Leaders enter the election homestretch

Almost as soon as state Sen. John Campbell announced he was running

for the House of Representatives, he was pegged as the leading

candidate, and people have been calling him “Congressman” for more

than a month now.

Former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer, who was already in the race,

has been fighting for the upper hand ever since. She’s widely

considered the Republican with the second-best shot.

“I know I’m a little behind. That’s fine with me,” Brewer said.

“You want to peak on election day.”

Tuesday, voters in the 48th Congressional District will choose

from 17 candidates -- 10 from the GOP -- to succeed former Rep. Chris

Cox, who left to become chairman of the Securities and Exchange

Commission.

It’s an open primary, so voters can pick any candidate, regardless

of party registration. If more than 50% of Tuesday’s votes go to one

candidate, that person wins outright. Otherwise, top vote-getters

from each party will compete in a Dec. 6 general election.

Similarities among differences

The two top Republicans have backgrounds in politics and business.

Brewer, 68, of Newport Beach, spent 20 years at a plastics company

she and her husband founded. She served as Newport Beach’s

assemblywoman from 1994 to 2000.

Since leaving the Assembly, Brewer has been appointed to a state

tax policy commission, she helped found a mental health services

coalition, and she briefly served on the Orange County Transportation

Authority board.

Campbell, 50, of Irvine, has been an accountant and has spent

about 25 years handling finances and management of car dealerships.

He succeeded Brewer in the Assembly and served two terms before

being elected to the state Senate in 2004. He’s backed by county and

state GOP organizations as well as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Brewer has downplayed Campbell’s massive list of endorsements and

has pitched herself as a candidate with community support, with

volunteers walking precincts and holding meet-and-greets for her.

Campbell’s support, she said, is narrowly based and comes from “the

old guard of Orange County.”

Other candidates have criticized Campbell for, as Brewer put it,

“running like he’s the incumbent” -- not coming to candidate forums

or making public appearances.

But Campbell sloughs off the attack. As a sitting state senator he

was busy in Sacramento until just a few weeks ago, he said.

Besides, he said, voters have had five years to see how he behaves

in office, while most of the other candidates are unknowns.

“These other people don’t have anything else to do, and I do,” he

said.

His record in those last five years is where Brewer has assailed

him. She has said he flip-flopped on illegal immigration, once

benefited from eminent domain but is now a vocal opponent of it, and

day-traded energy stocks while the state was in an energy crisis.

Campbell said he has always opposed illegal immigration and

dismissed the other charges as nonsense.

To strengthen her appeal to moderate voters, Brewer has

highlighted her support of abortion rights and stem cell research,

but she also said voters are concerned about the war in Iraq, illegal

immigration and taxes.

“They want to know that you don’t think the war should go on, they

want to know that you’re going to fight illegal immigration and how

you’re going to do it, and they want to know that you’re not going to

arbitrarily cut taxes,” Brewer said. “Without saying it, they’re

worried about the deficit.”

For Campbell, the biggest issue in the election is national

security.

“The central reason you run for federal office is foreign policy

issues,” he said. “What stem cell research is going on won’t matter a

whit if you get blown up on your way to work.”

Both candidates have seized on the issue of illegal immigration,

which may be getting more attention because Minuteman Project founder

Jim Gilchrist is in the race.

While Brewer has said the U.S. should enforce existing immigration

laws, Campbell has advocated a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border,

and he’s a leading proponent of a 2006 ballot initiative that would

beef up the state police to patrol the California border.

A little speculation

While the two seem to have prepared answers for everything else,

neither candidate will elaborate on the game plan in the event of an

Oct. 4 loss.

Brewer said she’s not interested in going back to Sacramento

because it’s too partisan.

“Congress is right for me,” she said.

And while he’s not positive he’ll sweep the primary, Campbell

doesn’t doubt that he’s going to Congress this year.

“I am going to win this race, so that’s a speculation that I’m not

going to need to make,” he said.