Democrats Hope New Voters Turn Tide in Republican Stronghold

Inside the softly lit Tiffany ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel, a political dance was in full swing and Adam Schiff was the most sought-after partner.

Enthusiastic about a poll showing Schiff inching ahead of Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland in the 21st District state Senate race, the Democratic leader of the Senate, Bill Lockyer, roused the partisan audience with hope that a district that has been forever Republican is about to change.

Since February, Democrats have added 8,000 voters to the rolls in the 21st District, which includes parts of the East Valley, Silverlake and Los Feliz, plus the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. That gives Democrats a four-point registration edge (44% to 40%), the same advantage the GOP enjoyed four years ago.

President Clinton is ahead by 10 points in the district, according to polls that also point to voter disenchantment with House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s agenda in the 104th Congress, Democrats say.

But shifting political tides are nothing without the right candidate to exploit them.

That, Lockyer boasted, is where Schiff comes in.

“Part of my job is picking the right candidates,” Lockyer said at the Biltmore fund-raiser last week. “We have an extraordinary candidate in this district.”

Schiff, 36, is a Harvard University-educated former federal prosecutor who is running for state office for the fourth time. He has wowed the party hierarchy with tireless door-to-door canvassing, fund-raising prowess and perseverance.

The seat is open because of the retirement of Sen. Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale). The veteran legislator’s relatively poor showing four years ago against an unknown, unfunded opponent was an early warning sign that Republicans’ once-impenetrable hold in the region was in danger.

Schiff has made his own inroads with local Republicans, attracting endorsements from local GOP municipal officeholders.

He also has won support from local firefighters and most police forces in the smaller cities.

Boland, 56, a San Fernando Valley activist-turned-lawmaker, has considerable strengths of her own to counter the encroaching Democrat.

Along with endorsements from household name GOP officeholders who now represent the district, Boland has a slew of major law enforcement groups lined up, including the county’s deputy sheriffs and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

Boland also has the name recognition that comes from her years in the Legislature, most recently leading an ultimately unsuccessful effort to make it easier for the San Fernando Valley to secede from Los Angeles.

As chairwoman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, Boland was front-and-center during Sacramento’s stormy legislative year of Republican leadership and has financial resources to combat Schiff’s.

Boland had her own downtown event Tuesday at the Intercontinental Hotel, with U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah as the chief draw.

State Sen. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine) said holding the seat is a key element in a GOP plan to take over the Senate in two years. If Republicans can hold on to their slim majority in the Assembly, that would put them in charge of both houses of the state Legislature.

Boland said all she needs to win are the resources to expose Schiff as the liberal she believes he is.

“I’m committed to win,” Boland said. “They’re going to come into this district with their million or $1.5 million, and we’re going to make them spend it.”

Schiff, who calls himself a law enforcement Democrat, insists Boland’s views are too far to the right to appeal to the district’s voters.

But a district’s voting habits can die hard, which is one of Boland’s greatest assets.

Hoping her Republican credentials will carry her through, Boland has avoided joint appearances with Schiff, making the race seem peculiarly void of oration at the same time that it is fiercely waged.

Boland insists she is spending campaign time in venues selected by her consultants--places, she adds, where Schiff is neither known nor supported.

“I don’t avoid anybody,” Boland said. “I’m a fighter.”

Schiff supports abortion rights, favors gun control and opposes school vouchers.

Boland opposes abortion, except for incest victims and to save the life of the woman, but with no exceptions in cases of rape, she said earlier this year.

A staunch foe of gun control and an enthusiastic proponent of school vouchers, she is perhaps best known for her legislation to ease the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Both candidates back the death penalty and the three strikes law.