Assemblyman takes it easy in reelection bid

As the GOP assemblyman for the 70th District — which includes heavily Republican Newport Beach — Chuck DeVore doesn’t have to do much campaigning. He faces one opponent, Democrat Michael Glover, an attorney and former Kansas state legislator.

Compared with 2004, when DeVore won a six-way GOP primary, this campaign is cake for him.

This time around, he’s talking about how he helped the Republican minority in Sacramento block every proposed tax increase in the last legislative session. DeVore admitted that preventing things doesn’t sound as impressive as doing things.

His highest-profile bill, which allowed farmers to grow industrial hemp, got killed, but DeVore said he did get five bills signed into law in the last session.

But the GOP still is in the minority in Sacramento, and Glover has seized on this as a weakness in his opponent. As a Democrat, Glover said, he could be much more effective than DeVore because he’d be at the table when decisions are being made.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked to get bipartisan support for his infrastructure bond package, which is also on the November ballot, and DeVore voted against each of the proposals, Glover said.

“Chuck DeVore does not represent the majority of the Republicans in this district,” Glover said.

While he touted his experience as a Kansas legislator, Glover didn’t mention many specific solutions to the state’s problems. His website mentions a single-payer healthcare system, and he suggested some type of state ID card employers can check to verify prospective workers are in the U.S. legally.

In fact, Glover’s campaign has taken something of a negative tack. His website’s front page declares “Guilty by association,” and features photos of disgraced GOP congressional candidate Tan Nguyen in a friendly handshake with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and DeVore and other local officials.

Glover criticized DeVore for writing on the OC Blog that local Democrats probably were responsible for a letter warning immigrants they could be deported if they vote.

But DeVore rebutted that, pointing out that the blog posting said it was a tongue-in-cheek response to accusations that Republicans were behind the letter.

Some media reports have suggested widespread frustration with the GOP, and Glover said voters have told him they’re “disenchanted,” but it may not be enough to get him in office.

To win, Glover would have to overcome DeVore’s advantage as an incumbent and a Republican, UC Irvine political scientist Mark Petracca said.

National polling shows people are dissatisfied with the Republican-led Congress, Petracca said, but “maybe these numbers don’t mean anything at the local level.”