Rep. Dixon’s Widow Won’t Run for Seat

In a decision expected to ignite an intense political battle over who will be the next representative from the overwhelmingly Democratic 32nd House District in West Los Angeles, Bettye Dixon, the widow of Rep. Julian Dixon, said Wednesday that she will not seek election to the seat left vacant by the recent death of her husband.

“I am not going to run for my husband’s seat,” Dixon said in an interview with The Times. “I have a business that I am operating. It is the business that I enjoy.” Dixon has several duty-free stores at Los Angeles International Airport.

Holding office “is not something I feel I could do and be as effective as Julian,” she said. “I don’t have the feeling in my gut that he had. I want to put that rumor to rest. I will not be pursuing my husband’s seat in Congress.”

The jockeying to succeed Dixon--a widely admired, 66-year-old, soft-spoken Democrat who first won election to his seat in 1978--began not long after he died last month of a heart attack after minor surgery. A date for the election has not been set, but it is expected to be in April or June.

But the mere suggestion that Bettye Dixon might step into the race for the seat that her husband held for more than two decades was enough to deter several potential candidates from running. Now that Dixon has decided not to run, a crowded field of candidates is expected to wage a tough campaign. The potential candidates include leaders of two generations of African American elected officials, causing some observers to worry that the contest could prove divisive along those lines as well.

“I think it’s going to be an incredibly divisive race,” said Kerman Maddox, a political science instructor at Southwest Community College. “It’s going to be tough, mean-spirited and could be a brutal contest. People are going to be playing for keeps, and when people play for keeps, sometimes it gets personal and nasty.”

Among those candidates who have already signaled their intention to run are City Councilmen Mark Ridley-Thomas and Nate Holden, state Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), Assemblymen Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles) and Herb Wesson (D-Culver City), former state Sen. Diane Watson--who is returning from a posting as President Clinton’s ambassador to Micronesia--and former Los Angeles Police Commission President Gary Greenebaum.

Congress declared Dixon’s seat vacant Wednesday, paving the way for Gov. Gray Davis to call a special election to choose a successor in the district, which includes one of the most ethnically and economically diverse swaths of Los Angeles.

The district straddles the Santa Monica Freeway, roughly between the Harbor and San Diego freeways. It includes the neighborhood around USC, the Crenshaw district, Culver City, Koreatown, Ladera Heights, Baldwin Hills, Leimert Park, Cheviot Hills and Mar Vista. Ten years ago, African Americans were 40% of the district, whites were 32% and Latinos about 30%. Since then, the gap between African Americans and Latinos has narrowed significantly, but the district has the highest percentage of African American voters in the county and probably one of the lowest percentages of Latino voters.

Still, some blacks are concerned that if three or four viable African American candidates emerge in a crowded field, they may cancel each other out and end African Americans’ hold on a seat they have held since Yvonne Brathwaite Burke first represented the district in 1973.

Even before Bettye Dixon’s announcement, several candidates had begun openly testing the waters for a possible run.

“My decision is unequivocal,” Ridley-Thomas said. “I’m preparing to run and that includes putting together a campaign infrastructure, lining up consultants, staffing and selecting a headquarters.”

Wesson, who is eyeing an opportunity to become the next Assembly speaker, is looking into the race and has commissioned a poll of his likely support in the district.

Wright also is lining up support. He said a key asset to anyone seeking the seat is the ability to represent the district over the long run, taking advantage of the seniority system in Congress.

“Longevity is the key to being able to achieve what Julian was able to accomplish in his career,” he said. “Electing members to Congress is like planting trees. If you cut it down before it bears fruit, you don’t get anything.”

Greenebaum, who is a rabbi, said the district’s extraordinary diversity means that its congressional representative must have the ability to build bridges between ethnic groups.

“The key is, whoever represents the district should have the ability to represent the entire district, someone who can build relationships across boundaries,” said Greenebaum, who is the western regional director of the American Jewish Committee.

In an official release on House of Representatives stationery, Bettye Dixon explained her decision by saying that what the district needs is a professional. She added: “In the political arena, I’m an amateur.”