U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman endorses Sheila Kuehl for county supervisor

Retiring Westside Congressman Henry Waxman announced his backing of Sheila Kuehl for Los Angeles County supervisor on Monday, handing the former state senator a key endorsement as she heads into the final weeks of campaigning before the Nov. 4 election.

Kuehl is a “powerful and effective advocate for the issues I care about,’’ Waxman said in a prepared statement.

“Sheila was leading the fight for affordable healthcare in the state Legislature as I was working to pass the Affordable Care Act,’’ he said. “She brings tenacity, integrity, a prodigious understanding of policy and remarkable capacity to bring differing viewpoints together to craft vital legislation.”

Waxman, 75, a Democrat, has represented Westsiders in Congress for 39 years, holding leadership positions that enabled him to focus on healthcare, energy and environment and government accountability. He played a key role in passing legislation to clean polluted air, provide medical insurance for children and regulate tobacco as well as the 2009 Affordable Care Act.

Those issues have resonance with liberal voters on the Westside and San Fernando Valley, making Waxman’s backing a coveted one, analysts say. Kuehl will face former Santa Monica council member and mayor Bobby Shriver in the general election.

Retiring Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the man Kuehl and Shriver are seeking to replace, has so far remained silent on his candidate preference. Yaroslavsky’s endorsement would be “the gold standard” in the race, said Steve Afriat, a veteran lobbying and political consultant.

But Waxman’s is also significant, Afriat said.

“In the heavily Jewish, liberal Westside?,’’ he said. “I would give 10 endorsements for Henry Waxman’s endorsement.”

Shriver has been endorsed by former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, former Clinton Administration Secretary of Commerce Mickey Kantor, former U.S. Rep. Howard Berman and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.

Twitter: @csaillant2