Political colleagues become rivals

Mervyn Dymally, Jerome Horton and Roderick Wright have all burnished their political reputations in the gilded chambers of the state Assembly.

Their Los Angeles County constituencies have overlapped. On many issues, the three Democrats’ voting records have been identical. They have sat together at political rallies and legislative hearings.

Now they are battling one another for a single seat in the state Senate in a game of musical chairs triggered by term limits. “I’d prefer that we didn’t have to compete,” said Horton, whose six years in the Assembly overlapped the tenures of Dymally, who is still serving, and Wright, whose term ended in 2002. “We are friends,” Wright said.

Things might have been different if voters had changed term limits by passing Proposition 93 on the Feb. 5 ballot. But the measure failed.

Partisan candidates for the June 3 primary election in districts where the incumbent is termed out have until 5 p.m. today to file their papers. That deadline also applies in races where the incumbent is seeking reelection. In other districts, where the incumbent can seek reelection but does not, the deadline is Wednesday. But so far there are nearly three dozen wide-open legislative races with political veterans -- many of them recent allies -- competing against one another.

A quarter of state Senate districts and 30% of the Assembly’s will have no incumbent in the primary. That means an election “more vibrant” and “a lot less predictable” than it might have been otherwise, said Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles).

Because the state’s lawmakers have created voting districts that lean heavily Democratic or Republican, candidates who win the dominant party’s primary are often shoo-ins in the November general election.

Dymally et al are lining up in a mostly Democratic district in the Inglewood area, where incumbent Sen. Edward Vincent is being forced out by term limits. Dymally must leave the Assembly this year for the same reason. Another Southern California contest features Assemblyman Lloyd Levine of Van Nuys running against former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills, two Democrats running for the Senate seat now held by Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica.

In a San Gabriel Valley district drawn to favor Republicans, there is a race to replace termed-out Sen. Bob Margett. Potential GOP contenders include Assemblyman Bob Huff of Diamond Bar and former Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy of Monrovia.

To the north, Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco cannot run again for the lower house, so he is challenging state Sen. Carole Migden, also of San Francisco, for her safely Democratic seat in the upper house. Former Assemblyman Joe Nation, a Democrat from Sonoma whose term ended in 2006, will also be vying for the nomination.

In a reversal from the days when the three collaborated on bills, the contest has turned nasty, with Leno filing a formal complaint against Migden alleging campaign finance misdeeds. In the past, the trio co-wrote legislation to combat global warming. And Leno and Migden have worked side by side on gay-rights bills.

A fourth candidate in Migden’s district is attorney Joe Alioto Veronese, who said voters are looking for a change from the “career politicians” he is up against. “I am not the establishment,” said Veronese, a Democrat and the grandson of former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.

In another race among Bay Area Democrats, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock of Berkeley and former Assemblywoman Wilma Chan of Alameda are squaring off in a bid to succeed Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of Oakland. Perata must leave the Senate at the end of the year.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Ackerman (R-Irvine) is being forced out as well. Candidates in his heavily Republican Orange County district include Assemblywoman Mimi Walters of Laguna Beach and Anaheim City Councilman Harry Sidhu.

In some districts, voter registration is more evenly distributed between Republicans and Democrats, making elections more competitive. Contests in these areas may be fought fiercely in November.

That is the case in the district represented by Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) whose 20 years in the Legislature are coming to an end this year because of term limits. His district stretches from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita, including the communities of Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo, Ventura and Ojai.

The June election will feature two former Assembly members, Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Santa Barbara resident seeking the Democratic nod, and Tony Strickland of Moorpark on the Republican side.

No rival to Strickland has emerged, and a single potential contender on the Democratic side dropped out when Jackson jumped in. So the real matchup may be in November if, as expected, Jackson and Strickland prevail in June.

While term limits have turned many Senate races into contests among old hands, the Assembly provides opportunity for first-timers. The Democratic race to replace outgoing Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez of Los Angeles features newcomers to elective office seen by many as proxies for political veterans.

Nunez is pushing for his district director, Ricardo Lara. Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) is backing his district director, Arturo Chavez. A third candidate, John Perez, is political director of the United Food and Commercial Workers union and a cousin of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who appointed Perez to the city Redevelopment Commission (Perez stepped down last month).

With 63% of the district’s voters registered as Democrats, the winner in June is expected to also carry the November general election.

In the San Fernando Valley, the contest to replace the termed-out Levine, Democrat from Van Nuys, has also drawn candidates backed by more powerful mentors. Candidates in his Democrat-dominated district include Levine’s former chief of staff, Stuart Waldman; Laurette Healey, a former advisor to the state controller; and Robert Blumenfield, district director for U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village).

Levine’s father, political consultant Larry Levine, is managing Blumenfield’s race. Last spring, Lloyd Levine asked Waldman not to throw his hat in the ring and instead help Levine campaign for a state Senate race.

Waldman refused and was let go by Levine in May. Levine then switched his endorsement from Waldman to Blumenfield, and Berman endorsed Levine in his Senate run.

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patrick.mcgreevy @latimes.com

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Times staff writer Nancy Vogel contributed to this report.