Only 3 Democrats Seek Davis’ Choice Assembly Seat

When Democratic Assemblyman Gray Davis entered the race for state controller last week, political observers predicted that Davis’ aim for higher office would trigger a stampede among Democrats anxious to compete for one of the state’s most prestigious and affluent districts.

But the great rush to enter the 43rd Assembly District race never materialized. Although many Democrats expressed interest, just three candidates filed papers by the 5 p.m. deadline Wednesday.

The early Democratic front-runner is Terry B. Friedman, executive director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, which provides free legal advice to the poor, elderly and disabled. Friedman, who is on the faculty of the UCLA Law School, enjoys the endorsements of Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and most of the other Democratic officeholders in the San Fernando Valley and the Westside.

Friedman’s Democratic opponents are two veteran political candidates: Rosemary Woodlock, an attorney from Woodland Hills, and Bruce Margolin, a West Hollywood lawyer and the Southern California coordinator of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Lost Against Antonovich, Davis

Woodlock lost races against Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich in 1984 and state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) in 1982. Margolin was defeated in an Assembly race in 1970, and he withdrew from a primary race against Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles) in 1982.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary in June is almost assured of victory in November. The district, which encompasses Studio City, Encino and Sherman Oaks, and a large chunk of the Westside, is overwhelmingly Democratic.

It is also a political jewel. The district rewards its representative with a high profile statewide and a wealth of campaign contributions. Gray Davis, for instance, amassed $1 million while representing the district. Davis’ predecessor, Berman, used the seat to launch his congressional career.

The tempting nature of the district makes it all the more unusual that many potential candidates decided to sit out the race.

Some of the would-be candidates suggest that Friedman’s endorsement by the powerful political coalition of Berman and Waxman discouraged many credible candidates from running. They questioned whether the voters were getting shortchanged.

One critic is Steve Saltzman, former aide to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and now head of the Greater Los Angeles Energy Coalition. He decided Wednesday against running.

‘Machine Politics Image’

“They ought to be encouraging all good candidates to run for public office,” Saltzman said of the Berman-Waxman group. “I think it’s a big mistake to be discouraging people like myself. It creates the image and perhaps the reality of machine politics.”

“I’m sure a lot of candidates realized the financial and political power of the Berman-Waxman group,” said another Democrat, who decided against entering the race and did not want to be identified. “I guess the real question is: ‘Is this good politics or Chicago-East Coast politics?’ ”

In an interview Wednesday, Waxman maintained that no one but the voters can decide a race.

“Anyone is free to run who wants to run and make a case to the voters,” said the congressman, who expressed dislike of the term “machine.”

But Waxman made no apologies for the weight his endorsement carries.

“If my endorsement helps a candidate, it’s clearly what I hope to do,” he said.

He said some disadvantages are connected with crowded Democratic primaries. When Democrats compete against each other, they use campaign contributions that could be better spent beating Republicans, he said.

At least two candidates, however, said Friedman’s Westside supporters did more than announce their endorsement of him. Saltzman and Jack McGrath, a Studio City real estate broker and a former campaign manager, said Friedman supporters urged them, through intermediaries, to drop out of the campaign.

Friedman, however, insisted that he was unaware of anyone interfering with others’ political decisions.

“I certainly did not authorize or approve of anyone associated with my campaign trying to discourage any of the candidates,” Friedman said.

Other Democrats who were touted as potential candidates and decided not to run include Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.; Barry C. Groveman, head of the environmental unit of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office; West Hollywood City Councilman Alan Viterbi and Carol E. Schatz, an executive of the savings and loan industry.

On the Republican side, Roberta Weintraub, a Los Angeles school board member, said she decided not to run for family reasons.

Was Nursing Official

Friedman was a member of the state Board of Nursing Home Administrators from 1979 to 1985, belongs to the Sierra Club and has been executive director of Bet Tzedek since 1978. While at UCLA, he was president of the California Federation of Young Democrats. At UCLA he became a friend of Assemblyman Burt Margolin, who was Waxman’s chief of staff before he was elected to the Assembly in 1982.

Friedman said some of his main concerns are rights and needs of the elderly and disabled, quality public education and preserving the Santa Monica Mountains.

The 36-year-old lawyer said he expects the confusion surrounding Bruce Margolin’s name to force him to spend more money during the campaign. He expects that some voters will confuse the candidate’s name with Burt Margolin.

But Bruce Margolin, 44, disagrees. “I don’t think anyone is confused,” he said. “I’ve been running longer than he has.”

Chief Issues

Margolin said his chief issues will be clean water, safe streets and quality education.

Woodlock said she entered the race because she believed the Valley needed better representation. Some of her chief concerns are overdevelopment, traffic congestion and preserving the Santa Monica Mountains. Professionally, Woodlock represents several homeowner organizations, including a group in Topanga Canyon that is opposing the Montevideo development project.

Three Republicans have filed for the office. They are Lou Steeg, a 71-year-old retired Sherman Oaks businessman and Naval Reserve commander; Marc Philip Schuyler, a senior at Caltech and Los Angeles County chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, and Edward Brown of Sherman Oaks. John Honigsfeld, an aerospace computer programmer from Los Angeles, is running as a Peace and Freedom candidate.