In an interview with the LA Weekly, California League of Conservations Voter SoCal director, David Algood, expanded on his organization's decision to back Debra Bowen over her rival Janice Hahn.
"Debra has a much longer record on the environment," said David Allgood, CLCV's Southern California director. "We know her to be a leader that doesn't knuckle under to pressure from special interests."
Allgood said the League had taken note of Hahn's flip-flop-flip on the L.A. oil severance tax. She proposed the tax last fall, before changing her mind and trying to keep it off the ballot. When it went on the ballot anyway, she then supported it. (It narrowly failed.)
"One of the things we considered was the ability of somebody to put their finger in the wind and change positions that quickly," Allgood said. "For her to have one position one day and the opposite position the next -- that was a big concern."
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.
It's important to note that Act Blue accounts for only a portion of a candidate's fundraising efforts (I've heard estimates of anywhere from 10% to 30%), but as an indicator of fundraising progress I think it's probably pretty representative of where the candidates are in relation to one another.
There's a couple of things I take away from this. First, Hahn has half the donor base of Bowen, but their pockets are far deeper. In the last 24 hours alone, 2 donors were responsible for $7,500 in donations to Hahn's campaign.
Secondly, Winograd's campaign this cycle is far different than her campaign against Harman in 2010. In that campaign, she raised nearly $90,000 from 3,182 supporters.
Winograd and her supporters may have a heavy presence on the California Progressive Caucus listserves, Twitter, and the comment sections of blogs this election cycle, but their passion has yet to translate into real world results.
Meanwhile, up to 19 candidates have filed so far for the CA-36 race, including our first Tea Party candidate, Republican Craig Huey, who announced his candidacy at a dinner meeting of the the South Bay Open Carry movement.
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. If the Act Blue numbers are any indication, it's looking more and more likely that those candidates with be Debra Bowen and Janice Hahn.
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.
When it comes to Measure O, the ballot initiative to tax oil taken from within LA City limits, Janice Hahn was for it before she was against it before she was for it.
Responding to reports in Venice For Change and also at Calitics , Janice Hahn is apparently trying to rewrite history in regards to Measure O, the oil severance tax she opposed putting before voters for the March 8th special election.
The City Maven wesbsite is reporting tonight that Hahn is once more reversing her position on Measure O, releasing a statement in support.
"I've always supported an oil extraction tax, and I continue to support it. In fact, during my recent campaign for lieutenant governor, I proposed a statewide oil extraction fee to help fund higher education," Hahn said. "I support Measure O. I proposed Measure O. I will vote for Measure O. I hope Measure O passes."
Quibbling with the past, Hahn went on to say that her no vote was out of an abundance of concern regarding voter turnout.
"I supported placing Measure O on a regular election ballot where turnout and participation is higher and it would have a greater likelihood of passing. I opposed placing it on the March ballot because turnout is substantially lower and less representative of the electorate as a whole," Hahn said.
According to City Maven a review of of the November 17th council meeting shows there was no mention of voter turnout in regards to the oil tax. At the time, Hahn was quoted as saying,
"I've reconsidered this and I have heard from various business groups who do feel like this might be the wrong climate to put this on the ballot. We know the oil companies are probably going to mount a massive campaign to defeat this and at the end of the day, the way we've structured it, really would only generate around $2 million to the city of Los Angeles. So, at this time, it is my recommendation that we don't put this forward on the ballot."
KCET reports that the measure is opposed by the California Independent Petroleum Association, which has lobbied extensively to expand offshore drilling off the coast of California and in ANWAR, opposes Cap and Trade, and any limits to hydraulic fracturing (aka "fracking"), a controversial and dangerous means of natural gas extraction made famous by the HBO movie, "Gasland"
According the KCET, CIPA has given more than $400,000 to California candidates from 2001 to 2010. Sixty-two percent of those candidates were Republicans.
Some of Measure O's opponents have gone on to endorse Janice Hahn in her bid to win the Congressional seat vacated by Jane Harman.
On March 8th, Los Angeles voters will have the opportunity to vote on a variety of ballot initiatives, everything from a proposal to tax medical marijuana dispensaries to a hike in property taxes to fund public libraries.
One of the most popular initiatives - Measure O, a proposal to impose an oil severance tax for oil extracted within the city limits of Los Angeles - was introduced by LA Councilwoman (and current candidate in the CA36 Congressional race) Janice Hahn. The measure is projected to bring in about $4 million in revenues annually. Neighboring cities of Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Long Beach, and Seal Beach already impose a similar tax.
Measure O is endorsed by the California Courage Campaign , the LA Conservation Corps, the Sierra Club, and other environmental organizations.
Yet a year after Hahn first proposed the idea, she now stands as the only LA City council member in opposition to the measure.
Hahn's turnabout shines a rare spotlight inside the world of LA City politics, where interest groups often create chaos with the legislative process.
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."
Today the folks at Hahn Campaign™ touted yet another high-profile endorsement, that of newly elected State Senator and former political rival Ted Lieu. Lieu went on to win 57% of the vote after for the seat vacated by State Senator Jenny Oropeza's death, clearing the field for a Lieu victory.
Lieu's is a significant endorsement since his district and CA36 share much of the same territory.
The Hahn Campaign ™has been working the phones overtime ever since she announced her candidacy two weeks ago. But what do all these endorsements mean? And why is Hahn working so hard to get them?
In what can only be described as a cynical and calculated move to bait Marcy Winograd into entering the CA36 Congressional race and split the progressive vote, Janice Hahn issued a press release today urging Debra Bowen to join her in a pro-Israel pledge.
The problem isn't the pledge itself - a fairly standard boilerplate declaration that supports Israel's right to exist, a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian peace process, and enforcing sanctions against Iran - the problem is the timing of the pledge and it's explicit attack on Winograd.
Hahn's press release comes on the heels of a Daily Breeze article which stirred up a hornets nest amongst progressives in the district because of this paragraph:
"I did some hard analysis about where I thought I could best serve this country and this state at this moment in history," Bowen said. The former lawmaker said she plans to focus on improving education and strengthening jobs in the local aerospace industry while also building up the nation's military.
Marcy Winograd in particular jumped at the quote, and forwarded her concerns to listserves throughout the district.
I thought I'd share concern expressed on the CDP Progressive Caucus list serve about a Daily Breeze report that Debra Bowen, when announcing her candidacy, indicated that she supported a military build-up. .... For me, this is code for more bomb-building, with no emphasis on transitioning aerospace into Green jobs that we desperately need. Last week I asked her if she would join the Out of Afghanistan Caucus, but never received an answer on that issue.
Bowen quickly sent out a letter to supporters in the district saying she was "stunned" to see her interview characterized as it was, and said she had called the reporter to correct the record.
I'm gravely concerned about the cost of war and the number of lives lost. I think we need a safe and rapid exit from Afghanistan, for one example, and said so very specifically in that interview. I would much rather that these resources go towards jump starting our economy, restoring excellence in our schools and providing quality job training, developing energy independence via green alternatives, improving on health care as it is implemented, and addressing the need for care for the increasing number of seniors with dementia and Alzheimer's and children with autism, diabetes, and other conditions that threaten their independence and quality of life.
Janice Hahn and her campaign manager, Joe Trippi, would love nothing more than to have Winograd run. With a credible Republican challenger now in the race - Redondo Beach City Attorney Mike Webb - a split vote between Bowen and Winograd would likely eliminate both in the first round of voting.
In the new "open primary" system the two top voter-getters would advance to a second round of voting if no one receives %50+1 of the primary vote. And that's unlikely with a three or four-way ticket.
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.
And netroots and progressive leaders immediately began signing a petition urging her to run. Calitics readers will recognize many of the names, people like Brian Leubitz and Robert Cruickshank and David Dayen and Dante Atkins and Matt Lockshin.
"I'm running for Congress to create new jobs, expand clean energy technologies and ensure that local small business owners get the help and opportunities they need to flourish in a global economy," said Hahn.
"As someone who has served in local government for almost a decade, I want to bring that perspective and experience to Congress. It's time we end the corporate tax giveaways to multinational corporations that send jobs overseas and invest those dollars in businesses that create jobs here at home. We need to invest in a clean-energy economy and there's no better place to start than right here in the 36th Congressional District."
A Congressional seat only comes along so often, so expect a crowded field here. Check out Hahn's full release over the flip.
Our apologies for being a little quiet here on Calitics this weekend. The convention has been a wee bit hectic for all of us. We'll get you a more detailed recap soon, but there were a few details that were worth sharing.
In the Insurance Commissioners race, Dave Jones was able to squeak out the endorsement. It was certainly a dramatic race, with both campaigns doing a really good job of rallying support. But in the end, Dave Jones' progressive base was simply too much for Hector de la Torre to overcome. The endorsement won't necessarily bring a big windfall, Chair Burton has said that they won't be spending any money in primaries. But, hey, Jones will now get that lower postage rate that everybody was seeking. Of course, the cache of the Democratic Party endorsement will be quite powerful on the mail that we will likely be seeing coming out of Jones' campaign very shortly. I like both of these guys, but in the interest of full disclosure, I did end up voting for Dave Jones. Either will make a much better insurance commissioner than Steve Poizner, that's for sure.
In the LG race, Gavin Newsom won the outright vote, but didn't get the endorsement. I know the Hahn folks were trying to spin this as a win, but I just don't get it. Newsom had already declined to seek the endorsement a while back, and it was Janice Hahn's campaign who forced the issue. If I recall correctly, the vote was about 57-43 52-42 in favor of Newsom. Which, considering Newsom's past, is fairly respectable. But, again, I'm not entirely sure why we went through the process. Perhaps Garry South figured it would make Gavin work and might cause some sort of game-changing drama. That clearly didn't happen, and Hahn is still looking for some way of overcoming Newsom's advantage in name ID.
On the Props, the resolutions committee went the right way on all the props, and we'll approve them. They supported Prop 15, the fair elections initiative, and Prop 13, a measure that would change the way seismic retrofits are taxed. They opposed Prop 14 ("open" primaries), Prop 16 (PG&E Power Grab), and Prop 17 (Mercury Insurance power grab).
General session is about to start, and we'll wrap up the festivities, approve reports of the committees, and perhaps get a chance to vote on a few endorsements. I know at least one campaign was trying to get signatures, but I don't know what came of it. A full recap to come soon.
