Term Limits Shape Tight Westside Races for Legislature

If the vast, complex mix of Los Angeles-area politics were a mountain range, its tallest peak would be the Westside, a pinnacle of power and wealth from which to survey--and influence--the rest of the region, the state and even the nation.

Its voters are predominantly white, liberal Democrats, well educated, interested in politics and affluent enough to back their activism with their checkbooks. The area consistently posts the highest voter turnouts in Los Angeles municipal elections.

This year, the Westside--which includes Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and West Hollywood--is the setting for three highly competitive legislative contests--the open seats in the 41st and 42nd Assembly districts and in the 23rd state Senate District, which is made up of those two Assembly districts.

“Those are the shining pearls in liberal politics,” USC political scientist H. Eric Schockman said of the three districts.

And in the Senate race, where term limits have turned political allies into rivals in the March 7 primary, the prize is a seat that bestows on its holder “a lot of cachet, a powerful position in the California Senate,” Schockman said.

These are districts where being left of center never went out of style.

“In this area, you’ve not had to whisper when you said ‘liberal’. . . . It’s not something to be ashamed of,” said political consultant and longtime Westside resident Rick Taylor. Taylor is directing the campaign of West Hollywood City Councilman Paul Koretz, one of the unabashedly liberal candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the 42nd District.

The Westside has spawned some of the region’s most popular, most enduring liberal politicians. They include county Supervisor and former City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

It gave Tom Hayden almost two decades in the Legislature before term limits will send him back from Sacramento at year’s end.

Environmental protection, gun control, gay rights and abortion choice are among the issues voters favor. And the region, with its entertainment industry moguls and other wealthy residents, has long been a source of contributions for liberal and progressive causes and candidates across the country.

“For at least three decades, the Westside has been a sort of cash cow for progressive, liberal politics, not only locally but also nationally,” said USC’s Schockman. “Westsiders have interests that go beyond the parochial, and we have seen a litany of people landing at LAX and going directly to the Westside” to raise money.

In two of the three legislative races--the Senate district and the 42nd Assembly District races--winning the Democratic primary is tantamount to winning the seat in November.

That is somewhat less true in the 41st District, which extends beyond its Westside base to parts of the San Fernando Valley and Calabasas, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills. Among the eight candidates in the primary (five of whom are Democrats) is a moderate Republican who could make it a contest.

The primary clash to succeed Hayden in the Senate upsets Democrats because it pits two well-respected Assembly members against each other. Forbidden to seek reelection to their Assembly seats by a voter-imposed state law, Sheila James Kuehl of the 41st District and Wally Knox of the adjoining 42nd District are battling each other for political survival.

Steven Afriat, a Democratic political consultant, has endorsed Knox but said the contest is a sad illustration of “the tragedy of term limits.”

“Here we have two outstanding public servants, and we are going to lose one of them,” Afriat said. He said that another voter-imposed change--primaries that allow all voters to choose among all candidates, not just in their own party--also is likely to have some impact.

“If it turns out to be a very close race, it is possible that Republican voters will be the ones to decide which of these two liberal Democrats will be the district’s next representative,” Afriat said.

Kuehl’s political consultant, Parke Skelton, downplayed the role of crossover voters but acknowledged that neither candidate can ignore them.

Kuehl, an openly gay attorney and former child actress, has championed women’s causes, health care, the environment and education and has had more than 50 of her bills signed into law. She has been endorsed by Gov. Gray Davis and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

Knox, also an attorney, has organized labor’s backing and the endorsement of Republican Mayor Richard Riordan, who will host a fund-raiser for him Feb. 10. Knox touts his role in overturning the unpopular 11-digit dialing within the 310 area code and his efforts to improve traffic flow at the intersection of the Ventura and San Diego freeways as evidence that he can make everyday life easier for constituents.

Republican Daniel B. Rego of Los Angeles and Malibu physician Charles T. Black, a Libertarian, also will be on the ballot.

The race to succeed Knox in the 42nd District pits Koretz, the West Hollywood councilman, against attorney and community activist Amanda Susskind and physician Daniel Stone. The more liberal of the two Assembly districts, it stretches from Westwood and Beverly Hills through the Hollywood Hills into the San Fernando Valley.

Stone said Koretz’s and Susskind’s ties to the Democratic establishment put him at a disadvantage, but he has been walking precincts to spread his message that the Legislature needs more health care professionals in its ranks.

Koretz has an 11-year record on the West Hollywood City Council, where he helped pass anti-smoking and gun control measures. His endorsements include that of Yaroslavsky, the Sierra Club, the Assn. of Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriffs and the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.

Susskind is endorsed by Riordan and by a score of state legislators, including Democratic Sens. Martha Escutia of Whittier and Richard Polanco of Los Angeles.

Also on the ballot are Republican D.C. Taylor, Green Party candidate Sara Amir, Libertarian Mark Allen Selzer and Natural Law Party candidate Ivka Adam.

Perhaps most intriguing of the three contests is the crowded primary race to succeed Kuehl in the 41st Assembly District.

On the Democratic side are five contenders. They include Brenda F. Gottfried, a three-term board member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District; Fran Pavley, a former mayor of Agoura Hills, a teacher and a member of the California Coastal Commission; Tony Vazquez, a former Santa Monica city councilman and a Latino community activist; and psychologist Bill Wallace.

But David Freeman, 73, on leave from his job as head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, has made the contest unusual. His campaign consultant, Richie Ross, is capitalizing on Freeman’s long experience turning around troubled utilities and working for more environmentally friendly energy sources.

Although widely seen as a strong Democratic district, one of two Republicans in the race, child safety advocate Jayne Murphy Shapiro of Encino, is viewed as likely to run a strong general election campaign if she beats elementary school teacher Stefan Stitch for the GOP nomination. Libertarian Colin S. Goldman also is vying for the seat.

Consultant Afriat said that even though the Democrat will probably win in November, “it is not a sure shot. . . . If I were the Democrat nominee in that district, I would take the race very seriously.”

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Primary contests for open seats in three Westside legislative districts are among the hottest, most widely watched in the state. The 23rd Senate District takes in the 41st and 42nd Assembly districts