Ruling Puts Rosenthal Back in Race

The court ruling that set aside term limits Tuesday prompted state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who would have been forced from office next year, to immediately announce reelection plans--raising the stakes in an already intense San Fernando Valley state Senate race.

“I’m very happy about this decision,” Rosenthal said. “All systems are go now.”

Rosenthal’s entry into the 20th Senate District’s Democratic primary makes it a three-way contest, one that promises to be a humdinger of a race among three well-known politicians.

Former Assemblyman Richard Katz and Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon have already announced their candidacies, started to assemble campaign teams and signaled their willingness to engage in a real street fight to win the seat.

With their proven abilities to raise money, garner endorsements and get votes, Rosenthal, Katz and Alarcon offer an unusually strong field to voters in the district, which covers the middle and northeast Valley.

The district’s demographics strongly favor Democrats, so whoever clinches the primary in June is virtually assured election.

Rosenthal’s decision to enter the race was not a surprise. The only Valley legislator who would have been forced into retirement by term limits next year, Rosenthal took the federal appeals court up on an offer to join the lawsuit “to preserve his options.”

Both Katz and Alarcon have said they expected Rosenthal to enter the field if the court overturned the law and said they were committed to the campaign regardless of his decision.

“It really has absolutely no bearing on my decision to run,” Alarcon said Tuesday. “I’m not surprised by the court’s decision or that Hersch is running. He told me.”

Each of the three lawmakers brings his own advantages to the race.

Rosenthal, who has the benefit of being an incumbent, played a pivotal role in shepherding the Valley secession bill through the state Senate and took the lead in fighting for consumers against insurance companies after the Northridge earthquake.

A longtime state senator from a Westside-Valley district, Rosenthal, 79, moved to the Valley to run for office in 1994 after losing to Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles).

In addition to expected support from his state Senate colleagues, Rosenthal has ties to the still-potent fund-raising base of affluent Westsiders, long the province of the now-defunct political organization of Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills).

Alarcon, 43, the first Latino councilman elected from the Valley, benefits from the rising influence of Latino voters and the political organization of Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles).

As a councilman, he has emphasized basic constituent services, economic development and the Valley’s transportation needs.

The third contender, political experts say, is perhaps the best known. Katz, 47, represented half of the Senate district for longer than either of the others.

He brings to the race long-standing involvement in a range of Valley issues. He is responsible for securing the funds for Mission College and has a strong record on public safety.

Additionally, since Katz led the successful Democratic campaign to retake the Assembly in 1996, legislators from around the state are indebted to him and would likely support his candidacy.

In an interview Tuesday, Katz noted that the decision to toss out term limits won’t go into effect for 21 days, during which time the U.S. Supreme Court could intervene and reverse the ruling.

But Katz conceded that the addition of another major candidate is not ideal for him.

“It complicates the field,” he said. “More candidates always makes it harder to draw contrasts.”

Because Katz and Rosenthal are expected to appeal to the same base of voters and contributors, most experts believe Rosenthal’s candidacy helps Alarcon.

Others, however, call Katz the odds-on favorite because he has the longest record of service to the Valley.

Nevertheless, a three-way race is never easy to handicap. An equally plausible scenario has Katz and Alarcon slinging mud at each other, clearing a path for Rosenthal to stay above the fray and come up the middle to win.