Irvine men all first-timers

Alicia Robinson

Voters in the 70th Assembly District will have to do their homework

before voting Tuesday, since none of the three candidates seeking the

seat have held elected office.

Republican Chuck DeVore, who beat five opponents in the March

primary, is vying with Democrat Carl Mariz and Libertarian Mark

Baldwin to replace Assemblyman John Campbell.

Baldwin is a first-time candidate but has been a delegate at state

and national Libertarian party conventions.

A school bus driver, who also holds a trucker’s license, Baldwin

said if he is elected he would push to privatize some state services

such as driving exams.

“Basically I would like to see more state programs be opened up to

the private sector,” he said. “I would always push for smaller

government. I would never vote for higher taxes.”

As a member of a third party, Baldwin said he supports Proposition

60, which would keep the state’s primary election system as it is

now, and opposes Proposition 62, which would allow only the top two

vote getters from a primary election to appear on the general

election ballot.

“Basically I believe in the Libertarian party’s platform, and I

wanted to provide an alternative between the two bigger parties,” he

said.

DeVore has worked in Washington, D.C., as a congressional staffer

but would like to work to advance the Republican agenda in

Sacramento.

Because the 70th district has more registered Republicans than any

other district in the state, DeVore has focused on helping other

Republicans with their campaigns.

“As a general rule I am interested in slowing the growth of

government, working to enact as many of the California Performance

Review suggestions that could potentially shave $35 billion off the

size of California government over the years, and holding the line on

taxes,” he said.

The only way to solve the state deficit is to improve the business

climate so businesses create new jobs, DeVore said.

Mariz is now retired after working for Fluor for 34 years as a

chemical engineer. He decided to run for office now that he has the

time and can afford to financially support his own campaign, and

because he’s concerned that the gap between rich and poor in America

is growing, he said.

“I just don’t like the way things are going,” Mariz said. “I don’t

think it’s fair that somebody else should be an indentured servant or

a slave, so that I can have a nice standard of living or cheap

clothing.”

His goals include getting a fairer share of state education

dollars for the 70th Assembly District, preventing urban runoff and

moving toward a single-payer health-care system. He supports

Proposition 72, which requires businesses with more than 20 employees

to provide health care for workers, and he’s also in favor of

Proposition 1A, a measure that would keep the state from raiding

local government coffers.

Mariz realizes his pro-union, pro-universal health care stance may

not go over well in such a Republican district, but he’s hoping to

persuade people by educating them.

“What you’re hoping is that, as time goes by, people will start

listening, and you’ll be able to convince them of your point of

view,” he said. “It’s a slow process.”