Hot Contest Shaping Up for Congress Seat

Ten Democratic candidates are facing off in the 30th Congressional District primary, but only five are given a shot at winning the hotly contested race.

The front-runners are Assemblyman Xavier Becerra and Los Angeles school board member Leticia Quezada, with attorney Al Lum, businessman Jeff Penichet and marketing consultant Helen Hernandez rounding out the top five Democrats. Also running in the June 2 primary is a lone Republican, Morry Waksberg.

In all, 15 candidates, including four third party candidates, are seeking the seat being vacated by Rep. Edward Roybal, who is retiring at the end of the year after 30 years in Congress. Because of the district’s 60% Democratic Party registration, the Democratic primary winner is virtually assured of victory in the November general election.

Newly redrawn as the result of redistricting, the 30th stretches from the working-class areas of Lincoln and Boyle Heights in the east to a portion of Hollywood in the west, and from Koreatown and Pico-Union in the southwest to the middle-class community of Eagle Rock in the northeast.

The district’s 572,000 population is highly diverse: 60% Latino, 20% Asian, 15% Anglo and 4% African-American. But the split among the district’s 123,000 registered voters is sharply different because Latinos and Asians have proportionately lower rates of registration. The best available estimates show this breakdown among registered voters: 55% Anglo, 34% Latino, 7% Asian and 4% African-American. In addition to the ethnic breakdown there is also a significant gay population.

Quezada and Becerra, the two current officeholders, arrived at this juncture in their political careers by very different routes.

Quezada, 38, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz with a master’s degree from Cal State Sacramento, has been an executive with Nestle’s for the last 10 years. Her political career began with her appointment to the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees. She successfully ran for the Los Angeles Unified School District in 1988.

She is running in the 30th District as a “Latina feminist activist.” She has been active with the Comision Femenil Mexicana and has received the endorsement of the Washington-based Emily’s List, which provides resources for Democratic women candidates.

Quezada emphasizes her school board experience as an important qualification because, she said, it gave her “experience as a policy-maker for seven years.” She said no other candidate can match that experience.

Becerra, 34, has been on the political fast track. A Stanford Law School graduate, Becerra served as administrative assistant to state Sen. Art Torres and as a deputy attorney general before his surprise victory in the 59th Assembly District race two years ago.

He said that a broad range of activities gives him insight. In addition, he said, “I do things a little bit differently from most people. You can say pro-active.”

Becerra said he moved from his home in Monterey Park to Monterey Hills, near Highland Park, to be in the 30th District for this election. This has led Quezada to say, “I think he’s a carpetbagger, who five months ago told the people of Alhambra ‘I plan to run for reelection and represent you in the state and that’s my desire and that’s my plan.’ ”

Becerra thinks the carpetbagger issue is overblown. He points out that with reapportionment, many incumbents will be representing different constituents.

“What most people do,” he said, “is they take a look at what is of concern to them and can the person I’m about to vote for address those concerns, issues of crime, health care and education, accountability and I think that on each of these counts people will say Xavier Becerra can address those concerns.”

Many well-informed observers view the race as a clash between the rival political forces of L.A. City Councilman Richard Alatorre and Supervisor Gloria Molina. Molina has endorsed Becerra. Becerra’s political consultant, Pat Bond, ran Molina’s successful campaigns for City Council and County Board of Supervisors as well as Mike Hernandez’s successful bid for City Council. Hernandez, a Molina ally, has also endorsed Becerra.

Alatorre has not officially endorsed Quezada but is widely known in Chicano political circles to be actively supporting Quezada. George Pla, a highly successful fund-raiser for Alatorre, is expected to help Quezada in her fund-raising efforts.

However, both Quezada and Becerra are uncomfortable being characterized as part of anyone else’s political camp.

Quezada stresses the endorsements she has received from Rep. Maxine Waters and City Councilwoman Rita Walters. Quezada notes that Alatorre “is supporting me in the sense that he has not endorsed the opposition, for example. But in terms of official endorsement and being in the campaign on the day-to-day basis, that is not the case at all.”

For his part, Becerra said, “I think I’m very independent. . . . I’m fortunate that people like Congressman Roybal, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Gloria Molina and Mike Hernandez have endorsed me. Does that mean I’m in Gloria’s camp or Mike’s camp or Congressman Roybal’s camp? Not in my book.”

The other three leading candidates, Helen Hernandez, Lum and Penichet, have never held elective office. But none of them views this as a negative. Hernandez said, “I think there is a tremendous concern by people all over the United States today as to whether or not politicians have led us down the garden path.”

Penichet said, “People want change. Politics as usual has not worked in this country.”

Lum voiced a similar opinion. “The state the country is in now is a result of elected officials,” he said. “If I want the country to run like the school board I think everybody’s in trouble.”

Hernandez, before beginning her public relations and marketing firm, worked as a labor organizer with the L.A. County Chicano Employees Assn. In 1981 she went to work for producer Norman Lear and later for Columbia Pictures Television. She is receiving support from people within the entertainment community, such as Ed Asner and Peg Yorkin. Hernandez has been endorsed by Gloria Steinem, Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.

Hernandez, 43, says that she brings not only local, state and national experience to her congressional bid but international experience as well. “I have been to Mexico City and met with President Carlos Salinas de Gortari with regard to the free trade agreement,” she said.

Lum, 58, a graduate of USC Law School, has been practicing law since 1963. He has been active in the Democratic Party and is known as an effective fund-raiser. Lum has been endorsed by California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and is expected to receive solid support from the district’s Asian community.

Lum says his years in the business community and political activity give him a practical knowledge of the issues that the other candidates lack. “I was the director of French Hospital, so I’m familiar with health problems. As far as the economy, I have my own business. I’ve made a payroll. I’ve looked for a job, I’ve had to secure a health plan for my employees . . . . I think I’ve lived the issues, I don’t have to do it on an abstract basis.”

Penichet, 46, who holds a master’s degree from UCLA, owns an educational publishing company that produces multicultural material and children’s literature. He has also spent time with the Peace Corps and as a fifth-grade teacher.

Penichet said that he is “not taking any political action money” for his campaign and, if elected, no special interest would control him. He favors term limits for members of Congress and enactment of a national health care plan.

The Candidates

* Here are the candidates in the 30th Congressional District primary election race. Voters can only select among their party’s candidates.

DEMOCRATS

Xavier Becerra, Mark Calney, Helen Hernandez, Albert C. Lum, Gonzalo Molina, Ysidro Sid Molina, Roland R. Mora, Jeff J. Penichet, Leticia Quezada, Esca W. Smith

REPUBLICANS

Morry Waksberg

THIRD PARTIES

Green Party: Blase Bonpane; Libertarian: Andrew (Drew) Consalvo; Peace and Freedom: Maria (Liz) Munoz, Elizabeth A. Nakano

The Election

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on June 2 for primary elections for President, Congress, the state Assembly and state Senate, judges and three of the five Los Angeles County supervisors.

In addition, voters in the city of Los Angeles will decide whether Charter Amendment F should be approved. Among chief provisions, the measure would limit the Los Angeles police chief to two five-year terms and would give City Hall officials greater say in hiring and firing of a police chief.

If you are a registered voter in Los Angeles County and do not know where to vote, call (213) 721-1100 for information. Applications for absentee ballots must be received by the County Clerk’s office by May 26.