Katz Will Seek Reelection, Not Run for Senate

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) announced Monday that he will seek reelection to the state Assembly next year, a surprising move that will apparently prevent a bloody Democratic primary fight for the seat being vacated by state Sen. David A. Roberti of Van Nuys.

Although the decision appears to signal an end to Katz’s state legislative career because of term limits, the San Fernando Valley assemblyman has not precluded running for other offices, including the Los Angeles City Council or county Board of Supervisors.

But for the time being, Katz, whose 39th Assembly District includes most of the northeast Valley, said he believes he can be a more effective advocate as a senior member of the Assembly than as a freshman in the Senate for his legislative agenda, which includes support for overhauling the Los Angeles school system and the continued pursuit of his longtime interest in transportation.

“I’m very happy doing what I do now,” the 43-year-old Katz said in an interview. Katz holds the powerful position of chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, a post that gives him a decisive say in how billions of transit dollars will be spent in the future.

Katz denied that his decision betrays exhaustion with the rigors of political life. He came in fourth in last spring’s Los Angeles mayor’s race, clearly a serious disappointment.

Meanwhile, Katz’s decision Monday appears to leave his colleague, Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood), who represents the 40th Assembly District, with a clearer field should she mount a bid to succeed Roberti, who has announced that he will run for state treasurer next year. “I’m looking very favorably at running for the Roberti seat,” Friedman said Monday.

It has been widely speculated for months that Katz would run for Roberti’s 20th Senate District seat, sparking a lively fight with Friedman. Katz said his decision to skip the Senate race was not motivated by concern about a donnybrook with Friedman. “It would have been a tough fight,” Katz predicted. “But I’m pretty confident I could have won it.”

Roberti is barred from running for the seat because of term limits.

Katz’s decision almost certainly signals an end to his political career in the state Legislature. Because of term limits, if Katz wins reelection in 1994, he can serve in the state Assembly only until 1996. The term-limits measure bars state Assembly members from serving more than three consecutive two-year terms.

And in 1996, the holder of the 20th District Senate seat, the post now held by Roberti, will have two years remaining in a four-year term. It would defy conventional political wisdom for Katz to plan to run for the state Senate against an incumbent in 1998 after being out of office for two years.

“This suggests the conclusion of a chapter in Richard’s political career,” said political consultant Richard Lichtenstein, a longtime friend of the assemblyman.

But other political targets may be in Katz’s sights.

The strongest sign is that Katz has retained consultant Harvey Englander to run his reelection campaign next year, said political consultant Joe Cerrell.

Englander, who has a reputation for running flamboyant, hard-hitting campaigns, would not have been retained unless Katz was eyeing other political prospects, especially since Katz has managed to coast to reelection in recent years without using professional consultants, Cerrell and others said.

Englander has been actively involved in San Fernando Valley races in recent years. He ran Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson’s bitter 1991 fight for reelection and Laura Chick’s successful bid earlier this year to unseat incumbent Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus. He also ran the mayoral bid of Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, who holds a Valley-based council seat.

“I want to keep my options open,” Katz said of his arrangement with Englander.

A longtime friend, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Katz is weighing the possibility of running for Bernson’s seat on the Los Angeles City Council or the seat held by Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. “Richard is definitely very serious about Hal’s seat or Antonovich’s,” the friend said. Bernson’s current term expires in 1995, Antonovich’s in 1996.

Katz lives in Bernson’s district and in Supervisor Ed Edelman’s. However, Edelman is running for reelection next year and has already amassed a $1-million campaign war chest.

Katz has been active on the legislative front in recent months. Although he was opposed to the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District during the mayoral race, he switched his position in August, saying he had become convinced that the district’s bureaucracy was incapable of nurturing reform from within.

Katz has also fought federal efforts aimed at scrapping California’s system of decentralized smog-control stations.