http://www.dailypilot.com/politics/stor ... 1558c.html

Published November 2, 2005
Modified November 2, 2005
Immigration likely part of future races
Political scientist says issue isn't a major factor yet; for some candidates, it's a hot topic now.
By Alicia Robinson, Daily Pilot

Once Minuteman Project founder Jim Gilchrist jumped into the 48th Congressional District race, illegal immigration became a standard talking point.

With state Sen. John Campbell leading in the contest to replace former Rep. Chris Cox, some potential candidates to fill Campbell's Senate seat -- should it open up -- expect to discuss the immigration issue as part of their campaigns.

"As I travel around my district and the Senate district and the state for that matter, it seems to be an issue that is of great importance to the electorate in California," said Huntington Beach Republican Assemblyman Tom Harman, who in late June became the first declared candidate in the tentative Senate race.

Other possible candidates for the 35th District Senate seat are Orange County Board of Education President Alexandria Coronado, Dana Point City Councilwoman Diane Harkey and Irvine City Councilwoman Christina Shea. All are Republicans, as is Campbell.

The U.S. House seat opened up in August, when Cox was appointed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Coronado said when she was on the Anaheim Union High School District board in 1999, the board wrote a resolution asking for federal reimbursement for educating illegal immigrants.

"We took a lot of heat for it, but we brought national attention to the issue," she said.

Coronado, Harman and Harkey all said they support a plan for a state border police force, a statewide initiative backed by Campbell that could appear on the 2006 ballot.

"We saw that private citizens under the Minutemen could control the borders," Harkey said. "We don't have either the capacity or the will to do it at the federal level."

Shea said she thinks immigration should be a concern for anyone serving the state, but she disagreed that it's a big factor in the potential Senate race.

"Clearly it's a federal issue," she said. "The funding for patrolling our borders is based at the federal level.... I don't see that as a major focus in our campaign."

As a candidate, Shea said her top issues would be education, living within the state's budget and preserving open space.

In the congressional race, some were looking at voters' response to illegal immigration as a barometer of how important the issue is to core GOP voters. Some politicos don't think immigration is a critical issue in Orange County, but it's still expected to crop up in future elections.

UC Irvine political scientist Louis DeSipio said what happens in the Dec. 6 congressional general election -- when Campbell faces Gilchrist and three other candidates -- will indicate how important immigration will be in a subsequent state Senate race.

"I think the statewide electorate is a little more concerned about unauthorized migration generally than this particular population" in Orange County, DeSipio said.

Regardless of how big an issue immigration proves to be in a potential Senate race, DeSipio said, "I think we'll see more of it in 2006."

QUESTION

Is immigration an issue that will affect how you vote in coming elections? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4664 or send e-mail to dailypilot@latimes.com. Please spell your name and tell us your hometown and phone numbers for verification purposes only.