Palm Springs Mayor Aims Higher

Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden, who made national headlines when he became the country’s first openly gay, black city leader, announced Thursday that he would run for the state Assembly.

The longtime Democratic councilman hopes to unseat incumbent Republican Bonnie Garcia, who was first elected to the 80th District seat in 2002, in what is expected to be a fiercely contested race.

The district stretches from the Coachella Valley -- Oden’s home turf -- across eastern Riverside County and includes all of Imperial County.

Just three years into his first term as mayor, the congenial, politically divisive Oden said he was ready to move on.

“It’s a natural progression,” Oden said of his bid for higher office at a small press conference at Palm Springs International Airport.

“I think I’ll bring a measure of hope to people in this district.”

Oden ran for Congress in 2000 but lost to Republican Rep. Mary Bono, who was elected to the seat in 1998 as successor to her husband, Rep. Sonny Bono. Sonny Bono had previously served as mayor of Palm Springs.

The 55-year-old Oden, a former Seventh-day Adventist minister and sociology professor, said that if elected to the Assembly, he would work to improve educational opportunities for poor children, raise workers’ wages and take steps to safeguard the region’s natural resources, which include the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa mountains and the Salton Sea.

An 11-year-veteran of Palm Springs politics, Oden hopes to wrest the Assembly seat from Garcia, who won the seat even though nearly half of the massive district’s 175,000 registered voters are Democrats, compared to 37.9% registered Republicans.

“Garcia, she pulled off a miracle” by squeaking by a big-spending opponent in 2002 and holding onto her seat in 2004, said Bill Gudelunas, a history and political science professor at College of the Desert in Palm Desert.

Oden’s name recognition, charisma, bipartisan appeal and strong backing in the Palm Springs minority and gay communities should raise the campaign’s profile, said Gudelunas and Oden’s campaign advisor, Hal Ball.

This year’s race will “be a real tossup -- a lot of money will be poured into it,” said Gudelunas.

Oden’s Assembly bid was unexpected among some Palm Springs political leaders, who assumed he would wait until his mayoral term was complete in 2007 and Garcia was termed out in 2008.

“This announcement came as a total surprise to everybody,” said Palm Springs Councilwoman Ginny Foat. “There are people in the city who are a bit angry at this point” that Oden could vacate his post early, leaving city leadership uncertain, Foat said.

Oden has also polarized Palm Springs voters with what some view as pro-development stances that threaten the city’s historic Old Hollywood architectural glamour and scenic mountain vistas.

“I think he can do less damage up above than in the city,” said community activist and 20-year resident Frank Tysen, owner of Casa Cody Bed and Breakfast Country Inn.

Oden could face two other Democrats in the June primary: former Assemblyman Steve Clute of Palm Desert, and teachers union representative and entrepreneur Michael Duran of La Quinta.

Oden and his campaign team are focused on boosting the traditionally meager Democratic turnout and raising the region’s profile in Sacramento -- not on his personal life.

“A lot of people see me as an example of what can happen in America,” Oden said, citing roles as minister, educator, former husband, father and grandfather. “Yes, I am gay. I’m not limited by any of those factors. All those factors contribute to who I am.”