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June ballot almost filled |
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
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By Darcy Ellis
Editor 1-3-2008
Several familiar names and faces have entered the political arena in the past few weeks in hopes of gaining favor with Inyo’s June primary voters.
The ballot is taking shape with only six days left for most political hopefuls to register as official candidates for the various offices up for election on June 3 – and no less than five of the races so far will feature past unseated officials and residents otherwise taking another stab at public office.
For only the second time in 18 years, there will be a race for Superior Court judge in Inyo County. Incumbent Brian Lamb, private practice attorney Tom Hardy and current Assistant District Attorney Mark Johnson have all filed Declarations of Candidacy to clear their way to the June ballot.
Lamb won the seat on the bench next to Presiding Judge Dean Stout in 2002 when the six-year term of Judge Pat Canfield opened and he opted for retirement. Four hopefuls, Hardy among them (before eventually dropping his bid), stepped up for a contest that eventually led to a runoff between Lamb and Bishop City Attorney Peter Tracy.
According to Inyo County Clerk Mary Roper, a runoff is again a possibility this election cycle in not only the countywide judicial race, but also district-specific contests featuring more than two candidates if any one of them fails to garner the necessary 50-percent-plus-one majority from voters.
So far, the race for Inyo County Supervisor District 5, and possibly District 4 depending on the outcome of an extended filing phase, has runoff potential.
In District 5, incumbent Richard Cervantes, Lone Pine resident Bill Wenzel and former Fifth District Supervisor Michael Dorame are locked in as candidates.
Dorame was unseated by Cervantes in 2004 after serving two consecutive four-year terms.
Another unseated supervisor, Butch Hambleton, is making a run for his former job.
He, much like Dorame, served two consecutive four-year terms as Fourth District supervisor before being defeated by current incumbent Jim Bilyeu in 2004. Hambleton is now set to challenge Marty Fortney, longtime South Inyo resident and owner of Aberdeen Resort, for the seat.
But it’s only a head-to-head match at this point.
According to Roper, while there is still time left for all potential candidates to make it official by March 7, Fourth District hopefuls have an extra five days in which to file because Bilyeu, the incumbent, will not be running.
As for District 2, it could end up being a one-horse race, even though two candidates have expressed an interest in running for the supervisorial seat.
Incumbent Susan Cash and former Bishop City Council member Ted Gardner both took out what are known as Petitions in Lieu of Filing Fees, but only Cash has followed up with the necessary Declaration of Candidacy to get her name on the ballot. Again, Gardner has until March 7 to make it official.
A former Bishop police officer, Gardner was elected to the City Council in 2001, unseating Robert Kimball, who is now the elected city treasurer. Gardner then lost his re-election bid in 2004 to current Councilmember Susan Cullen.
Cash was first elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2004 when she unseated longtime Second District Supervisor Julie Bear.
A more likely one-person race is that for the office of Inyo County marshal, vacant due to the passing of longtime Marshal Don Lynch in August. Lynch held the post with pride from 1978-2007, and according to Roper, was contested for the title in 1996 and won the election.
Stepping up to fill Lynch’s shoes is Floyd “Justin” Barton, husband of Inyo County Public Administrator Patricia Barton and son of Floyd Barton, who served as Inyo County sheriff from 1970-82.
Aside from the countywide races for marshal and judge, all Inyo voters will be able to weigh in on the contest for the 34th Assembly District seat currently held by Bill Maze (R-Visalia), who is unable to run for re-election because of term limits.
Several potential candidates for Maze’s Assembly seat – most notably his wife, Becky, and friend, Connie Conway – had been waiting to see how Prop 93 fared in California primary in February before making any definitive political moves. Prop 93 would have allowed Maze to run for re-election, but was not passed by voters.
With that defeat, both Becky Maze and Conway, a Tulare County supervisor from Visalia, launched their respective campaigns alongside Bob Smith, a Republican from Barstow.
Also announcing a bid for the 34th Assembly District is Jon Zellhoefer, known as a bit of a perennial candidate in some political circles.
Zellhoefer, who resides in San Jose and owns several pieces of property in Tecopa in Southeast Inyo, lost the Nov. 2, 2004 State Senator District 11 race and was also a candidate in the recall election of former California Governor Gray Davis in October 2003.
A Republican, Zellhoefer jumped into the latter contest (along with about a hundred others) after finding himself dissatisfied with the leading GOP candidates. At one point, he was considered the point man for the “shadow bus tour” that followed the caravans of Schwarzenegger and others across the state during the recall election.
Those planning to become a candidate for office must file a Declaration of Candidacy by Friday, March 7 or, for the Fourth District race, Wednesday, March 12. All papers must be turned in to Inyo County Clerk Mary Roper. For more information, call the Inyo County Elections Department in Independence at (760) 878-0224, (760) 873-8481 ext. 0224, (760) 876-5559 ext. 0224 or (800) 447-4696 ext. 0224.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 April 2008 )
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