76th District : Race Is On to Win Seat Bradley Held

Lured by the rare prospect of a wide open race for a state legislative seat viewed so politically safe as to be a lifetime job, a handful of local officials have begun angling to fill the vacancy created by the recent death of Assemblyman Bill Bradley (R-Escondido).

In San Diego County, most legislative districts’ lopsided partisan voter registration and incumbents’ longevity effectively discourage serious competition. With that history as a backdrop, Bradley’s June 1 death after a nearly four-year battle with cancer has created an uncommon, if somewhat ticklish, political opportunity for ambitious local Republicans in the 76th Assembly District.

“Everybody sees this as the brass ring,” explained Herb Williams, Bradley’s political consultant. “This area is so heavily Republican that, regardless of how redistricting turns out in 1991, it’s going to remain Republican. Whoever wins this time knows that he probably can stay in office for as long as he wants, as long as he doesn’t do anything like (former U.S. House Speaker Jim) Wright.”

Formidable Challenge

Republicans hold a 54%-33% registration edge in the district, which stretches from northeastern San Diego County to the South Bay, and also covers parts of Riverside County. As a result, the special Aug. 8 primary could be the last major race in the district for the next decade.

Before facing voters, however, potential contenders for Bradley’s seat confront an equally formidable challenge: how to quickly tackle the political realities posed by the unusually brief campaign while not appearing to be engaged in a crass, unseemly rush to capitalize on the race’s unfortunate origins.

That sensitivity has been evident in the inquiries received by the county voter registrar’s office as to how Bradley’s replacement would be selected.

“The day (Bradley died) people called anonymously asking what would happen,” county elections officer Cathy Glaser said. “After a few days, the flaky candidates began using their names when they called. Then, after the funeral service was held, real people called with their names.”

Hesitancy to Declare

Mindful of public perceptions, most potential candidates for Bradley’s seat said they were hesitant to publicly declare their intentions--or, for that matter, to even do much behind the scenes--before Gov. George Deukmejian formally scheduled the election, which he did last Thursday.

However, Poway businessman and longtime Republican activist Dick Lyles, the only officially announced candidate to date, acknowledges that he has been plotting his race off and on since 1985--a source of considerable irritation among Bradley’s former backers.

Other potential GOP candidates include Poway City Councilwoman Linda Brannon and Escondido City Councilman Ernie Cowan. Two others--Chula Vista Mayor Greg Cox and Escondido school board member Barry Baker--flirted with possible candidacies, but both live outside the district and, under the timetable set in motion by Deukmejian’s announcement, are past the deadline for moving into it to qualify.

“I may have just saved myself a lot of grief,” Baker said.

David Barber, Bradley’s administrative assistant, considered attempting to succeed his boss, but ruled out that possibility because of his doubts about organizing a viable campaign from scratch in two months.

“It was very tempting, but opportunity sometimes comes at inopportune times,” Barber said.

Democrat Janice Duquette, head of the Escondido Democratic Club, and Libertarian Bill Holmes, who received less than 3% of the vote when he ran against Bradley last November, also have taken out candidacy papers in the race. Several other minor party candidates also are expected to appear on the ballot.

While the district’s demographics all but guarantee a GOP victory, a Democratic candidate could significantly affect the race’s outcome. Indeed, because of the unorthodox procedures that govern the special election, a Democrat has a good chance of ending up in a runoff, should one be necessary--even if he finishes behind multiple GOP candidates in the primary.

Single Ballot Election

In the August primary, all candidates of all parties will appear on a single ballot. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote--a difficult numerical threshold to cross, if the field is a large one--the top Republican and the top Democratic vote-getters would compete in an Oct. 3 runoff, along with minor party candidates.

“A Democrat can’t win,” said consultant Williams, whose advice Brannon sought in weighing her prospects. “But a Democrat could affect . . . who goes on to the runoff.”

The brevity of the campaign appears to give a significant edge to Lyles, a 42-year-old management consultant who has been pondering a 76th District candidacy since 1985, when Bradley discovered that he had cancer and announced that he would not seek reelection the following year.

At the urging of local GOP leaders, Lyles said, he began planning a 1986 race for the seat. Those plans, however, were abruptly terminated when Bradley, feeling that his surgery and treatment had been more successful than he had expected, changed his mind and decided to run for what he told Lyles would be his final term.

Refocused His Planning

But Lyles’ subsequent plans for a 1988 campaign were similarly derailed by Bradley’s decision to seek a fourth two-year term. Again assured by Bradley that he “absolutely, definitely” would retire after that term, Lyles refocused his planning on the 1990 race--with, he contends, Bradley’s blessing.

“I asked Bill whether he would mind if I began quietly talking to people about 1990 and doing other things to get ready,” said Lyles, a Republican state Central Committee member who has worked on more than two dozen local campaigns. “He understood the situation and was supportive of my doing that. Bill had no problem with it at all.”

Some of Bradley’s inner circle and other North County political activists, however, were perturbed by what they viewed as Lyles’ callous preparation.

Dismisses His Critics

“As soon as Bill Bradley announced he has cancer, Dick Lyles decided he wanted to be Bill’s successor,” Bradley aide Barber said. “That didn’t sit well with a lot of people.”

Potential candidate Cowan added: “Lyles has been dancing on the death bed of Bill Bradley. While Bill Bradley was dying, Dick Lyles was organizing.”

Dismissing such criticism as sniping from political opponents, Lyles said: “Some people would have a problem with me getting in the race regardless of when I did it. All I can say is Bill and I talked about this often, and if he had once indicated a degree of discomfort, I’d not have gone forward. But that never happened.”

Regardless, Lyles’ behind-the-scenes maneuvering and organizing give him, at the race’s outset, a daunting advantage over his potential opponents. As Barber put it: “Lyles is rounding the first corner and the others are still back at the starting gate.”

Planning to spend up to $175,000 in the primary, Lyles received unsolicited contributions totaling more than $30,000 before he even officially announced his candidacy last week. Nearly 200 people have volunteered to work on his campaign, and his past work on other GOP candidates’ races has left him with valuable political IOUs--both here and in Sacramento.

“I’ve always been a problem-solver,” said Lyles, a seven-year Poway resident whose consulting work involves numerous international companies. “The prospect of doing that and making a difference at another level is appealing.”

Brannon, who has served on the Poway City Council for the past 2 1/2 years, concedes that the shortness of the campaign poses difficulties, “but not ones that necessarily would scare me off.”

“It would force you to be more focused than in a normal 6- or 9-month campaign, but I don’t know that that’s a bad thing,” said the 42-year-old Brannon, who has been active in regional anti-drug abuse, youth and transportation programs. “Because when I decide to do something, boy, I do it!”

Cowan, a 44-year-old photographer who has served on the Escondido City Council for seven years, said he is continuing to “actively analyze” his possible candidacy and expects to probably make a decision within the next week.

“This is going to be a campaign where everything has to happen now ,” Cowan said. “You don’t have the leisure of letting the campaign evolve over time. That makes it tougher for candidates. But maybe the voters will appreciate that.”