Actor Ralph Waite Plans to Seek Congress Seat : Candidate: Star of ‘The Waltons’ will run for the Democratic nomination in 37th District.

When anti-war activist and celebrity Ron Kovic told associates earlier this week he was scrapping plans to challenge Orange County Rep. Robert Dornan, things looked bleak for those who like a little Hollywood sizzle with their politics.

But then came a bulletin from actor Ralph Waite. You remember him. Back in the 1970s, Waite played the gentle patriarch of a struggling, Depression-era Virginia family on the popular television series “The Waltons.”

Declaring himself “ready to contribute something on the national level,” Waite said Wednesday he plans to seek the Democratic nomination for the 37th Congressional District, which spans most of Riverside County.

If he wins the nomination, Waite almost assuredly would face four-term incumbent Al McCandless, a Republican, in November’s general election. McCandless is expected to easily win renomination in the June 5 primary.

“It is time to get in there and make our country work better,” Waite, a Rancho Mirage resident, said in an interview Wednesday. “I don’t believe the problems that concern our district--education, the environment, health care, senior citizens’ issues--are being properly attended to by our current representative.”

Waite, 61, will need more than an endorsement from “John Boy,” his trustworthy television son, to topple McCandless. The veteran politician has cultivated a loyal--and generous--group of followers during his eight years in Congress and the previous 12 years he spent as a Riverside County supervisor.

McCandless, a La Quinta resident, defeated his last two Democratic opponents by roughly 2-1 margins. And the most recent voter registration figures for the district show Republicans holding a 48% to 43% edge over Democrats.

“This district has always been viewed as a no-win situation for Democrats,” conceded Tom Sherer, a local Democratic leader.

“Ralph Waite is a fine man and would no doubt have a lot to offer any congressional district,” said Assemblyman Steve Clute (D-Riverside). “But that particular district is a tough one and Al McCandless has been popular.”

Still, Clute added, “I would not underestimate Ralph’s ability to raise money and develop grass-roots support.”

McCandless did not seem perturbed about the prospect of a celebrity opponent.

“I’ve met Ralph and he’s a personable individual who has been active in the community,” the 62-year-old McCandless said. But “aside from some name recognition,” the actor doesn’t have much to offer “when you consider my depth of experience,” the congressman said.

Julie Bornstein, a Palm Springs attorney and member of the state Democratic Central Committee, praised Waite as “someone who is committed, bright and sincere.”

“We’ve got a lot of celebrities out here, and you see them at functions,” said Bornstein, who serves with Waite on the board of a Coachella Valley group that provides housing for low-income people. “But Ralph is someone who rolls up his sleeves and actually does work for charities. That’s rare.”

Waite, who describes himself as a moderate, joins two others seeking the 37th District Democratic nomination--Jeffrey Jacobs, a paper salesman from Moreno Valley, and Johnny Pearson, a retired Air Force master sergeant from the Lake Elsinore area who lost to McCandless in 1988.

Although Waite mulled a run against McCandless in 1988, concern about finances and a lack of organized Democratic Party support dissuaded him. This year, one of “the final nudges” persuading him to run, he said, was hearing Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel, a playwright-turned-politician , deliver a speech to Congress last month.

“I got a sense of how inspiring our democracy and freedom are to other people in the world,” Waite recalled. “I decided . . . this was the occasion to rededicate myself to our political life.”

Though best known for his portrayal of papa John Walton, Waite served as a social worker, a Presbyterian minister and a religious book editor before becoming an actor.