Flight Attendant Will Run Against Rep. Mary Bono

A United Airlines flight attendant long active in airline-related legislative causes will run for the congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Mary Bono (R-Palm Springs).

Elle Kurpiewski, a 54-year-old Democrat, said she had weighed running for the seat but decided to go ahead after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which took place as she was working aboard a Los Angeles-bound flight from Sydney, Australia.

“It made me realize that life is fragile. The time had come to stop talking about it and do it,” Kurpiewski said Tuesday. She is to make a formal announcement today.

Kurpiewski said she was angered by the $15-billion federal bailout for the airlines. “There was nothing in that bill for aviation workers who were devastated and losing their jobs,” said Kurpiewski, a flight attendant for 33 years.

She said she will back legislation aimed at protecting the United States from foreign and domestic terrorism, but is concerned that civil liberties not be trampled in the process.

Kurpiewski will sound traditional Democratic concerns on more familiar bread-and-butter issues, such as preserving Social Security, jobs and education.

“My concerns are going to be security--not just aviation security, but security of jobs, security of the environment, security of health care and our seniors. They’re being attacked in a variety of ways,” she said.

Kurpiewski, who is single, has served as legislative chair in Southern California for the Assn. of Flight Attendants, a union representing 38,000 workers. She has lobbied in support of bills to bar smoking on flights, crack down on unruly passengers and provide protection for airline workers who report safety violations.

The congressional campaign will be an uphill race. Bono, 40, was handily elected to her second full term last year over Democrat Ron Oden. Bono, the widow of Sonny Bono, took his seat in Congress in 1998 after the former pop star died in a skiing accident.

“The congresswoman’s been very successful in her legislative priorities for the 44th District in 3 1/2 years,” Bono spokesman Rusty Payne said Tuesday. “She’s won three general elections by sizable margins. Hopefully, the voters will continue to respond.”

Blessed from the start with high name recognition, Bono has established her own reputation by taking a leading role in California water issues and being active in federal efforts to clean up the polluted Salton Sea, which straddles Riverside and Imperial counties. Last year, she backed a bill authorizing $14 million for the Torres-Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians to replace tribal land that was lost when the Salton Sea was created in 1905.

Bono recently married Glenn Baxley, a businessman.