The countdown has begun before tomorrow's election to replace Congresswoman Jane Harman. If you've been paying close attention to the race, the media is making it sound like the election is going to be a nail biter with a photo finish, which isn't surprising because they love a good horse race. But that assessment seems rather dubious.
Without a doubt, the race is certainly closer than it should be. With an 18 point Democratic registration advantage, Janice Hahn should be walking away with this, but the polls aren't exactly reflecting that. The latest PPP poll only has Hahn up by 8 points. That's certainly lower than it should be considering the registration of that district, but it's also a far cry from being neck and neck. Any other race and 8 points isn't even close. One has to wonder if it weren't for the fact that it fits better with the media meme of an enthusiam gap between the Democrats and Republicans, if this race would really get that much coverage at all.
Now, nobody's going to write off Huey. It's certainly true that stranger things can and have happened. Nobody thought Huey would make it into the run-off. Huey has spent a good $800,000 of his own money on this race. Huey signs are everywhere in the district. Special elections tend to help Republicans because Democrats tend to vote less frequently in them. And then there's the fabled "enthusiasm gap." But still. It will be quite difficult for Huey to pull it off tomorrow, especially if voters turnout at least at the levels that they did in the primary. It's a sheer numbers game. Progressives were split between Hahn, Bowen, and Winograd in the primary, but they know who the better candidate is between Hahn and Huey -and that's Janice Hahn.
The California League of Conservation Voters endorsed Hahn because of her dedication to protecting our natural resources and public health. She also has a bold plan for clean energy jobs to get California's economy back on track. Huey for his part called Hahn's proposal for green jobs "fantasy economics." Tell that to Silicon Valley.
Despite the enormous progress made by the Environmental Protection Agency in cleaning up our air and our water and protecting public health, Huey told reporters that “EPA policies are out of control and must be cut back and funding slashed.” He doesn't get it.
As always, turnout will ultimately decide this election, and CLCV is working hard to turnout our members in the district. If you live in Congressional District 36, be sure to go out and vote for Janice Hahn tomorrow. With your vote, Janice Hahn will be the next Congresswoman from CD 36 and continue to be a strong voice for the environment.
An internal poll released by the Bowen campaign shows the candidate tied with Councilwoman Janice Hahn in the CA-36 primary. Marcy Winograd - who received 41% of the vote against Jane Harman in the 2010 primary race - is only polling at 6%, putting her in 4th place behind Republican Mike Gin.
Bolstering their status as the presumed frontrunners in the crowded special election for a South Bay-based congressional seat, Democrats Janice Hahn and Debra Bowen have outdistanced their rivals in campaign contributions, reports filed with the Federal Election Commission showed Friday.
By the March 31 close of the reporting period, Hahn had raised $274,443 and spent $103,177, while Bowen had collected $195,224 and spent $102,227. Bowen, who is California's secretary of state, and Hahn, a Los Angeles councilwoman, are vying to succeed former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) in a district drawn to favor Democrats, who hold a nearly 18-point registration edge.
But Republican Craig Huey, owner of an advertising firm, had more cash at his disposal than Bowen and came close to matching Hahn's money by lending his own campaign $250,000, according to his FEC report. He spent $155,695 and reported raising $1,727 in contributions from others.
While fundraising numbers as a metric of potential success are unreliable (Meg Whitman anyone?) and are an incomplete and constantly moving target (Debra Bowen raised an additional 40K just outside the reporting period thanks to a drive sponsored by Howard Dean), they can still provide insight into a campaign's strengths, weaknesses, priorities, and how influential power brokers perceive a candidate's potential value.
One meme I hear in the press a lot is that the race between Hahn and Bowen boils down between Hahn's "beer-track" blue-collar union support versus Bowen's more affluent "wine-track" coastal support.
Eighteen candidates - Six Republicans, five Democrats, one Libertarian, one Peace and Freedom and five candidates without party preference - met the deadline to file nominating papers for the May 17 special primary election ballot to replace Congresswoman Jane Harman, who resigned last month.
The candidates who filed nominating papers include the following (candidate descriptions are from the filing papers):
DEMOCRATS Daniel H. Adler. New media entrepreneur in Marina del Rey.
Debra Bowen. California Secretary of State.
Loraine Goodwin. Physician, teacher, arbitrator of Madera.
Janice Hahn. Los Angeles City Councilwoman.
Marcy Winograd. High school teacher and anti-war activist.
REPUBLICANS Patrick "Kit" Bobko. Hermosa Beach City Councilman.
Stephen Eisele. Businessman and aerospace entrepreneur.
Mike Gin. Redondo Beach Mayor.
Craig Huey. Small business owner.
George Newberry. Real estate agent and retired military.
Mike Webb. Redondo Beach City Attorney.
LIBERTARIAN Steve Collett. Certified public accountant.
PEACE and FREEDOM Maria E. Montano. Public school teacher.
NO PARTY PREFERENCE Matthew Roozee. Business executive, mathematician.
Michael T. Chamness. Non-profit consultant.
Katherine Pilot. Longshore office clerk.
Al Salehi. Entrepreneur.
James L. Thompson. Retired.
The list may change again if some of the candidates' nominating papers can't be verified.
The number of candidates pretty much guarantees no one candidate will succeed in winning the May 17th election outright. Under the new "top two" primary election rules, if no candidate receives 50%+1 of the votes, the top two voter-getters will advance to a July 12th election.
Howard Dean's Democracy For America, a PAC with over a million members nationwide, announced today they're endorsing Debra Bowen for Congress.
We asked DFA members where they stood in the upcoming special election for Congress and the answer couldn't have been more clear -- DFA members overwhelmingly support Debra Bowen.
You already know Debra Bowen. DFA members across California worked hard for a national endorsement when Debra ran for Secretary of State in 2006. Local DFA members said Debra was a strong progressive who would lead reform of California's voting system from top to bottom. Her goal was to turn California into a world leader in voter integrity and protection.
We heard you loud and clear and together we worked to make sure Debra won. And you were right, Debra has been an outstanding Secretary of State and she'll make an outstanding Congresswoman for California's 36th District.
Working together, we can put Debra over the top on Election Day and send a progressive leader to Congress.
In 2010, DFA endorsed Marcy Winograd in her bid against Jane Harman. This is the second independent progressive organization to make the switch. In February, Blue America announced they would be supporting Debra Bowen in the race instead of Winograd.
I helped organize this event with the Courage Campaign.
In case you hadn't heard, there's an election heating up in California's 36 Congressional district, as Jane Harman has unexpectedly retired. The "primary" election is coming up in mid-May, so this is something of a sprint now.
Well, now you have the chance to hear about the candidates straight from the horses' mouths. On Thursday evening, 6-7:30, the Courage Campaign is hosting a candidate forum (with a boost from yours truly) with four major candidates for the seat: Democratic Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Republican Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, Democratic LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and Democratic educator Marcy Winograd.
You can also submit questions at #Courage36 on twitter and on the Facebook event page. If you are interested in one of the most interesting races, well, check it out on Thursday night.
MARCY WINOGRAD: FAR AHEAD OF BOTH HAHN AND BOWEN ON U.S. NUCLEAR POWER CONCERNS:
Since at least 2006, Marcy has vocally criticized the growing lobbying & influence of the nuclear power industry. She has been a visible and consistent advocate for tighter regulations & greater safety controls for existing nuclear reactors. Marcy has consistently stated up front in her congressional platforms -- unlike Hahn and Bowen -- her criticisms and her oppositions to the development of new nuclear power plants and the recent growth in U.S. government subsidies for nuclear power (see, e.g., http://www.opencongress.org/wi...
Marcy has always supported America's shift to greater use of alternative energies beyond oil and nuclear -- e.g., hybrid technologies, wind energy & solar power.
MARCY WINOGRAD VS. JANICE HAHN: Janice Hahn -- a longtime friend of Big Oil / Big Energy -- has never made taken a bold platform position against the Nuclear Power or Oil Refinery Industry. Instead, Hahn (a former Public Affairs Regional Manager for Southern California Edison & employee) has generally been a "Friend" of Edison, General Electric and other Nuclear Power Plant operators.
MARCY WINOGRAD AND HARVEY WASSERMAN: In 2006, I attended a comprehensive discussion that Marcy Winograd hosted for Harvey Wasserman (an American journalist, author, democracy activist, and well known anti-nuclear advocate for renewable energy). At that talk, both she and Mr. Wasserman extensively discussed Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and the need to avoid in the U.S. precisely the types of scenarios now playing out in Japan. She was very clear about her calls for stronger regulations especially here in fault & quake marked Southern California.
Marcy Winograd is the sort of forward-thinking and non-Special Interest beholden politician we want and need. In contrast, Janice Hahn was a former public relations director for Southern California Edison (nuclear power contractor). She has received considerable financial support from Eidson and General Electric in the past.
The Nuclear Power Industry (Edison; General Electric, etc.) has bought politicians throughout the United States just like it did with similar politicians in Japan who are now suffering the consequences of their conflicts of interest. Marcy Winograd -- far more than Janice Hahn or Debra Bowen -- will stand up to those conflicts of interest and will fight for tighter regulations of nuclear power.
Marcy Winograd's Congressional recent campaign in 2010 was one about what sort of country and citizenry we want to be. I've known Marcy for many years. She absolutely -- with no reservations -- is a real leader and deserves this district's voters' votes and word-of-mouth support. She is the one true progressive choice who will break with the status quo and who will immediately act to initiate positive, reform oriented change in Washington, D.C.
Marcy Winograd has been an organized, genuine, hard working, committed and passionate activist in the Anti-War movement, the 2006-2008 Bush/Cheney impeachment movement (Kucinich's HR 333), Health Care Reform movement and other progressive efforts to authentically restore the People's voice to national government. Marcy received close to 38% of the vote in the 2006 primary and over 41% when she ran against Jane Harman in last summer's June 8th primary.
She is not a machine or party sycophant who will humbly do what the party elders & attendant drones command. Marcy Winograd is a terrific individual and activist. She is a teacher & citizen who has inspired countless thousands over the last decade. She puts her time, money and -- perhaps most importantly -- her heart where her words are. Marcy is a thinker and a doer : an authentic voice the likes of which voters are hungry for in these cynical and hard economic times. Marcy is a real voice for for this district's voters who is aligned with their economic & social interests and -- importantly -- with their deeper values and their concerns about the directions this country has taken over the last decade.
At a gathering of over a hundred grassroots supporters, campaign staff, and elected officials from throughout the CA-36 district, California Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32) announced she was endorsing Debra Bowen for Congress.
I'm here today because we have a tremendous opportunity to elect Debra Bowen to the 36th congressional district. It's truly exciting for me. I've known her for a long time. I've known her as a state assembly member, I've known her as a state senator, I've known her as Secretary of State. I've known her as extremely intelligent, always outspoken, a true leader, someone with integrity in every seat that she's been in.
And that's why I'm so proud to say I was was the very first Congressperson to endorse Debra Bowen for Congress.
You know with Debra Bowen in this seat, you will have someone who will stand up to Wall Street. You know that she understands our coastline is a national treasure and she will do as much as she can to defend it. You know that she understands the value of education, and that we have to concentrate like a laser to make sure we get jobs in this district.
And you know as Republicans attack a woman's right to chose, Debra will be there to stand up for us.
The Bowen campaign released dozens of endorsements to the press yesterday. Besides Congresswoman Chu, State Assemblymembers Betsy Butler, Gil Cedillo, Wes Chesboro, State Senators Alan Lowenthal, Mark Leno, and Fran Pavley, Hermosa Beach Mayor Howard Fishman, as well as former Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl and former City Council watchdog Laura Chick also endorsed Bowen.
The campaign also lists scores of "citizen endorsements" from ordinary voters in CA-36. Anyone interested in adding their name to that list can go to this link.
A couple of days ago rumors started circulating around the interwebs that CA36 Congressional candidate Debra Bowen was against marriage equality. Things came to a head on Monday when Chad Molnar, Councilman Bill Rosendahl's LAX-Community Liaison and one-time staffer to Congresswoman Jane Harman, posted this comment on Venice Patch.
The Hermosa Beach Patch is reporting this morning that Kit Bobko, a Republican serving his second term on the Hermosa Beach City Council, will throw his hat in the ring to replace Jane Harman in CA36
Bobko, 41, now joins Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and City Attorney Mike Webb as Republican candidates in the race to fill Harman's seat.....
"I'm going to Washington to take on the establishment politicians who think we can borrow and spend our way to growth," Bobko said in a statement Sunday.
Bobko, who has lived in Hermosa Beach for 11 years and serves as a litigation partner at a Los Angeles law firm, hopes to appeal to voters by touting a fiscal conservative message and promising to fight on taxpayers' behalf.
"Folks don't want more expensive government programs or more red tape, and they certainly don't want more taxes," Bobko said. "What people tell me is that they want the bureaucrats and politicians to get out of their way so they can grow their business, keep more of the money they earn, and save for their families."
During Bobko's terms on City Council, he has been outspoken about public pension reform and serves on the Business License Tax Review Committee. He is also proud that the city hasn't faced a deficit during his tenure, he said.
Bobko's announcement is good news for the two Democratic frontrunners in the race, Debra Bowen and Janice Hahn. Since it's unlikely that any candidate will get the 50% +1 they'll need to win the first round of voting outright, a crowded Republican field will dilute vote totals for conservatives and help Bowen and Hahn emerge as the top-two vote-getters, allowing them to advance to the general election.
No election date has been set yet. Gov. Jerry Brown has until March 14 to announce the date of the special election will be held.
Yesterday, as thousands of Angelenos began assembling in solidarity downtown at LA City hall with the workers of Wisconsin, Marcy Winograd, the latest candidate to enter the race to fill Jane Harman's vacated congressional seat, kicked off her campaign with friends, family and about a dozen supporters on a windy sidewalk outside a Torrance, CA drugstore.
Yesterday at the Venice Pier, Marcy Winograd announced her campaign for Congress in front of about 75-80 supporters and friends, and many leaders of the progressive activist community in Los Angeles......
Marcy gave a short speech where she emphasized her no-holds-barred progressive values and offered a true contrast to her incumbent opponent. She called for a "new New Deal" to put America back to work, announced support for John Conyers' HR 676, questioned the continued bailout of the banks and the use of Predator drone strikes in Pakistan, argued for rapid transit and renewable energy in the Los Angeles area, and said of her primary challenge, "this will reverberate throughout the country."
Winograd's choice to run for CA36 has a number of progressive activists scratching their heads. With Harman out of the picture, Winograd's candidacy no longer has the urgency of a protest campaign. And with two well-known Democrats already contesting the open seat, including Debra Bowen, California's popular and progressive Secretary of State, Winograd has virtually no chance of surviving the first round of voting, let alone winning the seat outright.
Even though Winograd took 41% of the vote in her last primary challenge against Harman, the dynamic is far different in this race.
Anti-war activist and progressive Democrat Marcy Winograd said Thursday that she's planning a run for a soon-to-be-vacated South Bay congressional seat.
An official announcement is scheduled to be made at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fox Drugs, 1327 El Prado Ave. in Torrance, Winograd said.
Winograd, a Santa Monica resident, took 41 percent of the vote in last June's 36th Congressional District primary against Rep. Jane Harman, who is expected to resign Monday to lead the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington think tank.
Explaining her decision to run, Winograd said, "I feel that we need a real progressive in the race, somebody who has been advocating for a long, long time that we need to transition from a war economy to a green economy."
Debra Bowen, our outstanding Secretary of State, will, according to Politico, soon make it official:
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen will announce Tuesday that she is joining the race to succeed former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, according to a source close to Bowen. (Politico)
To be honest, I can't imagine anybody that would be a better advocate for her community and all of California. However, that being said, Janice Hahn, the generally liked LA City Council member, already has the endorsement of some heavy hitters, including Dianne Feinstein, and has always been a pretty good fundraiser. Bowen, on the other hand, has never been known as a powerhouse on the campaign cash side of things. Either way, it should be a very interesting race.
Debra Bowen has been an outstanding friend to the netroots, but I'm interested in what others are thinking.
Harman (left) and Hahn with LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.Daily Breeze
Jane Harman has an interesting history. She was recently re-elected to her ninth term in the 36th Congressional district, with her main challenge being from the left. However, it looks like we will be having a special there soon:
California Rep. Jane Harman (D) will resign from Congress, according to two senior Democratic leadership aides, a surprise announcement that will set off a special election in her 36th district.
NBC's Andrea Mitchell, who broke the news of Harman's resignation, has reported that the California Congresswoman will take over as director of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. That job is currently held by former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton (D). (WaPo)
She is probably better known around these parts for her rather controversial positions on warrentless wiretapping, the defense budget, and the wars, but she was also active on health care issues, and was an early opponent of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
As for the district, the speculation so far has been on Janice Hahn, who previously ran for the district back in 1998. She lost to the Republican Steve Kuykendall, but since then the inclusion of Venice and Mar Vista means that it is a pretty strong Democratic seat. However, it is likely to change in the redistricting for next cycle.
Congressional candidate Marcy Winograd is mounting a tough challenge to Jane Harman in CA-36. Following the Israeli commando assault on flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza, Winograd issued the following press release:
(Marina del Rey) Congressional Candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) questions why her opponent Jane Harman chooses to remain silent in the aftermath of an Israeli assault on the Free Gaza flotilla carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to over a million Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza.
For the last few months, I've dealt with a series of family health crisis that culminated first in the death of my elderly mother, then my father exactly four weeks later.
The outcome of a contested primary in a safe Blue district hasn't even been on my radar. But in the last couple of weeks I've had too many neighbors, too many friends ask about the race.
For better or worse, they want an opinion from me. So here it is.
On June 8th, I'll be voting for Jane Harman. And I'll be doing it as a Progressive.
The purpose of this diary is to get you to donate to or volunteer for Marcy Winograd's campaign. I'll match the first $5 you give to Marcy at my ActBlue page for her. Also, if you pledge to phonebank or precinct walk for her, I'll kick in to her campaign as well. (Volunteer signup form here).
Why contribute to Winograd? I'll give you 3 reasons:
Heath care is a right that should be available to all Americans, not a privilege enjoyed just by those who can afford to pay ever-increasing premiums.
I am proud to be one of the 219 Democrats who voted for President Obama's landmark comprehensive health care reform, which, among many other things, prevents insurance companies from denying coverage to millions of Americans with a pre-existing condition. It was a moment over 70 years in the making and I am proud that the President and our strong progressive majority in Congress got the job done.
Our recent success on health care gives me hope that a burden has been lifted from our children and grandchildren. I understand the challenges involved in finding coverage for a loved one who has been denied coverage -- as my son was.
Please watch this short video of me discussing the health care reform bill and share it with your friends and family.
