Candidate Loses Bid to Have Rival Ousted

Rosemary Woodlock, a Democratic candidate in the 43rd Assembly District race, lost her fight in Superior Court Thursday to have a rival candidate thrown out of the June 3 primary.

Judge James T. Ford dismissed arguments by Woodlock’s attorneys that her main opponent, Terry B. Friedman, had not lived in the district long enough to qualify as a candidate.

In a lawsuit filed Monday against Friedman and the secretary of state, Woodlock alleged that Friedman had lived in the district one day less than the required 30 days when he obtained his candidacy papers on March 8. The secretary of state had maintained, however, that the residency period runs until a candidate returns the papers, meaning that Friedman qualified as a candidate because he returned his candidacy papers on March 12, more than 30 days after he moved into the district.

Siding with the defendants, Ford concluded that Woodlock’s interpretation of the state’s Election Code was wrong.

Friedman Applauds Ruling

Friedman applauded the ruling. “I expected the court would recognize that I fully complied with the residency requirement,” he said. “Now it’s time for the campaign to return to the real issues.”

Woodlock, a Woodland Hills attorney, said she was “thoroughly astonished” by the ruling and that she would appeal to the state Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

“I believe this is too important a case to let go of,” she said.

The disputed section of the Election Code says: “Unless otherwise specifically provided, no person is eligible to be elected . . . to an elective office unless that person is a registered voter and otherwise qualified to vote for that office at the time that nomination papers are issued to the person.”

Debate Irrelevant

Ford said the debate over whether the 30 days should be counted back from the date the candidacy papers are issued or the date they are returned was irrelevant. He said the code simply says that persons can run for elected office if they are registered voters in the district. Friedman, the judge said, met that requirement by registering to vote in the district on Feb. 8.

The controversy arose because Friedman, executive director of a Westside legal services office, lived until recently in a Westwood apartment that was across the street from the 43rd District boundary. He moved into a Westwood apartment inside the district on Feb. 8, after hearing that the Assembly incumbent, Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles), might not seek reelection.

Everyone in court Thursday seemed to agree that the state’s residency requirements are not definitive. The 30-day requirement, in fact, is just a guideline adopted by the secretary of state and county registrars after longer residency requirements in the state Constitution were ruled to be invalid in 1975.

Won’t ‘Make Things Tidy’

“I’m not going to come up with some nice residency requirement to make things tidy,” Ford told the attorneys.

“You have to go down the street to do that,” the judge said, referring to the Legislature.

When the residency issue was first raised, Friedman said Woodlock wanted him disqualified because he was favored to win.

Friedman has been endorsed by the powerful political organization headed by Reps. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) and Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles), along with most Democratic officials in the San Fernando Valley and the Westside.

Other Candidates

Besides Friedman and Woodlock, Bruce Margolin, a West Hollywood attorney, is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat left vacant when Davis decided to run for state controller.

Two Republicans are also seeking the seat, Lou Steeg of Sherman Oaks and Marc Philip Schuyler, a 21-year-old senior at Caltech who is Los Angeles County chairman of Young Americans for Freedom. Also running is Peace and Freedom candidate John Honigsfeld of Los Angeles.