Consultant Enters GOP House Race

San Pedro business consultant John Barbieri has joined the race for a newly drawn congressional district that runs from San Pedro to Venice.

Barbieri, 39, is among four Republicans to announce they will compete for the open seat in the GOP-leaning district. The others are Torrance attorney William Beverly, former Assistant U.S. Atty. William Fahey and GOP activist Maureen Reagan.

A fifth Republican, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, has expressed interest in the 36th District seat but has yet to say publicly whether she will run.

In a campaign announcement released this week, Barbieri, a former president of the San Pedro Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, portrayed himself as a community leader in close touch with voters’ concerns about crime, taxes, the economy and other key issues.

“For too long, outsiders and professional politicians in Congress have had free reign over public policy, the result being economic decay and distrust of government,” he said. “Of all the candidates in this race, I am the only one who understands what kind of representation the voters want and don’t want.”