Assembly Race Focuses on a Familiar Face

As Nate Holden marched in the Kingdom Day Parade in South Los Angeles last month, the former Los Angeles city councilman stopped every few blocks to perform one-arm push-ups, much to the delight of the crowd.

The stunt was vintage Holden, his colorful way of telling voters that, at 74, he’s not too old to make another run for political office -- this time for a state Assembly seat.

“I am strong and I am ready,” Holden said later. “Nobody can say anything other than I am fit to do the job.”

But others, including his political competitors, say Holden is about to see the parade pass him by.

“Nate Holden represents the old school, the old way of doing things,” said attorney Rickey Ivie, one of five Democratic candidates competing in Tuesday’s primary to succeed Assemblyman Herb Wesson, who is leaving office because of term limits.

Holden was first elected to public office 30 years ago, when he captured a state Senate seat. He served 16 years on the City Council before term limits forced him to step down last year. By contrast, all of his rivals in the primary are making their first runs for public office.

In addition to Ivie, the newcomers seeking to represent the predominantly Democratic 47th Assembly District -- which covers much of Southwest Los Angeles, Culver City and a swath of Los Angeles from Mid-City to Westwood -- are community organization director Karen Bass, Cal State Fullerton political science professor Richard P. Groper and advertising professor David A. Cooper.

The Democrat who receives the most votes will go on to the November general election to face Republican Dale V. Everett and Libertarian Peter “Pedro” De Baets, who are unopposed for their party’s nominations.

With the primary just days away, Ivie, Holden and Bass have each raised more than $200,000, although $100,000 of Holden’s war chest is a loan from his personal account. Bass has received much of her money from organized labor, while Ivie has received financial support from attorneys and business and political leaders.

Even as Holden seeks to extend his political career, the pugnacious former boxer has seen many of his traditional allies abandon him in favor of his competitors.

Wesson once worked as a deputy for Councilman Holden but has endorsed Ivie in the race. Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard J. Parks and Mayor James K. Hahn, both of whom have been close allies of Holden, have also backed the 52-year-old Ivie.

In the meantime, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has supported Holden in the past for the council, has endorsed Bass and plans to wage a $200,000 independent campaign to get her elected.

Wesson said he had decided to back Ivie because he believed that the attorney had the intellect and dynamic personality to become an effective state legislator. In Sacramento, “in order to succeed, you have to build consensus,” said Wesson, a former Assembly speaker.

With California facing a $14-billion budget gap, the candidates have spent much of their time debating who has the leadership skills and ideas to fix the state’s financial problems.

All the Democratic candidates but Holden support Proposition 57, which would authorize $15 billion in borrowing to cover the state’s deficit. “It’s the easy way out,” Holden said.

But Bass, a 50-year-old resident of Baldwin Vista, said she feared that money for schools and other vital programs would be slashed if voters didn’t approve the measure next week. The longer-term solution, she said, should include plugging corporate tax loopholes and imposing higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

Bass has gone up against the alcohol industry before. A physician’s assistant who teaches health communications at the USC School of Medicine, she is also executive director of the Community Coalition, which led efforts after the 1992 riots to prevent the rebuilding of liquor stores in South Los Angeles and elsewhere.

Ivie, a Ladera Heights resident, has criticized the large amount of money that labor organizations are spending to support Bass, saying it makes her obligated to a special interest.

A partner in a general-practice law firm, Ivie says he has the government experience necessary to get things done in Sacramento. He cites his service on the county Insurance Commission and six years managing advisory commissions that provided Wesson with input on a variety of issues, including public safety.

To fix the current budget mess, Ivie supports taxes on casinos, cigarettes and alcohol.

Groper, 37, said his job -- teaching California government at Cal State Fullerton -- gives him a unique understanding of the state’s problems.

A resident of the Pico-Robertson area, he supports a tax on Indian casinos and a small increase in the sales tax as a temporary measure to get the state budget back in balance. He also said fat must be trimmed from the budget.

“We have to clamp down on administrative waste,” Groper said.

Holden, who lives in Baldwin Hills, has emphasized his long career of public service. As a four-term councilman, he focused on quality-of-life issues, fighting for funds to fix potholes and paint over graffiti. He also pushed for more police services and laws allowing the eviction of drug dealers.

He was brash and combative, with a flair for the dramatic. During his unsuccessful 1989 run for mayor, for example, Holden held up an AK-47 to publicize his offer to pay $300 for every Uzi and assault rifle turned in to his office, a move that captured national media attention.

He was also fined three times for campaign finance violations. A recent mailer sponsored by the Consumer Attorneys Assn. of Los Angeles urged voters to reject Holden because of the ethics issues. Ivie is a member of the association.

Holden said that any violations had involved inadvertent errors by his bookkeeper and that he was challenging one of the cases in court.