Orange County Politics

He has made a career in this city as a discreet Orange County Democrat, building bridges with powerful Republicans in the name of nonpartisanship. But now Anaheim Mayor Tom Daly is taking sides, just as he considers his first run at countywide political office. Since January, Daly has been quietly running the California office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), drawing a $30,000-a-year salary to build the new congresswoman's political operation from the ground up.

A Democrat lawmaker is pushing legislation to delay a recall attempt against new Assembly Speaker Doris Allen, the Orange County legislator Republicans accuse of being a puppet of former Speaker Willie Brown. Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Los Angeles) is attempting to amend a bill so that any recall involving a lawmaker in Orange County would be consolidated with the March, 1996, primary election.

Their county is fiscally tattered. The normally benign voting public is behaving like an angry mob. Suffice to say, these are not halcyon days for the Orange County Board of Supervisors. And their political futures don't appear much brighter. Campaign consultants and contributors alike generally predict electoral doom for the three supervisors who held office last year when Orange County lost $1.7 billion in investments and declared bankruptcy.

The folks on the cul-de-sac know Betsy better than Hugh. She's the one who's at home most. She bakes brownies for a neighbor frazzled from a kitchen remodel. She shares sunny waves with friends from the helm of her van. She loans her Phillips CQ screwdriver to the other wives of unhandymen. "So, have you got a husband tonight?" her Irvine neighbors will ask in jest. That's because they know her husband, Hugh Hewitt, is as busy these days as Colin Powell's book agent. TV show host.

Robert W. Battin, a maverick Democratic county supervisor during a rough-and-tumble era of Orange County politics in the 1960s and '70s, died Tuesday. He was 78. The cause of death was a heart attack while recovering from a stroke, said his friend and onetime fiance, Rachel Perry. He died early in the morning at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.

Appellate court justices pressed an Orange County prosecutor to explain Thursday why his office is continuing to insist it should be allowed to prosecute a Laguna Beach businessman for the slayings of racing legend Mickey Thompson and his wife, who were gunned down in front of their San Gabriel Valley estate 15 years ago. "You've got to admit that if there is evidence, it's pretty tenuous," said Justice William F. Rylaarsdam. "Why go through all this ...

Dave Sullivan, the underdog in the most contentious race for the Orange County Board of Supervisors, has picked up the pace of campaigning by hiring a veteran political consultant and bolstering his election fund coffers. The Huntington Beach councilman enlisted longtime campaign manager Harvey Englander earlier this month to help him unseat incumbent Jim Silva.

His voting record this legislative session is the worst among state senators seeking reelection. He has won approval for only one of 48 bills introduced over the past two years. He ranks near the bottom in attendance on the Senate floor. Heading into a potentially tough November reelection battle, state Sen. Rob Hurtt faces an unusual criticism: Democrats and even a few Republicans wonder if the wealthy industrialist really wants to keep the job.

Three months before the election, the campaign money that foes of a proposed El Toro airport had promised supervisorial candidate Dave Sullivan has yet to arrive. Sullivan, who is running on an anti-airport platform, received $17,500 in contributions from May 17 to June 30, along with a $9,200 loan he made to his campaign, according to documents released Friday. The incumbent, pro-airport Supervisor Jim Silva, raised $52,025 in the same period.

The indictment Tuesday of two Santa Ana city councilmen on corruption charges stunned Orange County's Latino community, especially among leaders who say political gains made over the years may be lost in one fell swoop. "Oh, no!" said Amin David, an Anaheim businessman and president of Los Amigos of Orange County, an organization that addresses Latino issues. "It's a black eye for the city of Santa Ana. I'm saddened and shocked that they did go ahead and indict. The charges sound very serious."