VOTERS ROUSED: State officials expect a record...
VOTERS ROUSED: State officials expect a record voter turnout next week--in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere. The turnout was 59% in 1986, when George Deukmejian beat former L.A. Mayor Tom Bradley for governor, and 55% in 1990, when Pete Wilson beat Dianne Feinstein. . . . No official turnout projections will be given until Friday, but acting Secretary of State Tony Miller says: “Interest is building. Our phones are ringing off the hook.â€
HOT PROP: The hot button is Prop. 187. Last week, the illegal-immigrant measure had students rushing out of class to protest. Next week, it sends parents and others rushing to voting booths. . . . “Prop. 187 is driving this election,†says political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe. “People are far more interested and motivated by Prop. 187 than the governor’s race or the Senate race.â€
ABSENTEE WAVE: More voters than ever will do no rushing at all--they’ll just drop a ballot in the mail. Absentee ballot applications are setting records (chart above). Reasons: Political campaigns increasingly promote it. And those who try it tend to stick with it. “Probably the wave of the future,†says Miller.
FORTUNES OF WAR: The Valley has 14 contests--eight Assembly races, one for state Senate and five for Congress. Tight campaigns: Republican Assemblyman James Rogan versus former federal prosecutor Adam Schiff for Glendale-Burbank Assembly seat. . . . Democratic Rep. Anthony Beilenson vs. Richard Sybert in the West Valley congressional district.
MADNESS OF CROWDS: Who benefits from a monster turnout? Theories conflict. One scenario: Anti-immigrant sentiment boosts Gov. Wilson over Kathleen Brown, helping other GOP candidates. . . . On the other hand: Prop. 187 attracts voters angry at the status quo who punish all incumbents. For certain: The people will speak, and some servants of the people won’t like it a bit.
Absentee Voters
With the election still eight days away, more absentee ballot applications have been requested in Los Angeles County than in any previous election: 1986: 223,465 1990: 375,023 1994*: 391,000 * As of week of Oct. 26
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s Office
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