Winner Take All

California's 23rd Congressional District, just southeast of Los Angeles, used to be a land of orange groves and walnut trees. Since World War II, it has boomed as a center of industry (Firestone, Goodrich, Bethlehem Steel, North American Aviation), middle-class housing--and Democrats.

Nine times, with margins ranging up to 75%, the 23rd sent stormy-eyed Democrat Clyde Doyle to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he distinguished himself only as a ranking member of the Un-American Activities Committee. Doyle died in March, and a special election was set for last week.

California bypasses primaries in special elections, pits all candidates of whatever party against each other in a single, winner-take-all contest. With a registration advantage of 92,600 to 50,200, Democrats fell all over themselves getting into the race. Of five who finally appeared on the ballot, State Assemblyman Carley V. Porter, 57, was the favorite. He had the backing of the California Democratic Council, the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s Committee on Political Education, and a glowing letter of support from President Kennedy. Of three Republicans, only Del Clawson, 49, the mayor of Compton (pop. 75,000), acted like a serious candidate. Last week jumbo-sized (5 ft. 11 in., 245 lbs.), saxophone-playing Del Clawson won easily, with 33,086 votes to 21,951 for Porter, the runner-up.

A Mormon who says he feels "emotionally close to George Romney but philosophically closer to Barry Goldwater," Clawson for several years has mailed paperback copies of Goldwater's Conscience of a Conservative as Christmas cards. In his first term as mayor of Compton, he eliminated bonded indebtedness and reduced city tax rates by one-third, was promptly re-elected in 1961. In his campaign, Conservative Clawson ignored his opponents, trained his fire on the Kennedy Administration. Stumping district shopping centers, assembly lines, weddings, wakes and picnics, he urged the elimination of farm price supports, recognition of a Cuban government in exile, more states' rights and less Federal Government. He even offered a plan that, he says, would eliminate the national debt by the year 2000.

With a light voter turnout (62,100), it might seem that Democrats had handed the Republicans a victory merely by staying home. But the fact was that in precinct after precinct a sizable share of the Democrats who did turn out voted for Clawson. Gloomily, Democratic Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh summed it up: "The people of this state are not as liberally inclined as some think. The Democratic Party may be a half step out of time with the general ideological feeling of the people."

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