Solis Challenges the Democrats’ Seniority System

U.S. Rep. Matthew G. “Marty” Martinez (D-Monterey Park) isn’t famous for his sagacity or much else. But he’s managed to stay in office for 18 years. As the representative of Los Angeles County’s intensely Democratic and Latino-heavy 31st District, Martinez seemed to have an opposition-free career cut out for himself--until last June, when a potent challenger emerged from the ranks of his own party. Facing term limits that will force her out of the Legislature in two years, state Sen. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte) decided she didn’t want the voters’ tenure mandate to shut down her political career.

She took a step that her termed-out legislative colleagues have shirked. Solis targeted Martinez, the long-serving incumbent of the congressional district that, by happy coincidence, overlies most of her senatorial district. The result is one of the most closely watched congressional races in the nation.

“We started with the same kind of grass-roots effort I used when I ran for the Assembly in 1992,” Solis says. Acknowledging that her move to replace a senior officeholder of her own party is unprecedented, she added, “I really wouldn’t say our relationship was close.”

It certainly hasn’t gotten any closer lately. Last month in Roll Call, the congressional magazine, Martinez called Solis’ local Democratic supporters “a bunch of crazies.”

Martinez has never had a serious Republican challenger. The 31st District sprawls from Los Angeles’ easternmost neighborhood of El Sereno to the San Gabriel Valley hinterlands of Irwindale. This swath includes increasingly Asian American--and Republican--cities like Monterey Park, Walnut and Diamond Bar. But the solid Democratic pluralities in large, Latino-majority cities and areas such as Montebello have kept Martinez in office. He won 70% of the vote in 1996, 68% in 1998. This year, no one is running for the Republican slot. So whoever wins March 7 takes the seat.

Which could be Martinez’s main problem. In California’s open-primary system, Republicans can vote for Democrats and vice versa. Solis says many GOP stalwarts will vote for her. Endorsements back up her claim, including that of Sheriff Lee Baca, the county’s top elected Republican. She also has the backing of the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, the Chinese Officer-Holders Assn. of the San Gabriel Valley and many Republican mayors, council people and school-board members. She’s counting on Asian American Democrats, too. And she’s got the backing of EMILY’s List, which supports women candidates, and the Sierra Club.

More important, Solis has grabbed labor support from Martinez. The County Federation of Labor backs her, along with its Council on Public Education political arm, despite Martinez’s pro-labor voting record. Solis said the federation termed its choice as “between a friend [Martinez] and a warrior.” She’s backed by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), Assembly Speaker Antonio R. Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) and county Supervisor Gloria Molina. Crucially, Democratic Reps. Howard Berman and Henry Waxman aren’t endorsing Martinez this time. To many, this is the withdrawal of the party’s mandate from heaven.

But Martinez maintains strong support from party veterans, among them Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk).

Solis hopes her legislative record will attract voters. She has been strong on domestic-violence bills and supportive of law enforcement. There was also her successful initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage following former Gov. Pete Wilson’s veto of her own legislation to hike the cap. She plowed $50,000 of her own campaign money into that effort.

Martinez’s legislative Web site highlights his support for fast-track legislation for the North American Free Trade Agreement and extending the 710 Freeway. These two stances, however, may have lost him nearly as much support in his district as they gained: The 710 Freeway extension, which Solis does not oppose, would cut through the blue-collar El Sereno area, while the NAFTA legislation was strongly opposed by organized labor, which may have played a role in COPE’s endorsement of Solis.

Another endorsement factor may have been the lessons organized labor learned from last year’s L.A. 14th Councilmanic race, which includes part of Martinez’s district. Despite unmistakable signs of the declining credibility of retiring incumbent and labor favorite Richard Alatorre, labor backed his favorites in both the primary and general elections. But the winner was outsider Nick Pacheco.

Solis’ endorsement roster suggests she’s counting on the support of a younger generation of Latino officials and voters, a generation that perhaps feels it can make a choice not just between a Latino and non-Latino candidate, but between a passive and a more aggressive Latino legislator. But Martinez retains much support in a community where “a lot of people get along with both candidates,” one veteran observer says. There’s also a perception that since retaking Congress is a key Democratic objective, a race between two prominent Democrats is unnecessarily costly. Besides which, the incumbent is locally known for good constituent services. “Martinez doesn’t have a high profile, but he’s there when you need something,” the observer notes.

Yet, neighbors who didn’t need such assistance don’t seem to know who he is. These are the people whom Solis thinks she can reach. *