BOTH DEL CAMPOS LOOK LIKE WINNERS; COUPLE AMONG THE FRONT-RUNNERS FOR THOUSAND OAKS CITY COUNCIL, SCHOOL BOARD.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Daily News Staff Writer

Victory could taste twice as sweet at the Del Campo home, if Mary Jo and Dan Del Campo maintain their respective leads in the city's two top races.

Mary Jo Del Campo, a high school guidance counselor in the Moorpark school district, captured a solid 14.6 percent of the vote for one of three seats on the Conejo school board, trailing only Pat Phelps by fewer than 700 votes in a tight race among 11 candidates.

And semifinal election returns show that her husband might have earned one of the three open spots on the Thousand Oaks City Council after taking 13.9 percent of the vote.

``It's the first time in the city's history where a council member will go to bed with a school board trustee - and no one can say anything,'' quipped Dan Del Campo, one of three candidates who ran as the Clean Sweep Team to oust two incumbents and fill an open seat on the council.

His involvement in politics includes running a failed campaign for City Council in 1996 and being nominated - and later rejected in a politically charged vote - for an appointed post on the Planning Commission.

His wife, however, has remained mostly outside the limelight until this summer, when she announced she would run for the school board to continue the district's solid academic reputation and to help see that Measure R, the $88 million school bond, would be well spent to improve local campuses if voters passed it, which they did.

``I think this is going to be a good group of five people who will work well together,'' said Mary Jo Del Campo, 49, referring to her future colleagues on the school board.

A former schoolteacher, she now works in the Moorpark Unified School District as a high school guidance counselor. Dan Del Campo, 50, is a marketing manager. The couple raised one son, now in college.

Running a low-budget, grass-roots campaign, Mary Jo Del Campo said she mostly credits the televised forums for her apparent victory. She added that her husband's City Council run probably also helped because some residents might have voted for the Del Campo name twice.

Although Wednesday's election returns were not final - and the approximately 6,800 absentee ballots could swing some votes, county elections officials said - the Del Campos said they already are preparing themselves for a busy life of civic duty.

``If anything, I think this will help us better enjoy the quality time we actually can spend together,'' Mary Jo Del Campo said.