Newport loses some of its clout

Is Newport-Mesa’s political influence faltering?

First, Newport Beach’s hometown congressman, Chris Cox, goes and gets a job at the Security and Exchange Commission, only to be replaced by a guy from Irvine, John Campbell.

Now, Campbell isn’t unfamiliar with Newport-Mesa, but he’s no hometown hero. He first represented the area as its assemblyman (before the Assembly district got split in town) and then as its state senator.

You’re a step ahead of me, aren’t you?

Campbell, now getting comfortable as the newest member of Congress, leaves behind him an open seat in the state Senate. And the two front-runners for his seat -- the two Republicans who have declared for the GOP primary -- aren’t from Newport-Mesa either.

One probably even stops the hearts of Newport’s most conservative residents.

That heart-stopping candidate is Assemblyman Tom Harman, a Republican from Huntington Beach. He is moderate, pro-environment and famously won his 2000 race for the Assembly on a combination of name recognition (he’s been on the Huntington Beach City Council) and the fact that two more conservative Republicans split the rest of the vote.

He’ll be a force in the race because of his name recognition in his hometown and because his environmental credentials should play well in at least parts of this coastal community.

The other candidate is Diane Harkey, a member of the Dana Point City Council. She’s staking out the more conservative side of the GOP and with it most of the recognizable endorsements. Her endorsement list includes: Campbell; State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore; Orange County supervisors Jim Silva, Chris Norby, Bill Campbell and Tom Wilson; and Costa Mesa City Councilman Gary Monahan.

Harman’s still trying to line the endorsements up. He had one early endorsement, by state Sen. Bill Morrow, but Morrow pulled it, essentially after seeing how the primary was lining up.

If either one of these candidates win -- and given Harkey’s endorsement list, it seems unlikely another strong Republican is going to enter the race -- it will be the end of a fairly dramatic political shift for Newport-Mesa, and especially Newport Beach. Gone will be the days that the Gil Fergusons and Marian Bergesons represented this area.

Just how much it will change things remains to be seen. But there is one issue of interest: Both Harkey and Harman are anti-El Toro. On that subject, it would seem, Newport Beach really has lost its political foothold.

* S.J. CAHN is the editor. He may be reached at (714) 966-4607 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.

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