70th District

The second-place finisher in the Republican primary for the 70th Assembly District will get a recount of the 44,778 votes cast in the June 7 election, the registrar of voters office said Tuesday. Candidate Thomas G. Reinecke, who lost to Marilyn C. Brewer by 172 votes, will pay the $358-per-day fee for the recount to ensure no votes were mistakenly counted. The recount is scheduled to begin Thursday morning.

Chuck DeVore, former senior assistant to Rep. C. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), declared his candidacy on Friday for the 70th Assembly District, becoming the second Republican to enter the race. DeVore, 27, of Laguna Hills, is seeking the seat currently held by Republican Gil Ferguson. Ferguson is running in a March special election in the 31st State Senate District, a seat vacated by Republican William Campbell in December.

The real focus in the 70th Assembly District is the public display of the arrogance of power of the "Bully Team" of the right wing of the Republican Party. There are hilarious aspects of the confrontation by a petite "woman" and Republican "lady on the move," Evelyn Hart. She has managed to "flabbergast" their incumbent assemblyman in the 70th District, Gil Ferguson, who proudly answers to "Caveman" and opposes affirmative action as a "burden on otherwise market choices." The entire Bully Team has been unable to control Hart.

With virtually no change in the outcome of the 70th Assembly District race after two days of recounting votes, Republican primary candidate Thomas G. Reinecke on Friday dropped his challenge of the election results. "There's been no substantial gain (in votes), so we are not going to proceed," said Jim Bieber, a Reinecke campaign staffer who monitored the two-day recount at the registrar of voters office in Santa Ana. Before the recount began, Reinecke trailed Marilyn C.

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) has been representing the 70th District for nearly six years. That's long enough. He has an acceptable opponent in the Republican primary this year: Phyllis Badham, a 30-year-old public relations manager. Badham, the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), is politically inexperienced, but has energy and ambition.

As an elected, local official I am concerned about the lack of credibility of the individuals serving in the state Assembly and Senate. For the last few years, the state of California has robbed the coffers of local government to feed its never-ending appetite for funding unneeded and wasteful state programs. This has been happening even as more and more "fiscal conservatives" are elected to represent us. Fortunately, the voters of the 70th Assembly District will be able to send a true fiscal conservative to Sacramento.

Backed by the financial might of conservative state Sen. Rob Hurtt, Republican Jim Morrissey jumped to an early lead in the 69th Assembly District primary and Irvine City Councilman Barry J. Hammond clung to a narrow margin over two opponents in the 70th District GOP race. In the Democratic primary in the 69th Assembly District, Santa Ana City Councilman Ted R.

Re "Ruling Lets Candidate's Words Win," Dec. 31: Though the complaint challenging Marianne Zippi's ballot statement may not have been submitted in time, it's obvious she used her ballot statement to attack her rivals and garner some media attention. While this ploy may have worked for the time being, it's a clear indication of a campaign with no substance -- which is why most local political observers don't consider Zippi viable. For some time now, I've watched the contenders for the 70th Assembly District seat vie for money and momentum.