Election 1998: Can Barrales tap statewide Latino vote?

**Race will test his pull as Republican candidate.
By MARION SOFTKY

Ruben Barrales, San Mateo County's first Latino supervisor, is mounting a long-shot campaign to unseat incumbent Democratic state controller Kathleen Connell. As a Republican, he hopes to tap the growing Latino vote with a message of support for small business and taxpayers.
Supervisor Barrales chose the Palo Alto garage where William Hewlett and David Packard started their business -- and incidentally, Silicon Valley -- to launch his campaign March 17.
The location symbolizes, Mr. Barrales said, the spirit of entrepreneurship the founders of Hewlett-Packard share with many Latino immigrants who, like his father, Jose Barrales, start small businesses to build a new life in a new land.
Speaking in Spanish and English, Mr. Barrales promised to carry the Republican message into neighborhoods where it is not often heard. "The core values of the Republican Party -- lower taxes, better schools, safer streets and support for small business and entrepreneurs -- are also core values of the Latino community," he said.
The youthful Mr. Barrales, 35 has been a popular supervisor since he squeaked into office in 1992 after defeating two mayors with long experience. He easily won reelection in 1996.
Supervisor Barrales stressed his record in the county, including reforming the $1.4 billion pension and investment funds, and helping pass the first county debt limit in the state. He also cites his work to reduce crime in East Palo Alto and establish Garfield School, which he attended, as one of the first public charter schools in the state.
Before he can take on Controller Connell in November, Mr. Barrales faces a primary challenge from Snow Hume, a certified public accountant from Fullerton, who has been endorsed by the conservative California Republican Asembly.
Mr. Barrales has built up strong Republican endorsements both statewide and locally. They include Attorney General Dan Lungren, the probable Republican nominee for governor; Congressman Tom Campbell; former Secretary of State and Treasury George Shulz; former ambassadors Shirley Temple Black of Woodside and Bill Lane of Portola Valley; former Assemblyman and California Republican Party Chairman Bob Naylor; and a long list of local business leaders.

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