Snook Is Up and Running Again

I last talked to Al Snook in 1998, a month before the November elections. He was running for mayor of Garden Grove and complaining that someone was stealing his yard signs, which they were. Snook went on to lose that race, his fourth straight for mayor.

Life goes on, and two weeks ago I was talking to Van Tran, who won the Republican primary in the 68th Assembly District on March 2 and is poised to become the first Vietnamese American elected to a state legislature if he wins the general election in November. I checked the papers to see who stands in the way of this history-making event.

Tran’s Democratic opponent: Mr. Al Snook.

It seemed like a good time to renew acquaintances with Snook, an insurance man who turns 70 this summer and who has added two more electoral defeats to his record since 1998 -- both for the 68th state Assembly District he and Tran are running for this year. If you’re keeping score at home, that means Snook has run for office every chance he has had since 1992 and is riding a six-election losing streak.

If the law of averages existed in politics, Snook would be in great shape this year. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. He’ll be a big underdog again.

Not to be indelicate, but why, Al, why?

“My whole motivation has always been for the guy who never had a voice,” Snook says. “Somebody’s got to stand up to big government.”

Finding a candidate, however, apparently isn’t as easy as it sounds, probably because the 68th District is securely in the Republican camp. So, Snook is again willing to do the heavy lifting.

Is this all for show? “Oh, I’m definitely prepared to win,” he says. “I’ve got enough experience to know what it’s all about. I’m packed and ready to go. But I’m going to need help.”

To end his losing streak, he’ll need a big Republican crossover vote, because he says the GOP has about 10,000 to 11,000 more registered voters in the district. “It’s half fantasy, half truth, to be honest with you,” he says of his chances.

Still, Snook says, he’ll fight the good fight. And enjoy it. Lots of Republicans have been nice to him in past campaigns. He remembers knocking on a door in Costa Mesa where the resident politely said, “Al, you’re at the wrong house.” But lauding Snook’s resolve, the resident directed him to a neighbor down the street who, Snook says he was told, “may be a Democrat.”

Alas, it can’t even be said that Snook has had even a whiff of electoral success, unless we count his three consecutive primary victories since 2000 (each time, it must be noted, he was unopposed). His four mayoral races left him fourth (of four), third (of five), third (of four) and second in a two-man race in 1998. However, he did get 31% that year and nearly 8,000 votes.

So, somebody out there likes him, if you don’t count the people who over the years have stolen his signs and egged his car.

“The best part of it is that my base has been growing over the last 10 years, thank goodness,” he says.

The numbers back him up. In 2000, he got 5% of the vote for the Assembly seat, finishing third in a four-person race. In 2002, he snagged 30% and finished second out of three.

He’s rested and ready for 2004. Like baseball teams in spring training, hope springs eternal for politicians in March.

“I used to go into [county] Democratic Central Committee meetings, and it was like somebody just passed away,” Snook says. “That’s the truth. This time around, I walk in and everyone is energized and talking about getting out and voting, getting more registrations. It’s a different ballgame.”

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He can be reached at (714) 966-7821, at dana.parsons@latimes.com or at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.