SCOLINOS WILL BE LISTED ON MARCH PRIMARY BALLOT.

Byline: Gary Scott  Staff Writer

PASADENA - Christmas came early for Harry Frank Scolinos. After a 15-minute hearing Wednesday, a Sacramento Superior Court judge overruled county elections officials and ordered Scolinos' name be placed on the March 2 primary ballot.

The ruling clears the way for the first-time candidate to vie for the chance to challenge Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, in November's general election.

``I'm very thankful,'' said Scolinos, who traveled to Sacramento from his home in Arcadia for the Christmas Eve hearing. ``The judge made the right decision.''

The wealthy trial lawyer launched his campaign in October with great gusto, surrounding himself with local Republican heavyweights and patriotic balloon arrangements, and he quickly emerged as the favorite to win the GOP nomination.

But those efforts came to a screeching halt when Los Angeles County elections officials told Scolinos he was four signatures short of the total needed to qualify for the March ballot.

Scolinos protested the decision, saying election workers had promised to let him know if there were any problems with the signatures in time to correct them before the Dec. 5 filing deadline.

Unable to convince the elections office to reconsider, Scolinos filed suit against the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk and the Secretary of State.

Represented by attorney Ben Davidian, whose firm lists the California Republican Party as a client, Scolinos argued that the county's own election handbook says candidates will be notified ``immediately'' if there are problems with the signatures.

``When you assure somebody that you are going to do something, you must do it,'' said Davidian.

In fact, Scolinos had turned in more than enough signatures to qualify, but nearly a dozen were unusable because the signer was found to be living outside the 29th Congressional district.

Over the objections of Schiff's attorneys, the judge agreed that the county elections office had erred in not giving Scolinos a chance to make up for the signature shortage before the deadline.

``The judge really just decided this was the campaign equivalent of going 66 mph on the freeway,'' said Brandon Powers, spokesman for the Scolinos campaign.

L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Conny McCormack said candidates often flood her office with signatures at the last minute, making it nearly impossible to check them all before the deadline.

Nevertheless, McCormack said the county accepts the judge's ruling. The final list of candidates is still be drawn up, so adding Scolinos' name to the ballot will not cause any delays, she added.

Scolinos will face Reza Torchezy of Encino and William Bodell of La Crescenta in the Republican primary race.

Gary Scott, [phone]

gary.scott(at)sgvn.com