San Diego County voters on Tuesday selected three Republican members of the
Jewish community to help in the campaign against crime. They reelected Bill
Kolender to his third term as sheriff, elevated prosecutor Dan Goldstein to
the Superior Court bench and advanced Judge Bonnie Dumanis to a Nov. 5
runoff election for district attorney.

Though hardly a slate -- Kolender, in fact, had endorsed incumbent District
Attorney Paul Pfingst, who will face Dumanis in a runoff -- the outcome in
these races demonstrated how well candidates from the Jewish community are
accepted by local voters.

In other local races involving Jewish candidates, two Democratic members of
Congress won easy renomination for additional terms in their respective
districts. Rep. Susan Davis was unopposed in the Democratic primary
election, while Rep. Bob Filner coasted to an easy victory over challenger
Daniel Ramirez.

Other triumphant candidates from the Jewish community included Greg Smith,
who won reelection to the combined county offices of assessor, recorder and
clerk, and Steven B. Schulman, who placed first among five candidates for
the District C Community College Board and will face the second-placing Rich
Grosch in the November runoff election.

Inevitably, some Jewish candidates also experienced defeats at the hands of
the voters: Greg Stein and Sam Sheldon finished fourth and fifth
respectively in the five-candidate Republican primary in the 75th Assembly
District, which was won by George A. Plescia. Arthur Salzberg came in last
in a five-candidate race for the District E seat of the San Diego Community
College Board, in which Peter Zchiesche garnered 50.6 percent of the vote in
the unofficial tally, compared to 22.8 percent for the second-placing Hattie
Bryant. A citywide runoff between Zchiesche and Bryant will be held in
November. 

The local Jewish candidate who was the greatest longshot of them all was
Michael Schmier, who lost by more than 1.2 million votes in a statewide
Democratic primary contest against incumbent Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer.
In all, there were 11 known Jews on the local ballot, with seven registering
electoral successes. Three of these -- Kolender, Goldstein and Smith -- won
their nonpartisan races outright and can focus on the job ahead instead of
the November election. For four others -- Filner, Davis, Dumanis and Schulman
-- eight months of campaigning lie ahead.

Many candidates were found Tuesday night at the San Diego Civic Center¹s
Golden Hall, which was redubbed for the night as "Election Central." There,
representatives of the news media interviewed candidates while sign-toting
supporters demonstrated that, notwithstanding the fact that the 7 a.m.-8
p.m. balloting was over, they would continue enthusiastically to get the
names of their favorite candidates before the voters.

Shuttling among news media outlets, candidates offered their thoughts on the
elections past and future. Filner, having defeated Ramirez, will face
Republican Maria Guadalupe Garcia and Libertarian Jeffrey S. Keup in the
Nov. 5 general election. Ramirez is another in a succession of opponents
from the Latino community to face Filner recently. In fact, a
Mexican-American political group had brought suit unsuccessfully against the
congressional redistricting completed last year by the California
Legislature, saying the plan diluted Mexican-American voting strength in
order to protect three Democratic incumbents, Filner and Reps. Howard Berman
and Brad Sherman in the Los Angeles area. All three incumbents in question
are Jewish. 

Filner said he did not believe the lawsuit would cause a permanent rift
between the communities. "The voters vote for the best person, not for
ethnic background or color of skin," he said. "They vote for the person who
best represents them and whoever that comes out, that is our democracy."
He added: "I have a district that is very multiethnic. It is 82 percent
people of color. I have to work very hard to keep all those people working
together for a common aim. I have to make sure they know that I represent
them, so I have to work very hard personally to keep it all together."
Jews and Latinos have many reasons for being allies, the congressman said.
"The Jewish community historically has been on the side of people who have
been discriminated against and who suffer from racism because that is the
history of our own people. We know that our survival even in today's America
depends on a pluralistic society, where there is no racism, no discrimination, and where everybody has a chance. That is what the African-American community wants, that is what the Latino community wants, and that puts us on the same side. So we have to stress those historical and present-day battles that unite us."

Davis voted in San Diego in the morning, then took a plane back to
Washington, D.C., reported her husband, Steve, who mingled with reporters
and supporters at Election Central. Davis will face Republican Bill
Vanderweghe in the Nov. 5 election. "I know that when the (general) election
comes around, Susan is going to work as hard as she can," he husband said.
"I don't think she takes this race for granted in any fashion; this is going
to be a tough race -- as they all have been."

Dumanis, who narrowly edged attorney Michael Aguirre for the second spot in
the race against Dist. Atty. Pfingst, said during the ballot counting that
she believed people who voted against Pfingst in the primary election would
coalesce behind his runoff opponent, whether that is Aguirre, Mark Pettine
or herself. 

"I am excited about what is happening tonight," she said. "It seems that the
voters have gotten the message that it is time for a change." Dumanis will
continue on leave from her position as a Superior Court judge through the
general election.

Schulman, who was strongly backed by Marty Block, a Jewish community member
who serves as chairman of the San Diego Community College Board, said
besides good support from fellow Jews, he was propelled to the November
runoff by efforts in his behalf by "a lot of grassroots people," including
the American Federation of Teachers, labor, firefighters, postal workers,
and also the Democratic party -- they all mobilized behind me."

Kolender, who spent 13 years as San Diego's police chief and now has been
elected over the challenge of sheriff's Sgt. Steven Bruce Ruff to a third
four-year term as sheriff, was asked about the success enjoyed by himself
and other candidates who are Jewish.

"Where I come from, we don't care what your religion is, what your sexual
preference is. We're into ethical behavior, equality and fairness and trust
and all those things that are meaningful," he replied.

Goldstein, who was elected to the open Office 49 of the Superior Court over
Superior Court Commissioner Gary Bloch, told Heritage that it was not only
traditionally liberal groups like labor that came to Jewish candidates'
support. In his own case, he noted, "I am a Republican and the conservative
Republican wing of the Republican party has accepted me wholeheartedly. I am
endorsed by (Assemblyman) Jay La Suer, I am endorsed by the Republican party
itself, and I am endorsed by a lot of conservatives in the Republican party,
because there isn't much difference in the way I was brought up and
conservative principles."

The judge-elect said he won support based on his record as a prosecutor "of
some of the biggest homicides over a decade." Among those he won convictions
against were "Ivan and Veronica Gonzalez, who tortured Jennie Rojas, scalded
her to death," Goldstein said. "They are the first married couple in
California to receive the death penalty."

Goldstein said while most experiences during the election campaign were
positive, "I have heard some-anti Semitism with regard to some of my
campaign stuff. For instance, a deputy sheriff who had my sign up in the
front yard said that his neighbor came over and said, OWhy do you have a
Jew¹s sign in your front yard?' A name like Goldstein, there is no mistaking
I am a Jew. I have experienced it my whole life, and that is just another
piece of it, but I don't think that is representative of San Diego."

Smith, whose name may not sound as "Jewish" as Goldstein's, said he believed
he and other Jewish candidates did well because "San Diego is a lot
different city than it was in the '50s, '60s, and '70s. I think all people,
Jewish candidates and all people, have a real viable chance to be elected,
as long as they get the message out clearly and articulately."

"I think San Diego voters are very, very wise," Smith said. "They don't look
at labels, they don't look at ethnicity. I think they look at the person,
and if a particular candidate is well qualified, I think they will vote for
him regardless of their affiliation and regardless of their political
persuasion."

Even candidates who were defeated expressed positive feelings about the
fairness of the electorate. "It doesn't matter whether you are Jewish or
not, the community at large likes to see people who can work hard for them,"
commented defeated Assembly candidate Greg Stein.

"I walked a number of precincts, knocked on thousands of doors, did
everything I could to get media attention and worked very hard," Stein said..
"If that is not the will of the voters, that's not the will of the voters."

Former U.S. Rep. Lynn Schenk, a member of the Jewish community who now
serves as chief of staff to Gov. Gray Davis (who won his statewide
Democratic primary election easily), was in her home town of San Diego to
watch the election returns.

"I think it is very important for members of the Jewish community to be
involved in elective office, to be involved in politics, to run for office,
because it does bring a different dimension to the arguments and the
debates, and not only issues relating to Israel or issues that are near and
dear, but issues that affect the entire community," she said."If there is
hate, it is not just hatred of Jews, it is hatred of others as well. So we
are always in the forefront of fighting for issues."