MINORITY GROUP A FORMIDABLE FORCE; ARMENIAN VOTES - AND POLITICIANS - BEAR WATCHING.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Campaigns for Congress and state legislative seats in the 2000 elections are already in full swing in the Burbank-Glendale area and, more than ever, candidates are courting the Armenian vote.

With most races expected to be dead heats, Armenian voters in Glendale and Burbank could end up making or breaking some elections.

Many local politicians have hired liaisons to the Armenian community for their staffs, and U.S. Rep. James Rogan, R-Pasadena, is even making a trip next month to Armenia.

More and more Armenians are getting involved in local elections, both as voters and candidates.

This spring political newcomer Rafi Manoukian won a seat on the Glendale City Council after launching an aggressive get-out-the-vote campaign in the Armenian community and registered about 3,000 Armenians to vote as part of his campaign strategy. One-third of Glendale's nearly 200,000 residents are Armenian-Americans.

The 43rd Assembly District, which includes Glendale and Burbank, could see a race pitting a Republican Armenian-American against a Democratic Armenian-American. Democrats and Republicans are trying to recruit Armenian-Americans to run - school administrator Alice Petrossian and lawyer Craig Missakian on the Republican side and lawyer Paul Krekorian on the Democratic side.

While many Armenian-Americans have traditionally aligned themselves with the Republican party, Manoukian and Krekorian are leading the way to bring local Armenian-Americans into the Democratic column.

``It's going to be a power base to be reckoned with,'' said former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian, who left office this spring after serving on the Glendale City Council for 16 years. ``It's going to be important for anyone running for Assembly, Senate or Congress to cater to the Armenian community. Anyone who is a candidate has to deal with this community.''

Petrossian, who will decide this month whether to run for the Assembly, has been involved in local politics for decades and said she expects local Armenians will have a major impact on the outcome of the 2000 elections, both as voters and as candidates.

``I'm thrilled by what I see, the excitement and the involvement, especially among the young people,'' Petrossian said. ``This community has awakened, much like the Hispanic community has awakened.''

The Deukmejian legacy

While the Armenians have been elected to offices throughout California for decades, Glendale, which has one of the largest Armenian populations in the world outside Armenia, has never sent an Armenian candidate to one of its state legislative seats or to Congress.

Ara Bedrossian, director of the National Organization of Republican Armenians, said many Armenians were drawn into politics because of the excitement surrounding the political rise of former California Gov. George Deukmejian.

``A lot of people got involved in the political process when Deukmejian went into office,'' Bedrossian said.

Petrossian agreed.

``George was like a fire under everybody. Everyone I knew got involved. Going to George Deukmejian's inauguration was like an unbelievable Armenian family reunion,'' Petrossian said.

If Petrossian, Missakian and Krekorian run for the 43rd Assembly District seat, Bedrossian said, he expects they will generate the same political excitement in the community created previously by Dukemejian and Zarian, and more recently by Glendale Councilman Manoukian.

Deukmejian, now working as a lawyer in Los Angeles, said he's glad to see the Glendale area push to put Armenian candidates on the ballot and to get them to the voting booth.

``I'm delighted that there's more interest,'' Deukmejian said. ``I always hoped there would be more people interested in running.''

The former governor said the support of Armenians, through campaign contributions and voting, was invaluable in his career.

``After I was elected to the state Assembly, people started to learn more about me. I was offered a tremendous amount of support from Armenian-Americans. A large number of Armenians changed their registration from Democrat to Republican so they could vote for me in the primary,'' Deukmejian said. ``It was the first time that they thought there was a chance that somebody with a difficult last name and an Armenian heritage could be elected to a statewide office.

``There was strong doubt about whether people from the Armenian community would have a chance. It definitely helps for them to see that someone has been able to make it.''

Petrossian said Armenians have been attracted to candidates who share their heritage, but they are also tremendously loyal to non-Armenian candidates who work to become a ``friend'' of the community.

She expects Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, might have an edge in his primary battle against Assemblyman Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, for the 21st District state Senate seat because Wildman has been so active in trying to help local Armenians get the U.S. government to formally recognize the Armenian genocide.

``There may be a strong leaning toward Wildman on Armenian issues. Who brought the Armenian genocide to the capital rotunda? Wildman did,'' Petrossian said. ``One of the things politicians recognize is how quickly they can become a friend, and how it can bring them votes and money for campaigns.''

Voter registration 

Bedrossian said that after the high-profile candidates got their careers up and running, Armenian-American voter registration stagnated. But about three years ago, Armenian political leaders started a voter registration push, helped greatly by a surge in immigration to Glendale, Burbank and Pasadena and a faster rate of naturalization among immigrants.

Recently, there also have been more people signing up with the Democrats.

``The Armenian community started to get more and more divided,'' Bedrossian said. ``A lot of people have switched over.''

Zarian said when he first ran for elective office in 1983, there were just 280 Armenians registered to vote in Glendale. Petrossian said one of the goals of the campaign was to make sure all 280 actually made it to the polls. When Zarian won by a slim margin, Petrossian said the local voters knew their vote had made a difference.

Manoukian said the voter registration effort in his campaign was difficult in part because many Armenians immigrated from countries such as Iran or Iraq or lived in Armenia under the Soviet Union and distrust government.

``Certain segments of the community have been reserved about registering and joining parties. To them a party is communist and heavy-handed. That may have held them back from registering,'' Manoukian said. ``For us it was a trust issue. They just need a little extra push, to be told they could register freely and there were no obligations.''

International politics

But the political identity of Armenians is also greatly affected by their views on how the U.S. should deal with their homeland.

``It's about who's going to help Armenia more, Republicans in Congress or Democrats in Congress,'' Bedrossian said.

Such considerations sometimes are even more important than who they think would be better suited to represent their new hometowns here in the United States.

When it comes to voting for state Assembly members or senators, who have little or no power over U.S. policy toward Armenia, those considerations are less important, Bedrossian said. So the Armenian-American voter who picks a Republican for Congress might choose a Democrat for the assembly.

``Traditionally the Armenian community has not been the type to vote along party lines,'' Bedrossian said.

Petrossian agreed many people have based their choice of political party on international affairs, but might break away to vote for a candidate they like for a local office.

``In my era, we were all so fed up with communism, and the party that was anti-communism was the Republicans. That party rang true to us,'' Petrossian said.

While the Armenian community has strongly supported Armenian candidates in the past, Petrossian said the candidates needed to have a proven track record in their community to earn that support. She agreed with Bedrossian that it's pointless to try to predict whether Armenians as a whole will support Democrats over Republicans or Armenians over non-Armenians.

``It's a diverse community,'' Petrossian said. ``I don't think we can label it.''