Two State Senate Seats Look Like GOP Locks

Although Republicans enjoy a 50% to 30% advantage over Democrats, Assemblyman Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton) is still taking no chances in his bid to win the 33rd state Senate District seat.

Ackerman, who represents the 72nd Assembly District, has no Republican opposition in the March 7 primary and only token opposition from Democratic, Libertarian and Natural Law Party candidates. He also has the endorsement of Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange), who represents the district and is being forced out by term limits.

“You could say that everything is going my way in this race, but I’m not taking anything for granted,” Ackerman said. “My assembly district covers north Orange County. The 33rd goes down to San Juan Capistrano, where I don’t have much name recognition. I’ve spent a lot of time in South County getting endorsements.”

Still, Ackerman, 57, is looking ahead to November, and admitted that the general election probably will not be a squeaker.

Democratic candidate Jack Roberts is also unopposed in the 33rd District primary. But Roberts, 61 and semi-retired, is realistic about his chances of beating Ackerman in November.

“It’s not impossible, but I have limited funding. I don’t have the huge contributions that Ackerman gets. I plan on using shoe leather and volunteers to get my message out. He is extremely conservative and doesn’t vote on behalf of working families.”

Roberts, an Orange resident, is a part-time business agent with the Service Employees International Union, Local 660, in Los Angeles.

Libertarian candidate Michael Chacon and Natural Law Party candidate William Verkamp, both running in the 33rd District, did not return telephone calls.

If Ackerman enjoys a huge Republican majority in the 33rd District, incumbent Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) has an even bigger cushion in the 35th state Senate District.

Johnson, who is the Senate minority leader in Sacramento, is also unopposed in the primary, and his reelection is all but guaranteed. Republicans outnumber Democrats 53% to 28% in the district, and he too has token opposition from Democratic, Libertarian and Natural Law Party candidates.

The only suspense centers on who Johnson, 60, will crown as his successor in 2004, when he is forced out by term limits. The conservative Johnson, who also served as Assembly minority leader before his election to the Senate, has made his mark in Sacramento by railing against big government, taxes and liberals. He also opposed term limits.

A spokesman for Johnson said the candidate had not done any campaigning yet because “the absolute priority for him right is to find the best Republican candidates to run in the open and contested Senate races.”

Business owner Steve Ray, 51, the Democratic candidate who is also unopposed in the 35th District primary, admitted that “the numbers are not favorable” for a Democrat to unseat Johnson. But Ray, a Huntington Beach resident, said he is also buoyed by what he called Johnson’s extremism and low name recognition in the district.

There is still hope in November, he said.

“Johnson represents the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. The majority of Republicans are more moderate,” Ray said. “I’ve walked the district, knocked on a thousand doors and nobody knows who Johnson is. I’ll represent the district as a moderate.”

Lake Forest resident Paul L. Studier, the Libertarian Party’s candidate in the race, said Johnson “is among the list of politicians who have allowed government to become more intrusive in our lives.”

Studier, 45, is a retired computer engineer who favors the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. He also wants to phase out public education in favor of private schools.

Cindy Katz, Natural Law Party candidate in the 35th District, did not return telephone calls.