CANDIDATE WINS WITH BIG-SPENDING TACTICS : 43RD ASSEMBLY HOPEFUL GERANIOS GOES FROM UNKNOWN TO NOMINEE.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

When 43rd Assembly District Republican nominee John Geranios entered the primary race three months ago, his name recognition was ``below zero percent,'' admits his campaign manager, Jim Ross.

But Geranios poured $380,000 of his own money into the campaign to succeed congressional contender James Rogan.

Geranios bought himself a continuous stream of mailers, phone-bank workers, consultants - and wary looks from his competitors.

He sold himself to voters as a political outsider who would look out for people in business.

On Tuesday, Geranios' big-spending strategy paid off when he beat out seven other contenders in the Republican primary, taking 24 percent of the vote. He outspent his nearest competitors 2 to 1, receiving 5,877 votes at a cost of about $68 per vote.

In just three months, he went from campaign nobody to Republican nominee, beating out a Glendale city councilman, a Los Angeles police officer, a county prosecutor, a Los Feliz lawyer and a congressional aide.

``He laid low, came in quietly - a completely blank slate,'' said third-place finisher Pete Musurlian, the district director for retiring Rep. Carlos Moorhead, R-Pasadena. ``Suddenly in January he said he was going to spend $450,000. We didn't believe it.''

Former Glendale Mayor Ginger Bremberg said Geranios' win made her more cynical about politics.

``I never thought I'd see the day that a totally unqualified candidate could buy an election from Glendale and Burbank,'' Bremberg said.

But Geranios said that, for a political outsider, money was the only way to gain name recognition in a crowded field and to get his message out.

``I'm proud of the campaign we ran,'' he said. ``We want to get our state back on track.''

Geranios met Wednesday in Sacramento with House Speaker Curt Pringle, R-Garden Grove, to map out strategy for the November election.

Geranios will face Democrat Scott Wildman. But in a district that has consistently elected Republicans for decades, most observers said Geranios will have an easier time beating Wildman than the seven Republicans he took on in the primary.

Geranios, 33, owns Educational Assistance of Burbank, which helps students prepare for college. He also chairs the Business Department at Mount St. Mary's College in Westwood.

He received a bachelor of arts degree in political science and psychology from the University of California at Berkeley, an MBA from Georgetown and a doctorate in policy and organization from the University of Southern California.

Musurlian said Geranios likely will be able to pay off all the loans that he made to his own campaign through contributions from people who expect he will be easily elected in November.

``If he lost, he would have eaten that money,'' Musurlian said. ``He's now going to get money from the Republican Party for the general. Whether it takes one year or five years, he'll pay it off.''

Musurlian, like most observers, said Geranios likely will have an easy time defeating Wildman, the only Democrat to enter the race.

``The assemblyman into the next millennium will be John Geranios,'' Musurlian said.

Peter Repovich, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, came in second in the race and was also second in fund-raising, mostly because of a $70,000 loan.

Others in the race were Musurlian; Glendale Councilman Sheldon Baker; James Regan, a Los Feliz lawyer; Craig Missakian, a deputy district attorney; TV producer Elliot Graham and engineer David E. Wallis.