no less than 60% of the vote in his district. In five of the nine races, the incumbent received more than 70% of the ballots.

Most of the races were in districts that in 1980 had been carefully mapped--critics say gerrymandered--to give one major party or the other a lopsided advantage in voter registration.

Besides, challengers lacked name recognition and were vastly outspent in campaigning by incumbents, sometimes by a ratio of 100-to-1. The incumbents’ war chests did very well from contributions by political action committees, PACS, while their opponents more often relied on small donations from individuals.

“Theoretically, your opponent can be dead or in jail and you still can’t win,” South Pasadena Mayor Lee D. Prentiss said about the plight of the challengers. Prentiss, a Republican, was beaten badly by incumbent Democrat Art Torres in a race for the state Senate seat in the 24th District. Prentiss said he entered the race as a statement against what he called the “pathetic” abuses of gerrymandering.

John G. Simmons, the Democrat who was resoundingly defeated by incumbent Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead in the 22nd District, complained that most incumbents, including Moorhead, have such tremendous advantages that they don’t even participate in debates with opponents. It is impossible for most challengers to prevail, Simmons said, “unless you have an enormous amount of money and are able to spend two full years trying to change people’s opinions.”

John Vollbrecht, who was the Democratic candidate against Pat Nolan in the 41st Assembly District, agreed. “A lot of people called it a suicide mission,” Vollbrecht said of his unsuccessful race. But he stressed that it is important to challenge even popular incumbents in safe districts “to have a platform for another side’s ideology.”

With all precincts reporting, these were the results:

CONGRESS

22nd District: By more than a 3-to-1 margin, Carlos J. Moorhead, the Glendale Republican, won his eighth term in the House to represent a conservative area that includes Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and parts of Burbank, the San Gabriel and Santa Clarita valleys. His Democratic opponent, John G. Simmons, a retired Lutheran minister and hospital administrator from Burbank, ran a spirited campaign, attacking Moorhead’s support of the Reagan Administration’s military buildup and what Simmons said was Moorhead’s lack of leadership. But Moorhead received 136,315 votes (74%), against 42,839 (23%) for Simmons.

Jona Joy Bergland, a computer-service technician from Glendale who was the Libertarian candidate, received 3,012 votes (2%), whereas Peace and Freedom Party candidate Joel Lorimer, an Echo Park gardener, got 2,845 (2%).

In 1984, Democrats had no candidate on the November ballot and Moorhead racked up 85% of the vote, the biggest victory of his political career. His only challenger then was a Libertarian, Michael Yauch. In 1982, Moorhead got 73.6% of the vote against Democrat Harvey Goldhammer.

24th District: Henry A. Waxman, the Los Angeles Democrat, had no Republican opposition this year and garnered 100,607 votes (88%) to win his seventh term in Congress. His liberal district includes Los Feliz, Atwater, Silver Lake and parts of Echo Park, Hollywood, West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

Because Waxman received more than 60% of the vote in each of his last two outings, Republicans decided to skip the race this year and concentrate their efforts elsewhere.

George Abrahams, a Los Angeles stock investor, was the Libertarian candidate and received 8,490 votes (7%). James Green, a social-services worker from Los Angeles on the Peace and Freedom Party slate, got 5,205 votes (5%).

25th District: Democrat Edward R. Roybal, won an overwhelming victory in his bid for a 13th term in Congress. His GOP challenger was Gregory L. Hardy, a field representative for Assembly Republican leader Pat Nolan. Hardy waged no visible campaign and gathered 16,763 votes (21%), contrasted with 60,959 (76%) for Roybal, who topped his 1984 victory by 4%.

On the Libertarian ticket, Ted Brown, an insurance adjuster from Highland Park, received 2,102 votes (3%). The strongly Democratic district includes Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Glassell Park and Elysian Valley as well as Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights and parts of Pasadena.

STATE SENATE

24th District: Art Torres, the Los Angeles Democrat, will be going back to Sacramento for a second four-year term in the State Senate after receiving 48,291 votes (72%). That was just about the same percentage he received four years ago.

Republican Lee David Prentiss, a Los Angeles Police Department detective and South Pasadena mayor, received 16,061 votes (24%). Libertarian Laura G. Brown, an English tutor from Los Angeles, scored 2,311 votes (3%).

The predominantly Latino and Democratic district includes Eagle Rock, parts of Highland Park, South Pasadena and the Eastside of Los Angeles.

STATE ASSEMBLY

38th District: Marian W. La Follette, the Republican from Northridge, had little trouble defeating her Democratic opponent, Mark Lit, a retired economics professor from Northridge. La Follette won her fourth term with 68,164 votes (68%), against 32,770 (32%) for Lit.

The district includes parts of La Crescenta, Montrose, Burbank and the San Fernando Valley and is the least lopsided district in the area in terms of voter registration by party. Registration is now 49.8% Republican and 41.7% Democratic. But that appears to have been no problem for La Follette, who won two years ago with 66% of the vote.

41st District: In a rematch of 1984, Republican Pat Nolan of Glendale once again walked to victory over Democratic opponent John Vollbrecht, an Eagle Rock contractor. Nolan, who has been the Assembly’s minority leader since 1984, won a fifth term on Tuesday by garnering 64,084 votes (67%), contrasted with Vollbrecht’s 29,042 (30%). Two years ago, Nolan did slightly better, with 70%.

Patricia Bennett, a Glendale teacher and Peace and Freedom Party candidate, received 2,935 votes (3%) in the affluent and conservative district that includes Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and parts of Eagle Rock and Pasadena.

Statewide, the election strengthened Nolan’s chances to remain Assembly minority leader. Nolan poured money and energy into races of conservative GOP candidates around the state. His foes, including more moderate Republicans, were looking to see whether his clout translated into increased Republican strength in the Assembly.

In the last session, the Assembly had 33 Republicans and 47 Democrats; as a result of Tuesday’s vote, Republicans gained three seats. However, some of the new Republicans beat Nolan allies in primaries and may be eager to support someone else as their floor leader.

45th District: Incumbent Burt Margolin, a Los Angeles Democrat, breezed to a third term representing the district that includes parts of Los Feliz and Burbank and much of Hollywood, Hancock Park and Fairfax. Democrats have about a 2-to-1 edge in voter registration there.

Margolin received 59,716 votes (68%) as opposed to 23,287 (27%) for the Republican candidate, Jana Olson, a Toluca Lake businesswoman. Hollywood peace activist Sylvia F. Kushner of the Peace and Freedom Party received 2,931 votes (3%), and 1,474 votes (2%) went to Libertarian Donald P. Meyer, a courier from Hollywood.

46th District: Democrat Mike Roos, the Assembly majority leader, had no trouble retaining the seat he has held since 1977. Roos attracted 26,615 votes (71%) in the Democratic stronghold, which includes Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Echo Park and parts of Hollywood and the mid-Wilshire area.

Voters appeared to be untroubled by published reports of a federal investigation into alleged financial ties between Roos and W. Patrick Moriarty, the Orange County fireworks manufacturer who was sentenced in January to seven years in prison for political corruption. His opponents this year and two years ago tried to use the Moriarty probe as an issue, but Roos has not been charged with any crime and was able to easily deflect criticism.

Republican Jeffrey Wright, a USC student and real estate agent who is an ally of Nolan, did very little campaigning. Wright received 8,441 votes (22%). Marel Bates, a pension actuary from mid-Wilshire and Libertarian candidate, got 753 votes (2%). John O’Brien, an East Hollywood activist for homosexual rights, received 1,878 votes (5%).

55th District: After two very tough elections earlier this year, Democrat Richard Polanco won, by more 2 to 1, his first full two-year term in the Assembly representing Highland Park, Eagle Rock and parts of Atwater, Glassell Park, Lincoln Heights and Pasadena. In the heavily Democratic district, Polanco received 28,936 votes (60%), contrasted with 13,596 (28%) for Republican challenger Loren Lutz, an Alhambra dentist and former chairman of the state Parks and Recreation Commission.

Michael Zinzun of the Peace and Freedom Party gathered 3,484 votes (7%). He worked in a print shop before an incident earlier this year in which he claimed that he was beaten by Pasadena police and lost sight in one eye. Libertarian Sarah E. Foster, a writer from Los Angeles, got 1,860 votes (4%).

Polanco now has a strong hold on the seat that was vacated last year by Richard Alatorre, who became a Los Angeles city councilman.

It has been a tough road for Polanco, who placed first in a crowded special election for the unexpired term in April but had to enter a runoff against Lutz, Zinzun and Foster because he did not receive a majority of the vote. Polanco got 58.2% of the vote in the June runoff.

Moreover, on the same day as the runoff, Polanco beat back a challenge from Mike Hernandez in the Democratic primary for the full two-year term.