Orange County Elections : Frizzelle Is in Driver’s Seat, but Democrat Is Thinking Positively

SACRAMENTO — Democrat Jack H. Baldwin, making his second long-shot bid for the state Assembly, calls himself “a futurist,” a forward-looking problem solver who believes in the power of positive thinking.

Good thing.

In his admittedly uphill quest to deny Republican Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle a fourth term, Baldwin is running in a heavily Republican 69th Assembly District where Democratic strategists concede their chances are almost nil.

Baldwin, who, like Frizzelle, is unopposed in the June 3 primary, has set his campaign budget at $125,000. But the most recent campaign finance report on file with the secretary of state shows a bank balance of zero.

Still, Baldwin, 37, an Irvine computer retailer who lost to Assemblywoman Marian Bergeson in 1980, says he has a “definite shot” at defeating Frizzelle in November. Baldwin contends that Frizzelle, 64, a Huntington Beach optometrist, has been “an invisible legislator.” The only time in recent years that Frizzelle received significant public attention, Baldwin says, was when he embarrassed his constituents by defending South Africa’s apartheid system.

‘Protecting Tax Dollars’

Frizzelle, who has twice won reelection by comfortable margins, said Baldwin “can say what he wants.” Frizzelle said he is popular with conservative voters in his district because he tries to keep “restraints on government” spending and regulations, “protecting tax dollars as prudently as possible.”

And Frizzelle insists that the public reaction to “the stand that I took” regarding South Africa has been overwhelmingly positive.

In a series of interviews last November and December, Frizzelle declared that racial injustices in South Africa had been exaggerated by the news media and emotionally overstated by politicians latching onto a popular cause. Those who vocally condemn the South African government and the apartheid system, he said, don’t understand it and are playing into the hands of communists who are fostering unrest to make the country ripe for takeover.

Frizzelle said this week that the racial policies of the troubled nation, which is more than 10,000 miles from his Assembly district, should not be an issue in his campaign for reelection. But if it is, he is “on very secure grounds” with his views, he said.

“It is not an issue that we are afraid of,” Frizzelle said.

Outrage Not Triggered

Both local and state Democratic leaders generally concede that Frizzelle’s comments about South Africa have not brought the local outrage they expected.

Democratic Party strategists in Sacramento considered launching an all-out campaign effort to defeat Frizzelle. But both local and state party leaders, determined to concentrate their money and campaign resources in areas where they have a decent chance of winning, have since abandoned those plans.

Mark Rosen, a candidate in the adjacent 71st Assembly District that Democrats consider a higher priority, said party leaders felt it unwise “to squander our money . . . just because Frizzelle is an idiot.”

Republicans have a 33,000-voter edge in Frizzelle’s district, which covers Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley, plus parts of Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Irvine, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Tustin and Westminster.

Frizzelle, who won 71% of the votes in the last general election, said he is confident of victory against the “relatively unknown” Baldwin, but that he is not taking the challenge lightly.

Taking Race Seriously

“I’m never going to have a flight of fancy that makes it such that I don’t take any challenge seriously,” Frizzelle said.

But he said he expects a high Republican turnout for Gov. George Deukmejian’s reelection bid and for the confirmation vote for California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

“That should all work to our favor rather handily,” he said.

Baldwin, meanwhile, says his “long-shot chances” will be helped if Democratic candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and statewide offices run aggressive campaigns in Orange County. Baldwin, a Democratic activist who already has begun walking precincts, said he will need to increase Democratic turnout over previous elections and persuade 95% of the Democrats and one in five Republicans in the district to vote for him.

He says he hopes to show “moderate mainstream Republicans” that Frizzelle’s voting record has been anti-business. And, he said, few voters in either party share “those kind of human rights values” with Frizzelle.

Although Frizzelle has been the author of few laws, he has not “had any major disappointment” in his 5 1/2-year legislative career, he said.

During the past two years, only eight of the 54 bills Frizzelle has sponsored have become law; 34 of them never advanced past their first committee, according to Legi-Tech, a computerized information service.

‘Not Doing Anything’

“I don’t think the major virtue in legislating is carrying a lot of bills,” Frizzelle said. “Unless the public has expressed a demand, I don’t think we should be leading them by laying more government on them.

“A lot of (legislators) try to get their names on a lot of bills so they’ll look like a hero to their constituents.”

Baldwin says Frizzelle “confuses getting government off your back with just not doing anything.”

Colleagues and lobbyists say Frizzelle is “given to a great deal of rhetoric” and is difficult to persuade on issues. Frizzelle admits he may be talkative but says his views are strong but not inflexible.