<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Complaints? Save Them for the Candidates Who May Soon Come Calling

Looking for more police officers in your neighborhood? Are you angry with your state legislators for taking a pay raise? Or maybe you are trying to keep a regional airport out of your back yard?

Then get ready, because you may have a chance to register your complaints when your neighborhood candidate comes knocking on your door.

That’s right, folks. The post-Labor Day march toward the Nov. 8 election is underway.

Even before the campaign signs start popping up along major roadways and your mailboxes are stuffed with political junk mail, you’ll be able to spot the candidate a mile away.

The incumbents--the ones who never returned your telephone calls--are the ones who now greet you warmly while trying to sell tickets to political fund-raisers.

And the challengers--the ones wearing the larger name tags--may be working even harder because they are less known and usually have fewer campaign dollars.

In political circles, it is the kingmakers who hold the keys to huge campaign war chests who are more popular than the politicians.

“My mail box has been real full and I’ve had lots and lots of phone calls,” says Santa Ana businessman Doy Henley, president of the conservative Lincoln Club of Orange County that has pledged at least $200,000 on local city council and state legislative races.

The slump in the economy has made fund raising more difficult, Henley adds, and that means that those doling out the money are having to say “no” more often than they used to. “We tell (those not getting money) that they are in our prayers,” says Republican Assembly leader Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), who was in town last week for a fund-raiser for Marilyn C. Brewer, the GOP nominee in the 70th Assembly District.

Brulte and other Republican caucus leaders have agreed to spend $1.5 million to $2 million on 10 Assembly races statewide in an effort to increase their numbers in Sacramento from 33 to 36.

But with voter turnout at an all-time low in the June primary, and citizens showing more interest in ballot initiatives than in the candidates, those seeking office are going to have to do more than stand on their heads to get voters’ attention.

Democrat Mike Farber, for example, is using a cartoon to help build suspense in his campaign to beat (up on) Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in the 46th Congressional District.

The Democrat is drawn as a muscular boxer, facing a smaller, scrawny-looking Dornan. “It’s coming. . . . Fight for the 46th,” the cartoon announces. “Join the team that will return sanity to Orange County politics.”

The problem with voter apathy was illustrated on the necktie Brulte wore during his recent visit here. It depicts a conversation between two cartoon characters. “So who did you vote for the last time, pal?” the first voter asks. “That happens to be very private information, pal,” the second voter replies. “I didn’t vote either,” the first voter confesses.

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So in case you hadn’t noticed, Politics ’94 offers a few telltale signs that the wild ride on this year’s political roller coaster is rolling down the track.

* Ross Perot is coming to town.

Perot’s speech Friday night at the Sequoia Conference Center in Buena Park will be his first in Orange County since the February, 1993, kickoff of his national political organization, United We Stand. Sharing the stage with Perot will be Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), state Assemblyman Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia) and Tom McClintock, the Republican nominee for state controller.

* Gov. Wilson is likely to be in town.

Wilson has been spending a lot of time here, including his attendance last week at a news conference announcing more than 130 arrests in a Santa Ana drug sweep. Good timing too. A UC Irvine poll released the day before showed him with 50% support in Orange County, which the pollster said was not enough to offset Democratic strongholds in other counties and guarantee a statewide win in November.

* Even the Democrats are coming to town.

Hoping to demonstrate that Democrats will be competitive in GOP territory, members of the state Democratic Party Executive Committee will meet here next weekend and then fan out across central Orange County to knock on doors for their candidates. The usually underdog Democrats--they hold only one legislative seat in Orange County--also are setting up seven local campaign headquarters.

* The fund-raisers seem endless.

Some offer all-star politicians, others serve up cuisine ranging from barbecues to Italian dinners. One for Laguna Beach Mayor Ann Christoph boasted the location: “ . . . at the elegant and contemporary Marc Singer-designed home of Betsy and Gary Jenkins.”

* Challengers are asking: “Where’s the incumbent?”

When Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside) was a no-show for a cable television taping on children’s issues, his opponents--Democrat Lee Walker and Libertarian B. Wade Hostler--teamed up to criticize Morrow for “laying low.” But the Morrow camp says two other candidate forums are already on his calendar.

Registration Struggles

As the fall campaign season gets going, Democrats and Republicans will turn to registration drives to increase voter support. Four central Orange County districts with high minority populations will be the main battleground. September registration compared to June:

Sept.6 June Dem. Rep. Dem. Rep. 46th Congressional District 48.2% 40.7% 47.6% 41.0% 68th Assembly District 41.4 46.2 41.9 45.5 69th Assembly District 55.6 34.7 54.0 35.6 34th State Senate District 46.5 42.0 46.1 41.9

Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters

Compiled by Times political writer Gebe Martinez.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday.