A reason to keep on running

S.J. CAHN

Last week’s column pointed out that, barring a minor miracle, the

victors in the Republican primaries earlier this month for

Newport-Mesa’s state Assembly and Senate seats are certain of a

November waltz into office. The number of Republican voters, who will

be motivated to come to the polls because of the presidential

election, is just too overwhelming for candidates from any other

party.

A question then is: What motivates the candidates to raise money

and run a hard campaign? The answer: other Republican candidates.

Chuck DeVore, the Irvine resident who came out on top of the GOP

primary race for the 70th Assembly District seat, said he hopes that

running “a relatively aggressive campaign” could mean 1,000 to 2,000

more Republican voters in the district who also will cast ballots for

President Bush and former Secretary of State Bill Jones, who is

running against Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer.

“That is what I view as the mission of the campaign,” DeVore said.

It’s those minor victories in turnout that, added together, help

account for the county’s reputation as the country’s strongest

Republican bastion.

The reputation is far from an unimportant one. In 2000, the GOP

presidential ticket bested the Democratic one in Orange County

541,299 to 391,819, yet the Democrats took the state by a whopping

1.2 million votes.

The other counties in the state that went for the Bush-Cheney

ticket were Amador, where the tally was 8,766 GOP votes to 5,906 for

the Gore-Lieberman duo; Butte, 45,584 to 31,338; Calaveras, 10,599 to

7,093; Colusa, 3,629 to 1,745; Del Norte, 4,529 to 3,117; El Dorado,

42,045 to 26,220 and Fresno, 117,342 to 95,059.

There was Inyo, 4,713 to 2,652; Kern, 110,663 to 66,003; Kings,

16,377 to 11,041; Lassen, 7,080 to 2,982; Madera, 20,283 to 11,650;

Mariposa, 4,727 to 2,816; Merced, 26,102 to 22,726; Modoc, 2,969 to

945; Mono, 2,296 to 1,788; Nevada, 25,998 to 17,670; Placer, 69,835

to 42,449; Plumas, 6,343 to 3,458.

A few larger ones were Riverside, 231,995 to 202,576; San

Bernadino, 221,757 to 214,749 and San Diego, 475,736 to 437,666.

Finally, San Joaquin, 81,773 to 79,776; San Luis Obispo, 56,859 to

44,526; Shasta, 43,278 to 20,127; Sierra, 1,172 to 540; Siskiyou,

12,198 to 6,323; Stanislaus, 67,188 to 56,448; Sutter, 17,350 to

8,416; Tehama, 13,270 to 6,507; Trinity, 3,340 to 1,932; Tulare,

54,070 to 33,006; Tuolumne, 13,172 to 9,359; Ventura, 136,178 to

133,258; and Yuba, 9,838 to 5,546.

Obviously, no other sizable county had the same margin of victory.

(For those curious, the margin for the Democratic ticket in San

Francisco County was 241,578 to 51,496 and in Los Angeles it was

1,710,505 to 871,930.) And without Orange County pulling its weight

or more, Bush, and Jones perhaps even more so, will have a tough time

in the state come November.

So DeVore’s focus on helping the “up ticket” races isn’t too

surprising. Just how much he’ll be able to aid them could depend on

the money he raises between now and November. DeVore said he’s

shooting for $300,000 -- the checks are beginning to trickle in --

after raising about $450,000 in the year leading up to the primary.

But it isn’t just those still in races who will be hitting the

streets before the general election.

“My mission for November and beyond has not changed, but in light

of the results of March 2nd, the way I go about it will be

different,” said Corona del Mar resident Cristi Cristich, who ran

against DeVore in the primary. “I had two main goals when I chose to

run for office: One, improving the business climate in California;

two, helping the California GOP.”

Cristich, who plans to return full-time to running her company on

Friday, said her likely focus would not be on saving Republican seats

such as the 70th Assembly District.

“I continue to be an active member of the New Majority and will be

a vocal supporter of the president in the coming months,” she said in

an e-mail from the East Coast. “Although what the best way for me to

help has not yet been determined, I will contribute in any way

possible to help him win California. I will also offer to help any

statewide legislative GOP candidates where my involvement might make

a difference.”

DeVore said he would be helping out fellow Orange County

Republicans in less certain races, including Otto Bade, running in

the 69th Assembly District, which includes Anaheim, Garden Grove and

Santa Ana; and Alexandri Coronado, who is running for the 47th

Congressional District seat against Rep. Loretta Sanchez.

That’s certainly one way to make November a little more

interesting.

* S.J. CAHN is the managing editor. He may be reached at (949)

574-4233 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.