Chick, Goldberg, Women’s Groups Endorse Salkin

Foreshadowing an unusual contest in which Latino and female interests are competing in the 39th Assembly District Democratic primary, candidate Valerie Salkin on Wednesday announced endorsements from two influential female politicians and a number of women’s groups.

Los Angeles City Council members Laura Chick and Jackie Goldberg announced their support for Salkin at a City Hall news conference that was also attended by representatives of the National Organization for Women and the Business and Professional Women.

“I look forward to her recognizing the needs of women in the workplace, and women in the home, and women as parents, and women as teachers of children, and for all those reasons I enthusiastically endorse Valerie,” Goldberg said.

But a tough battle lies ahead for Salkin--the only woman in the race to replace Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), who leaves office later this year due to term limits.

She faces a strong challenge from Tony Cardenas, who has garnered statewide support in his effort to become the first Latino member of the Assembly from the San Fernando Valley. The 39th district has a large Latino constituency.

Also running in the March 26 election are Jim Dantona, a veteran legislative aide; Michael Del Rio, a former aide to state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, and Jose Galvan, a longtime Latino activist.

Several candidates have criticized Salkin, saying she does not have roots in the community because she moved to the northeast San Fernando Valley district only about a year ago from West Hollywood.

But although most of the other candidates have emphasized their ties to the community, Salkin has focused much of her campaign on her support among women’s groups.

“There is a tremendous women’s vote. There is a tremendous women’s voice and that voice will not be ignored because I am going to stand up for it,” Salkin said before listing the names of women’s groups that have endorsed her.

Among her supporters attending the news conference were Jean Morrison, president of the Valley chapter of the National Organization for Women; Betty Boyd, president of the San Fernando Business and Professional Women, and Jean Both, president of the Sylmar Woman’s Club.

Salkin, an attorney for the state Board of Equalization, is expected to be one of the top fund-raisers in the race due to her connections in Democratic political circles and her own $60,000 contribution to her campaign.

Political consultants say that Salkin’s appeal to women voters is a smart move, but that she must make a wider appeal--including an appeal to Latinos--to win.

“I would hope she would be careful not to overstate the strength of the woman’s vote,” said veteran campaign consultant Rick Taylor. “I think she needs to be a little broader-based than that.”

Last month, Cardenas won the endorsement of Councilman Richard Alarcon, who represents parts of the 39th district, and former Assemblyman Jim Keysor, who dropped out of the race to support Cardenas.

Cardenas has also won the endorsement of the state’s Democratic party in a vote that the four other candidates say was rigged by influential Latino lawmakers who appointed 12 pro-Cardenas delegates to the state Central Committee just before the panel voted to make an endorsement.

While Salkin emphasized her support among women, she has also said that she is a strong advocate for the rights of crime victims.

During the news conference, she explained that she was shot in the leg by a sniper when she was 14 years old while roller-skating on a school playground.

Salkin said the 18-year-old sniper was allowed to join the Army in lieu of spending time in jail.

“I think we need to take tremendous steps to put hard-core criminals, violent criminals in jail and I think we need to look at alternative sentences for those who are not violent criminals,” she said.

Despite their political alliances, both Cardenas and Salkin are making efforts to expand their appeal, knowing that neither can win the race with the support of just one segment of the voters.