Local Democrats show poorly

Dave Brooks

There were few smiling faces at the Orange County Democratic

headquarters on Beach Boulevard on Tuesday night.

One by one, volunteers watched as their local candidates for

office were defeated in their attempts to gain higher office.

Democrat Jim Brandt, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Dana

Rohrabacher for a spot representing the 46th Congressional District,

slipped out before 9 p.m. after initial returns showed him losing

nearly two to one.

Assembly candidate Dave Silva, who unsuccessfully challenged 67th

District incumbent Tom Harman, also lingered, interrupting coverage

of the presidential election to make a concession speech after it

became clear he had no chance of stopping Harman from completing his

third and final term.

“I hoped to do better, but that’s the way it goes,” he would later

say. “I feel good about the effort I put into it and the type of

campaign I ran. I know that it was both honest and ethical.”

The small group of Democrats who sat huddled around a big screen

television watched the close race between their candidate, Sen. John

Kerry, and President Bush, but continued to remain optimistic as the

vote count narrowed in the swing state of Ohio.

Republicans had their own party at the Sutton Place Hotel in

Newport Beach. Rohrabacher was in attendance, and he said he was

happy over the outcome.

“I thought it was a good race this year,” he said. “The debate

with my opponent went very well overall, but I appreciate my base of

support who has brought me back for another term.”

Harman also said he was pleased to win.

“It was a pretty low key campaign,” he said. “This area is

considered a safe Republican district.”

Not all Huntington Beach Republicans came out on top. Former

Huntington Beach Mayor Don MacAllister took last place in his attempt

to unseat Joan Finnegan from the Municipal Water District of Orange

County.

“Because we have no controversy, the incumbent is going to be

strong,” he said. “I gave it a good shot and tried my best and now

I’m just going to let it fall where it falls.”

There are no final figures on turnout, but returns suggest that at

least 37% of registered voters went to the polls, judging by how many

people voted for the uncontested seats of Huntington Beach Treasurer

Sheri Freidenrich and City Clerk Joan Flynn. The numbers don’t

indicate how many people may have only voted for bigger contests like

the presidential election or state propositions, but skipped city

elections.

“Until we have the canvassing in from the county clerk’s office,

we won’t really know,” said Kelly Mandic of the City Clerk’s office.

“There was a pretty long line at my polling place and attendance

looked pretty heavy to me.”