Kuehl, Shriver to meet in debate for final push in supervisor’s race

Sheila Kuehl and Bobby Shriver face off Tuesday in a debate launching their final push to replace termed-out Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky in November.

Although Kuehl held a comfortable edge over Shriver in the June primary, political analyst Raphael Sonenshein said general elections are often “like shuffling a new deck of cards.”

“Who has more room to grow?” asked Sonenshein, director of the Edmund G. “Pat” Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A. “Her support is wider and broader and bigger. But has she reached the peak of her support or is it going to grow some more?”

Kuehl, 73, a former state legislator, will exchange views with Shriver, 60, a former Santa Monica mayor and City Council member, in the Little Theater at Macgowan Hall on the UCLA campus. The forum, which begins at 7 p.m., is hosted by the university in partnership with the Los Angeles Business Council and Century City Chamber of Commerce. It will focus on transportation and economic development.

From a field of eight candidates, Kuehl placed first in the primary with 36% of the vote, followed by Shriver with 29%. She dominated in precinct wins, doing particularly well in the vote-rich Westside, Los Angeles Basin and San Fernando Valley communities of Calabasas, Encino, Sherman Oaks and Studio City.

Shriver made his strongest showing in Santa Monica, where both candidates live, and in the northeast San Fernando Valley. Kuehl won nine of the 10 cities in a district of 1 million voters who make up some of Los Angeles County’s wealthiest neighborhoods and tend to identify with liberal social values.

In recent weeks, Shriver has stepped up appearances in the Valley, including a recent Extraordinary Women event that featured his sister, journalist Maria Shriver, as a speaker. Kuehl has kept a lower profile, scheduling fundraisers and meet-and-greet events in people’s living rooms. Steve Afriat, an Encino lobbyist and political consultant, said Shriver will need to expand his base in the Valley, where he is not as well known as Kuehl, a Sacramento veteran.

“I wouldn’t go so far as to say the Valley is in play,’’ Afriat said. “But I wouldn’t say either of the candidates owns it.”

Kuehl is positioning herself as an experienced state legislator who is ready to tackle issues that frequently come before the Board of Supervisors: healthcare, child dependency, law enforcement, transportation and the arts. Shriver counters that local government experience is more valuable for the job because it brings a fresh perspective.

Both candidates are Democrats, but Kuehl is viewed as the more labor-friendly of the two, with endorsements from unions representing public sector employees. Representatives of business, meanwhile, are giving Shriver endorsements and financial backing.

catherine.saillant@latimes.com

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