Campbell takes the win

Alicia Robinson

After serving together in the State Assembly since 2000, Assemblymen

John Campbell and Ken Maddox will part ways following Campbell’s

defeat of Maddox at the polls Tuesday in the Republican contest for

the 35th District Senate seat.

Results from the Orange County Registrar of Voters showed Campbell

took 60.5% of the vote, while Maddox grabbed 30% and Joe Snyder

snagged 9.5% of votes in the three-way Republican race to replace

termed-out Sen. Ross Johnson.

“I think that’s an overwhelming show of support for the work I’ve

done in the legislature in the last four years,” Campbell said. “I’m

honored by it and I will not let the people down.”

Maddox said he’s not bitter about his loss, which he attributed to

a combination of Campbell’s powerful backing and voters’

unwillingness to believe Campbell’s voting record on issues such as

illegal immigration.

“I got hit by a freight train,” Maddox said. “A lot of it just

came down to some real big money special interests, aligned with the

new governor weighing in against me.”

Campbell, 48, of Irvine, is a former accountant and auto

dealership operator who has held the 70th District Assembly seat

since 2000.

Maddox, 38, is being termed out of the 68th District Assembly seat

he has held since 1998. The Dana Point resident has served as an

officer in the Army National Guard, a deputy sheriff and a police

officer.

Snyder, 59, of Capistrano Beach, was a helicopter pilot in the

Marine Corps who now runs a consulting business and serves as mayor

of Dana Point.

Campbell will face Democrat Rita B. Siebert, a legal secretary

from Fountain Valley, and Libertarian Timothy Johnson, a Fountain

Valley businessman, in November, but in this “safe” Republican

district, the seat is expected to go to the GOP primary winner.

While Snyder ran a grass-roots campaign, Campbell and Maddox

fought each other in the mailbox and the media. Campbell attacked

Maddox for being supported by organized labor, while Maddox charged

that Campbell hadn’t taken a firm stance on illegal immigration.

As to the future, neither assemblyman is looking too far beyond

the rest of this term. Campbell said although he expects strong voter

support in November, he’s not taking anything for granted. For now

he’ll focus on revising the state budget and addressing workers

compensation, he said.

Maddox said he’s proud of his record in the Assembly, particularly

of bills he introduced such as the state’s Amber Alert bill and

legislation to clean up Orange County’s coastline. He hasn’t yet

decided what he’ll do next, he said.

“I just feel incredibly fortunate to have done what I’ve done,” he

said. “I came out here with all my belongings packed in the back of a

Plymouth Horizon, and I got to serve in the California Legislature,

so I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

*

The 70th Assembly District race to replace John Campbell had one

of the biggest fields of candidates -- six Republicans -- and one of

the largest price tags, with Newport Beach businesswoman Cristi

Cristich vowing to spend $1 million.

But it was Irvine defense consultant Chuck DeVore who ended up

winning the race, beating Cristich by almost 21%.

Cristich, 42, and DeVore, 41, were the most visible and vitriolic

of the candidates, which also included UC Irvine engineering student

Chonchol Gupta, 20; Newport Beach nuclear engineer Long Pham, 53;

Irvine attorney Don Wagner, 42; and Newport Beach businesswoman

Marianne Zippi, 59.

DeVore will face two nominal challengers in November: Democrat

Carl Mariz, a retired chemical engineer from Irvine, and Libertarian

Mark Baldwin, an Irvine salesman of telecommunications equipment.

“The biggest challenge is going to be to drive up turnout as much

as possible to ensure that Bill Jones is our next U.S. senator and to

ensure that President Bush wins California,” DeVore said.

Candidates began volleying shots at each other in early 2003,

almost as soon as Campbell announced he would leave his seat to run

for senate. DeVore has attacked Cristich for her 1996 endorsement of

former President Bill Clinton, and he filed an ethics complaint

against her with the Republican party that was later dismissed.

Cristich’s campaign has sent fliers alleging DeVore accepted money

from Indian tribes promoting casinos.

* Alicia Robinson is a reporter for the Coastline’s sister paper

the Daily Pilot.