ELECTION LEGISLATIVE, JUDICIAL RACES : All 11 Incumbents Up for Reelection File to Run Again

All the South Bay’s legislative and judicial officeholders up for election this year have filed declarations stating their intent to run for another term--among them Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando, who has a rare form of cancer.

Felando (R-San Pedro) says that although his illness causes him to “run out of gas from time to time,” the cancer--a form of lymphoma called mycosis fungoides-- has been in remission since he completed an 11-week treatment program last May.

“I will run a full-blown, flat-out campaign,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Felando is one of 11 South Bay state assemblymen, senators and municipal judges who turned in their declarations before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline.

Though candidates must meet other filing deadlines to qualify for the June 5 primaries, failure to turn in a declaration of intent would make them ineligible to run except in a write-in campaign.

Republican and Democratic analysts indicated Wednesday that given party registration patterns and the difficulty of unseating incumbents, an upset is unlikely of any of the South Bay’s two state senators and five assembly members up for election this year.

Steve Johnson, director of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, said gamely, “I’m a party man; we’ll win them all.” But he acknowledged that none of the GOP challengers fielded in the region are well-known or well-financed.

Cathy Calfo, director of the California Democratic Party, said none of the state legislative seats that Democrat and GOP strategists consider vulnerable are located in the South Bay.

“These are what we call safe seats,” she said.

Two candidates filed for office besides Felando in his heavily Republican 51st Assembly District, which stretches from the Palos Verdes Peninsula cities to Manhattan Beach. They are Democrat Marilyn Landau of Torrance, a former Los Angeles Teachers Union vice president, and William Gaillard of Redondo Beach, a member of the Libertarian Party.

In the 57th Assembly District, which includes the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, two candidates filed in addition to incumbent Dave Elder (D-San Pedro)--Ed Musgrave, a Long Beach Democrat, and Long Beach Republican Rodney Guarneri.

Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) filed for reelection in the largely blue-collar 53rd Assembly District, which includes Gardena, Hawthorne, Carson, Lawndale, Harbor Gateway, Harbor City and north Redondo Beach. He drew one challenger, Lawndale Republican Kevin Davis.

In the 50th Assembly District, which extends from Inglewood into El Segundo, incumbent Curtis Tucker Jr. (D-Inglewood) drew two challengers--Democrat Matthew Olds and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Michael Long, both of Los Angeles.

Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena), one of two South Bay state senators facing reelection this year, drew a single opponent, Republican Timothy Poling of Long Beach, in his bid for another term in the 30th state Senate District. The district includes Carson, Gardena and Harbor City and Wilmington.

State Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), whose 28th Senate District encompasses Inglewood, Hawthorne and portions of Los Angeles, drew two opponents.

They are Democrat Kevin Zondervan of Hawthorne and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Ivan William Kasimoff from Los Angeles.

Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles) filed for reelection in the 49th District and drew three opponents. They are Democrat Angela Vernon of Los Angeles, Libertarian Carin Rogers of Playa del Rey and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Alice Mae Miles of Los Angeles.

All four South Bay judges scheduled to face voters June 5 filed to run in the nonpartisan judicial elections: Inglewood Municipal Court Judge Rodney Forneret and South Bay Municipal Court judges Josh Fredricks, Thomas Allen Jr. and Thomas Sokolov. None of them face opposition.