Gov. Jerry Brown sets May election to fill Rep. Jane Harman’s seat
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday set a May 17 election to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice).
If no candidate wins a majority, the top two finishers, regardless of political affiliation, will meet in a July 12 runoff.
Brown was hoping to have reached a budget deal with GOP lawmakers by now, which would have allowed him to call an election in June for both the Harman seat and tax extensions that he wants to help balance the state budget. That would have saved Los Angeles County the expense of two elections.
But budget negotiations have stalled, and Monday was Brown’s deadline for the congressional election. The May 17 date dovetails with a municipal runoff in Los Angeles.
Harman’s district, a largely coastal, South Bay-based area, was drawn to favor a Democrat, so any runoff would probably be between two members of that party, many observers said. That would mark the first such runoff since state voters approved a “top-two” elections system last year.
Candidates to replace Harman include Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, both Democrats, as well as antiwar activist Marcy Winograd, who twice challenged the moderate Harman in Democratic primaries. She won 41% of the primary vote last year.
The 36th Congressional District includes parts of Los Angeles, including Hahn’s San Pedro home.
On the Republican side, three local elected officials have declared: Mayor Mike Gin and City Atty. Mike Webb, both of Redondo Beach, and Hermosa Beach City Councilman Patrick “Kit” Bobko.
Times staff writer Anthony York in Sacramento contributed to this report.
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