Endorsements change dynamics of the race

Alicia Robinson

Orange County Republicans are hoping a new policy of making

endorsements in nonpartisan races will help them win more seats in

upcoming elections, and even Democrats expect the endorsements to

make a difference in local races as early as this fall.

As part of an overall strategy to boost the party’s power, Orange

County Republican Central Committee members recently changed their

bylaws to create an endorsement committee that can recommend

candidates to endorse in nonpartisan races, Orange County GOP

Chairman Scott Baugh said.

The party has done it a handful of times before but had to suspend

the bylaws to do so. Now if two thirds of the endorsement committee

votes in favor of a candidate, it recommends that candidate to the

entire central committee, which also must give two-thirds approval

for an endorsement.

“What we’ve done is streamline the process,” he said. “We

basically create energy from each city and a connection to the county

party.”

For years, political parties have used local nonpartisan offices

as a farm team for state and federal offices, so there is often party

identification among nonpartisan candidates, UC Irvine political

science professor Mark Petracca said. Candidates for local offices

also will subtly communicate party approval by touting endorsements

from well-known officials who are in partisan offices.

Party affiliation was dragged into the open in a 2002 council

race, when a Republican-backed phone poll pointed out that Costa Mesa

City Council candidate Katrina Foley was a registered Democrat. Foley

lost the election.

“I don’t know if that’s the reason why I didn’t win the election,”

Foley said. “There was a lot of response from the people who got the

calls that they made it partisan.... I think that people voting for

City Council care about whether or not that person cares about our

community and what they are going to do to make our neighborhoods

nice and keep our finances healthy.”

Foley represents one of two schools of thought that seem to fall

along party lines. Local Democrats said some nonpartisan offices deal

with issues that are important to everyone regardless of party, like

getting trash collected or educating children.

“I basically just don’t see where school boards and city councils

and water districts get into political philosophy,” Orange County

Democratic Party Chairman Frank Barbaro said. “I think that it is

just basically pragmatic problem solving that they deal with.”

Republicans, on the other hand, said the philosophical differences

between the two major parties are just as relevant in local offices

that decide on budgets and spending, local business regulations and

the like.

“I think your registration as a Democrat or Republican reflects a

philosophy, so I think if you’re running for school board ... you

bring to the table a certain philosophy that voters need to know,”

said Dave Ellis, a Newport Beach political consultant, who helped

elect numerous Newport City Council members.

People on both sides of the aisle expect the new Republican

endorsements to play a part in the November elections. Foley, who is

running for council again this fall, said it will change the dynamics

of the race.

“I think [it will make] a significant amount of difference, both

by way of coordinating volunteer efforts among the various campaigns

and by way of using the party endorsement to let Republicans know who

the Republican on the ballot is,” Baugh said. “It’s not determinative

in that the candidate still has to earn the votes of the people.”

Petracca said that while party identification has been on the

decline nationally, it still matters in Orange County. But the GOP’s

new endorsement policy will probably have more of an impact in a city

like Irvine, which has a majority of Democrats on the City Council in

a city made up of mainly Republican voters, he said.

“It’s a minor step, but these things count,” he said.

While a candidate’s integrity is still paramount in local races,

party membership does matter to many voters, said Costa Mesa Mayor

Gary Monahan, a Republican.

“We have a party system for a reason, and I like the idea that the

local Republican party will be open to endorsement,” he said. “I

think an official endorsement, if given, would be a strong message

that this is their best candidate.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.