46th Congressional District

No Republican candidate has ever run against Rep. Robert K. Dornan in his six campaigns for reelection, and when former Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan announced her GOP campaign last week, she learned one reason why.

It is a sad commentary indeed that far-right voters in the 46th Congressional District could find no one other than Bob Dornan to carry their flag into the November election. Dornan handily dispatched two other very qualified candidates by showering his district with misleading mailings about two qualified candidates and his threats to run as a write-in if he lost. Voters know how Dornan redefined the term sore loser in 1996 by accusing Catholic nuns and all Hispanics of vote fraud.

In a last-minute push to raise cash, a top aide to Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) pleaded with Washington lobbyists for campaign contributions to fend off an unexpectedly tough primary challenge. In telephone calls made last week, the aide reportedly told lobbyists who represent Orange County interests that a private poll shows Dornan's Tuesday primary opponent, former Orange County Superior Court Judge Judith A. Ryan, trailing by only 5 percentage points.

Your bold assertion in the Feb. 5 editorial that "the inescapable conclusion for some time has been that any voting irregularities in this 46th Congressional District election, which [Rep. Loretta] Sanchez won by 984 votes, were not sufficient to turn the tide" [raises] questions from a registered voter in that district: Why is the fact that the House investigation documented 748 [improper] votes in my district buried on Page 19 of your fluff article beginning on Page 1, "House Gives Sanchez Reason for Celebration"?

Ira Mehlman's Jan. 6 commentary described voter registration as the most precious right of citizenship. Apparently, the 46th Congressional District's "newest" voters agreed. Their allegedly criminal act was apparently due to overzealousness and confusion. Now they may face deportation. What does Mehlman attribute to the nearly 40% of registered nonvoters--an act of patriotism? LOUISA B. CAUCIA

Before all these liberals like Eileen E. Padberg (Commentary, Nov. 14) get carried away with their convoluted hallucinations about the 46th Congressional District election results, they should pay attention to the numbers and the facts. If Bob Dornan happens to lose this election and his opponent is elected, it would be because the Ross Perot party candidate polled a little over 3,000 votes in this race; these votes would have gone almost 100% to Dornan. In two years when we have the midterm elections Loretta Sanchez, the left-wing liberal, will become history.

With the beginning of November, we can anticipate another year of political campaigns, candidates running for office, and propositions being supported and opposed. In the midst of the coming fury, there is little doubt that the race for the 46th Congressional District will be one of the most highly contested and closely watched. My question is whether it will be fought on the basis of the issues and concerns of its constituents or whether this race will be about who won the previous round.

In an abrupt turnabout, Rep. Robert K. Dornan announced Thursday that he will run for reelection in a proposed Santa Ana congressional district and abandon plans to challenge conservative soul mate Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in a Republican primary next June. The decision came after Dornan said he talked Thursday night with close friends, who appealed to his Republican loyalty, and Rohrabacher's mother, who appealed to his heart.

The chances that a special election for Rep. Loretta Sanchez's seat could take place before late May are decreasing even if the House of Representatives finds sufficient voter fraud to invalidate last year's election. That would place the special election just ahead of the June 2 primary for the Orange County seat Sanchez won from former Rep. Robert K. Dornan.

Conservative Rep. Robert K. Dornan officially announced Tuesday that he will run for another term, as backers of his Republican primary opponent, former Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan, vowed not to be frightened from the race by the veteran lawmaker.

With the beginning of November, we can anticipate another year of political campaigns, candidates running for office, and propositions being supported and opposed. In the midst of the coming fury, there is little doubt that the race for the 46th Congressional District will be one of the most highly contested and closely watched. My question is whether it will be fought on the basis of the issues and concerns of its constituents or whether this race will be about who won the previous round.

The chances that a special election for Rep. Loretta Sanchez's seat could take place before late May are decreasing even if the House of Representatives finds sufficient voter fraud to invalidate last year's election. That would place the special election just ahead of the June 2 primary for the Orange County seat Sanchez won from former Rep. Robert K. Dornan.

In 1775, Paul Revere rode through the Massachusetts countryside, yelling, "The British are coming" to alarm the citizenry that a few more of their inalienable rights were about to be sapped by a faraway power thinking little of the derogation of their freedoms. I shout, "The Congressmen are coming!" Three members of a subcommittee of the House (from outside California) tell 50,000 voters in the 46th District in California that their votes meant nothing, and that "they" have the ultimate power to disregard the victory by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove)

Promising to make themselves heard at next Saturday's congressional hearing, Latino rights supporters plan to mobilize hundreds of marchers for a morning-long rally near the County Hall of Administration, venting frustrations that have been building for years. "We intend to go there to defend the character and dignity of the community in the district," said Art Montez, president of the Santa Ana chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Voter registration and voter turmoil are always at the top of the list for the League of Women Voters, but we hardly expected them to become headline news as they have in the past few weeks. The district attorney's investigation into alleged violations of registration and voting laws has itself brought charges of bigotry and intimidation. The fairness of press coverage has been called into question. All Orange County members of Congress have asked the House Oversight Committee to convene in Orange County to investigate charges of election fraud made by the loser in the narrowly decided November contest for the 46th Congressional District.

Ira Mehlman's Jan. 6 commentary described voter registration as the most precious right of citizenship. Apparently, the 46th Congressional District's "newest" voters agreed. Their allegedly criminal act was apparently due to overzealousness and confusion. Now they may face deportation. What does Mehlman attribute to the nearly 40% of registered nonvoters--an act of patriotism? LOUISA B. CAUCIA

Promising to make themselves heard at next Saturday's congressional hearing, Latino rights supporters plan to mobilize hundreds of marchers for a morning-long rally near the County Hall of Administration, venting frustrations that have been building for years. "We intend to go there to defend the character and dignity of the community in the district," said Art Montez, president of the Santa Ana chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens.

It is a sad commentary indeed that far-right voters in the 46th Congressional District could find no one other than Bob Dornan to carry their flag into the November election. Dornan handily dispatched two other very qualified candidates by showering his district with misleading mailings about two qualified candidates and his threats to run as a write-in if he lost. Voters know how Dornan redefined the term sore loser in 1996 by accusing Catholic nuns and all Hispanics of vote fraud.

Angry losers? You bet, and we have every right to be. What frustrates us is not that the 46th Congressional District voted, by a tiny margin, for a person we believe is not qualified (and who, until by absentee ballot this election, I say never voted in her life!) but for the following: Ms. [Loretta] Sanchez unethically distorted Congressman Dornan's record in her campaign mailers. One mailer successfully shifted some of my father's pro-life support from him to a minor candidate by portraying him as a hypocrite.

Before all these liberals like Eileen E. Padberg (Commentary, Nov. 14) get carried away with their convoluted hallucinations about the 46th Congressional District election results, they should pay attention to the numbers and the facts. If Bob Dornan happens to lose this election and his opponent is elected, it would be because the Ross Perot party candidate polled a little over 3,000 votes in this race; these votes would have gone almost 100% to Dornan. In two years when we have the midterm elections Loretta Sanchez, the left-wing liberal, will become history.