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Thomas machine catapults Fuller
| Wednesday, Jun 7 2006 10:05 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Jun 7 2006 10:09 PM
Educator Jean Fuller's victory in the 32nd Assembly District race was a reminder of the influence still wielded by the political organization of retiring Rep. Bill Thomas, many people agreed Wednesday.
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But she was also helped by the fact that her two opponents, businessman Stan Ellis and former lawmaker Phil Wyman, probably split the conservative vote. That opened the door for Fuller to win with the support of moderate Republicans and mainstream party loyalists, observers said.
In final results, Fuller won the GOP nomination in the district by garnering 18,597 votes, or 42 percent of the total. Ellis came in second with 15,765 votes, or 35.5 percent and Wyman trailed with 10,006 votes and 22.5 percent.
Fuller dropped from sight Wednesday, declining to return phone calls to reporters. The aide said Fuller was not available for interviews because she was attending to personal business.
That likely includes preparations for her new career as a state legislator, which in California is essentially a full-time job. She still must win the November general election over Democrat Maribel Vega, but that is considered a foregone conclusion.
Meanwhile, Ellis said he is not bitter about the loss.
"Kern County voters felt Jean Fuller was the better person for the job and I'm fine with that," he said.
Supporters of all three candidates were still fuming Wednesday about what they felt were negative ads and dirty politics in the campaign, but political professionals took a calmer view.
Cal State Bakersfield political scientist Stanley Eugene Clark said Fuller's biggest disadvantage was probably widespread dissatisfaction with the public schools.
"But clearly, with Bill Thomas on her side, she was able to overcome that," Clark said.
Democratic state Sen. Dean Florez agreed.
He complimented the Thomas organization's political consultant, Mark Abernathy, for his handling of the Fuller campaign.
"Stan Ellis was never going to beat Jean Fuller, but he sure made a good try," Florez said.
Clark, Florez and others agreed that Fuller benefited from two opponents in the race appealing to anti-Thomas conservative voters.
While the Ellis and Wyman camps pointed out that more voters cast ballots against Fuller than for her, the professionals said there was no guarantee of an Ellis victory, even if third-place ultra conservative Wyman had not been in the race. Still, Florez said, "If Wyman wasn't in there, it would have been much closer. Wyman took most of the right-of-right folks away from Ellis."