Immigration enters race

Campbell endorses statement about enforcing border security; official tallies from House race are in; planning a meal to feed a Marine battalion. State Sen. John Campbell’s Congressional campaign has gone low-key since he won the most votes in the Oct. 6 primary for the 48th District House seat, but this week he sent out a statement praising Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for saying his department should have a policy of expelling all illegal immigrants from the country.

“People have been critical of the administration, and I think correctly so, for not taking enough dramatic action relative to our border security problem with Mexico and relative to illegal immigration, and I think what you saw here was a very strong statement from the administration that they’re now going to move,” Campbell said Wednesday.

Campbell may well jump at the chance to bring up his position on illegal immigration, since one of his opponents is Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist, who put immigration in the national spotlight even before he was running for Congress.

Media reports point out that Chertoff also advocated a temporary worker program, and President Bush has been backing a guest worker program for several years. But Campbell said that should take a back seat to enforcement.

“My thoughts on that have been and are that I’m not that thrilled about it unless we know that that this program can be enforced, so the enforcement needs to come first and then we can look at some kind of visa program,” he said.

Special primary results certified

Results from the Oct. 4 special primary for the 48th Congressional District seat are now official, after Orange County Supervisors certified them Tuesday. Nothing changed beyond fractions of a percentage point. The total number of ballots cast was 91,711 -- 22.8% of the 402,006 registered voters in the district.

Campbell finished out the race with 41,420 votes, or 45.5% of the ballots cast; former Newport Beach Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer, Campbell’s closest GOP opponent, received 15,595 votes, or 17.1%; American Independent Party candidate Jim Gilchrist got 13,423 votes, or 14.8%; and Democrat Steve Young netted 7,941 votes, or 8.7%.

Campbell and Young will vie with Gilchrist and two other third-party candidates -- Libertarian Bruce Cohen and Green Party candidate Béa Tiritilli -- in a Dec. 6 general election. For more on the official election results, visit the Orange County Registrar of Voters website at www.oc.ca.gov/election.

Delivering Thanksgiving to Marines

Corona del Mar resident Joy Wynkoop has collected toys at Christmastime and household goods throughout the year for local Marines, and now she’s at it again, this time gathering food for a Thanksgiving meal for Marines and their families.

Wynkoop is working with the Friends of San Onofre Marines to feed turkeys, pies, and everything in between to 750 families at Camp Pendleton in November. The group will be accepting donations of canned cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, boxed stuffing, and disposable roasting pans on Nov. 12 at Gelson’s Market, 1660 San Miguel Drive, Newport Beach. The food will be distributed Nov. 21 at Camp Pendleton.

Donations of money or grocery store gift cards also will be accepted to help buy turkeys and pies. For information, call Wynkoop at (949)760-8727.

Waste and fraud forum Tuesday

Newport Beach Assemblyman Chuck DeVore will hold a community forum on government waste, fraud and abuse on Wednesday in Tustin. He’ll be accompanied by former Assemblyman Tony Strickland, Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector John Moorlach, and Dr. Steven Frates.

The forum, a panel discussion with time for input and questions from the public, will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at 300 Centennial Way in Tustin. For information, call (949) 863-7070.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson@latimes.com.

20051020inka55knDAILY PILOT(LA)State Sen. John Campbell responds to a question during a 48th Congressional District candidates forum held at the Irvine Marriott.