Valerie Romero

As the June 7 primary approaches for Rep. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar), election rivals have wasted no time unleashing an avalanche of criticism at him prompted by evidence of federal election code violations. "BETRAYED" is emblazoned in red on a black cover of the recent mailer from candidate Valerie Romero. The inside features a photo of the congressman with "FBI target" superimposed. "Jay Kim is being investigated by the FBI, the Federal Election Commission and the IRS. . . .

As the June 7 primary approaches for Rep. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar), election rivals have wasted no time unleashing an avalanche of criticism at him prompted by evidence of federal election code violations. "BETRAYED" is emblazoned in red on a black cover of the recent mailer from candidate Valerie Romero. The inside features a photo of the congressman with "FBI target" superimposed. "Jay Kim is being investigated by the FBI, the Federal Election Commission and the IRS. . . .

A Republican candidate in the 41st Congressional District has filed a complaint with the FBI after receiving two threatening letters, one of them expressing anger because of her decision to challenge incumbent Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar).

The primary victory was surprisingly easy for Rep. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar), the target of an ongoing federal probe into alleged violations of election, tax and labor laws stemming from his 1992 campaign. His main opponent had sent out mailers saying Kim had "betrayed" his constituency and calling him two-faced for running as a reform candidate during his last campaign. So how did Kim do so well? "Hard to say," said the nation's first Korean congressman after his victory.

Freshmen Reps. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar) and Ken Calvert (R-Riverside), both burdened with unsavory political baggage, took early leads in their bids to retain their congressional seats in Tuesday's primary election. Meanwhile, with more than half the vote counted, erstwhile entertainer Sonny Bono was ahead in the race for the Republican nomination in the 44th Congressional District in eastern Riverside County.

If their campaign bank accounts are any indication, Orange County's GOP incumbents are more than confident of victory as they head toward the June congressional primary. It's not that they are rolling in cash; it's that many of them have hardly bothered to raise much of it at all. And why should they? In only half of the six races has a fellow Republican dared to challenge them.

Most of the 17 candidates running in the Democratic and Republican congressional primaries June 7 agree on the issues they think excite most Orange County voters: legislating business tax breaks to fix the California economy and finding ways to cut crime. But in two of the six districts--the races attracting the most attention and the greatest number of candidates--the Republican incumbents, not these hot-button issues, are the focus of the campaigning.

A listing of Democratic and Republican candidates, and candidates in nonpartisan races: DEMOCRATIC TICKET * Governor Tom Hayden John Garamendi Mark Calney Charles Pineda Jr. Kathleen Brown Jonathan Trip * Lieutenant Governor Philip R. Ashamallah Gray Davis * Secretary of State Tony Miller Gwen Moore Michael Woo * Controller Rusty Areias Kathleen Connell Don Perata * Treasurer Phil Angelides David A.

A Santa Ana senior citizens counselor appeared headed for victory Tuesday in a hard-fought Democratic contest for the right to challenge Rep. Robert K. Dornan in November, while Jay C. Kim, the only Orange County congressman to face a serious challenge in the primary election, appeared to have survived it easily. Early returns in the 46th Congressional District's Democratic primary showed Robert John Banuelos, 41, leading businessman Mike Farber by a comfortable margin.

Attack, counterattack, attack. Upstart challenger Valerie Romero is continuing her brutal assault on Rep. Jay Kim (R-Diamond Bar) for alleged violations of federal election laws as Tuesday's primary nears. Romero's first mailer told voters they had been "betrayed" by Kim. The congressman struck back with his "lies, lies, lies" mailer, accusing Romero of misrepresenting his legal problems. Now, Romero has answered with "The Two Faces of Congressman Jay Kim."

Key to Election Tables -- An asterisk (*) denotes an incumbent candidate; a double asterisk (**) denotes an appointed incumbent. -- Elected candidates and approved measures are in bold type. Runoff elections may be required in non-partisan races where no candidate receives over 50% of the vote. Results are not official and could be affected by absentee ballots. -- 0% indicates returns were unavailable at edition time or only absentee ballots have been counted.