A run for their money

featuresAnd go, go, go. A Daily Pilot photographer catches hopefuls for the open U.S. House seat in action. Photographs by Douglas Zimmerman When President Bush selected Rep. Chris Cox to head the Securities and Exchange Commission in June, a flurry of speculation began about who would replace the nine-term Republican congressman from Newport Beach.

The rarity of an open U.S. House seat drew a staggering 17 candidates, of which 10 were Republicans -- but other than a brief flirtation by colorful former Rep. Bob Dornan (who didn’t end up running) there was nary a household name in the group. The battle at first looked like a showdown between state Sen. Campbell and former Newport Beach Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer, who touted her support for abortion rights as a key difference between the two. But Brewer was knocked out of the Oct. 4 primary when Campbell scored 45.5% of the votes cast.

That victory, however, only earned Campbell the right to face the winners of four other parties -- actually, three ... (Continued from Page A1) ... were their parties’ only candidates -- in a Dec. 6 contest. Democrat Steve Young, a political newcomer, beat three others in his party to make the December ballot. For Libertarian Bruce Cohen, the race was old hat, since he ran against Cox in 2004. Green Party member Béa Tiritilli had to juggle campaigning, her family and her teaching job; and American Independent Party candidate Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, brought national attention to the race as the debate over illegal immigration heated up around the country.

Now they have just two days left to convince voters they’re best suited to represent the 48th Congressional District, which includes Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and all or part of 10 other Orange County cities.

But whether anyone is still paying attention remains to be seen.

Voter turnout Tuesday is expected to be even more dismal than in the October primary, when just 22.8% of the district’s voters cast ballots; more than half of those were absentee.

-- Alicia Robinson20051204iqt1d3kn20051204iqt1crkn(LA)Democratic candidate Steve Young, center, shares a laugh with Joel Goodman, left, and Sarah Rosen during an advisory meeting at Young’s campaign headquarters.20051204iqt1a1kn20051204iqt1amkn20051204iqt1b8kn20051204iqt1c2kn20051204iqt1cekn