Democrats Pick Katz as Leader in the Assembly

Veteran lawmaker Richard Katz of Los Angeles on Monday was chosen by his colleagues to replace longtime Assembly Democratic leader Willie Brown, a political legend who served as Assembly speaker for a record 14 1/2 years.

With Brown presiding, Democrats met behind closed doors to select Katz, a longtime Brown lieutenant who easily outdistanced Assemblyman Cruz Bustamante of Fresno, whose support was drawn from fellow Latino lawmakers.

It took only one ballot to make Katz the first Democratic Assembly leader from Los Angeles in more than two decades.

The San Fernando Valley legislator quickly made it clear that he would be his own man.

“Willie Brown is in a league all of his own,” said Katz, first elected to the Assembly in 1980. “No one is ever going to be Willie Brown. What we’re working to do is . . . establish an identity for Democrats in Sacramento in our own right.”

Brown, elected mayor of San Francisco last week, returned to Sacramento on Monday for a sentimental swan song, including a final press conference, the caucus meeting and a round of goodbyes with colleagues, staff and Gov. Pete Wilson.

His successor Katz, 45, said Democrats would press for programs to boost public education and protect California workers. He also said the Democratic caucus was solidly united behind Speaker Brian Setencich, the Fresno Republican who was elected Speaker last September with the help of Democratic votes.

In an attempt to present a unified front, Katz met with reporters with his rival, Bustamante, at his side. Bustamante will remain chairman of the caucus, traditionally a job that includes raising campaign funds.

“Everybody has promised to support Mr. Katz in his leadership, including myself,” Bustamante said in announcing the outcome of balloting in the 37-member Democratic caucus.

Bustamante characterized the margin in favor of Katz as significant but neither lawmaker would disclose the actual total. An unofficial tally put it at 27 votes for Katz, 8 for Bustamante and two members not present. Two Latino lawmakers voted for Katz.

Katz’s selection marks the latest twist for Democrats, who after two decades lost the Assembly majority in the November 1994 general elections. Brown managed to hold onto the speakership until June, when he stepped down and decided to run for mayor of San Francisco.

In doing so, Brown turned some of the day-to-day Assembly Democratic leadership tasks over to Katz.

Katz will preside over a caucus whose membership has shrunk to 37, including 17 Democrats who have only one more year left in office because of term limits. Moreover, special elections next year could shave their numbers further in the 80-member house.

In his favor, Katz, a mainstream Democrat, is a long-time protege of Brown, an experienced strategist on Democratic election campaigns and a lawmaker who enjoys the nitty gritty of political maneuvering.

“Richard’s a real warrior,” said Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco). But Burton doubts that any Democratic leader will be able to command the allegiance of his caucus as his friend Brown did for the past 15 years, especially in rounding up votes for the state budget.

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles), who voted for Katz, called Katz the “logical choice” for leader. “He simply fits the bill. We need someone who knows the process and can work with us to create a transition into the era of term limits” when no Assembly members will have had long experience in the job.

“I’m going to act as a transitional leader,” Katz said, helping freshmen and sophomore members take on more responsibilities.

Assemblywoman Martha Escutia of Huntington Park, who voted for Bustamante over Katz, said she would have preferred a leader who “is not a lame duck” and who will be more inclined to get newer members “truly involved and invested in the process.”

Bustamante, assuming voters reelect him in 1996, will be in the Assembly two years longer than Katz, who leaves at the end of next year because of term limits.

Assemblywoman Diane Martinez of Monterey Park--who did not cast a vote for Democratic leader--said the support Katz receives as leader of Assembly Democrats “depends on what he does from here. If he’s fully conciliatory, he’ll have what he needs to survive” until the end of his term next year.

If Katz fails to unify the caucus, Martinez predicted, he “will be a leader who turns around and finds no one behind him.”

Katz is the first Democratic Assembly leader from Los Angeles since the late Bob Moretti of Van Nuys, who led the lower house from 1971 to 1974.

First elected to the Assembly in 1980, Katz is the long-time chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee--a post he is now expected to relinquish because party leaders historically do not chair committees.

Katz has sought to keep close ties to Setencich, elected Speaker with Democratic votes. Setencich faces a stiff challenge from Republican Leader Curt Pringle of Garden Grove when lawmakers reconvene next month.

Brown predicted Setencich will remain Speaker, saying he “has more committed votes than anyone else in the house.”

During Brown’s round of final goodbyes, Wilson presented the San Francisco mayor-elect with a set of personalized vehicle license plates saying HIZ HONR and calling the former Speaker and partisan rival “a formidable ally and formidable opponent . . . I’ll miss him .”

Despite joking with reporters, Brown said: “I’m sad, frankly. I thought I would spend my entire life in one place, one spot, in the halls of the Legislature.”

But in 1990, when voters approved term limits, that was not to be.

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