Candidates Pull Out Stops for Primary Win With 6-Year Payoff

It’s just a primary.

But the three Democratic candidates in the 42nd Assembly District are bobbing, jabbing and preening like this is the final round, as they battle in a race that promises to be close, expensive, and--as March 7 nears--increasingly nasty.

That is because winning the Democratic primary in this wealthy, predominantly white, left-of-center district--which includes the San Fernando Valley communities of Sherman Oaks, Universal City and Studio City, along with Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Westwood and parts of Century City--is tantamount to winning in November.

But the reasons for the vigor of this season’s Democratic contest run deeper.

Veteran West Hollywood City Councilman Paul Koretz has wanted to represent this district since he came in just behind incumbent Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) in a seven-way Democratic primary six years ago. He does not want to lose again.

Knox, who has been forced out by term limits, is running for state Senate.

Assembly candidate Amanda Susskind, an attorney, is pouring her resources in now, she said, because she believes that whoever wins the Democratic primary will win not just the general election, but also six more years in Sacramento.

Political scientist Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of Claremont Graduate University agreed: “Early indications in this era of term limits are that, once you are an incumbent, unless you really mess up, you are going to be there for six years.”

That is perhaps particularly true in this district, where 55% of the 297,639 registered voters are Democrat and just 23% are Republican.

Despite having less money and name recognition, Dr. Dan Stone, an internist and geriatric specialist, is equally committed to winning. He believes so strongly that the state needs him on health-care issues that he is walking precincts five to seven hours a day to spread his message.

Republican D.C. Taylor, Green candidate Sara Amir, Libertarian Mark Allen Selzer and Natural Law candidate Ivka Adam are all running unopposed in the primary.

Observers Give Koretz Slight Edge

Observers predict the two leading candidates--Koretz and Susskind--will raise a million dollars by election day, making it one of the most costly Assembly primaries in California.

As of the most recent reporting period, Koretz led in fund-raising with $397,000, of which $36,000 is in loans. Susskind was close behind, reporting a total of $321,000, of which $48,500 is in loans. Both said last week they expected to report more than $450,000 in the next period, which ends Saturday.

Even Stone, making his first foray into politics, had raised $222,000 by the last filing period, of which $90,000 is in personal loans.

Seasoned observers put Koretz slightly ahead of Susskind, because he has experience as an elected official and a track record he can point to.

He has locked up key Democratic endorsements, including Gov. Gray Davis and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. He also has a batch of labor endorsements and that of the state Democratic Party.

Observers do not discount Susskind, though, noting that she is likely to have strong appeal among women--who make up more than half of the Democratic Party--and is likely to draw moderate Democrats and some cross-over Republicans.

Susskind has received the endorsement of Mayor Richard Riordan and a score of state legislators, including Democratic Sens. Martha Escutia of Whittier and powerful Richard Polanco of Los Angeles.

In such a close race, victory will probably come down to who jams mailboxes with the most literature--and what’s in it.

“On the surface, they probably agree on every issue, fundamentally,” said public affairs consultant Howard Sunkin. “It will probably come down to who has the most negative hit pieces in the last couple of weeks.”

Susskind, 43, said her top priorities are education, transportation and health care.

What distinguishes her from the other candidates, she said, is her reform philosophy.

“I’m part of that new wave of reform,” Susskind said, citing Riordan’s endorsement of her as an example. “Paul Koretz is marching lock-step with the status quo. He is supported by a lot of the old guard--people who stood by and let the system get the way it is.”

Koretz, Susskind Focus on Education

Susskind is a first-generation American whose parents fled the Nazis in Europe.

Susskind has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a law degree. Until she resigned to run for public office, she worked for a Sherman Oaks law firm that provides legal counsel for 35 small cities, including Agoura Hills, Hidden Hills, West Hollywood and Diamond Bar.

If elected, she said, she wants to strengthen early childhood education and reform higher education so that college curricula better conform to the job market. She believes the state must recruit young teachers, raise teacher salaries and invest the state surplus in school infrastructure.

She is a proponent of universal health care but wants to first focus on coverage for children, she said.

Koretz, 44, a councilman for 11 years, said his top priorities are education, gun control, transportation and environment.

The difference between himself and the competition, he said, is leadership.

“Dan Stone is a nice guy, but he has no legislative experience,” Koretz said. And Susskind, he said, only has experience following the directives of city officials.

“If someone has an idea for a graffiti ordinance, she crafts an ordinance,” he said. “That doesn’t take leadership. The next person in the firm would do the same thing.”

Koretz, whose father also fled the Nazis in Europe, was born on Sunset Boulevard and now lives two blocks off it. Koretz has worked to ban the sale of Saturday night specials and assault weapons in his two-mile-square city, and worked on a regional smoking ban in restaurants and bars.

Both measures helped pave the way for similar statewide legislation, he said.

Koretz said he supports the registration and licensing of handguns, and wants to make possession of an assault weapon a felony.

In education, he wants to raise teacher salaries and increase per-pupil spending. He also advocates a proposition that would drop the required approval of school bonds from two-thirds to 50%, he said.

Valley Concerns Hit Home With Stone

Stone, 43, is running for office because he believes there are not enough medical people in Sacramento. “With term limits, there’s not enough time for people to learn about health care.”

The Beverly Hills physician has practiced medicine for 17 years. He is different from Koretz and Susskind, he said, because he is not an insider, but a concerned citizen drawn into politics because of opportunities afforded by term limits.

Stone, a Taft High School graduate, said he cares more about Valley concerns than his competition. Valley residents feel they are an afterthought, he says, and if elected, he will open a Valley office.

Stone wants to put preventive medicine into practice by administering vitamins to children in schools every day. He also wants to fight for the availability of the abortion drug, RU486, he said.

He said teachers should be paid more, and crumbling school facilities must be repaired.