Special election for L.A.-Ventura counties Assembly seat Tuesday

A white bichon frise named Lambchop and a mutt named Coffee wait for owner Claudia Kunin as she votes in a Los Angeles election earlier this year. On Tuesday voters in an Assembly district largely in the San Fernando Valley will cast ballots in a special election.

By Patrick McGreevy

Nov. 19, 2013 12 AM PT

A special election is being held today for a state Assembly seat mostly in Los Angeles County that was vacated when Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills) was elected to the L.A. City Council.

The runoff election in the 45^th Assembly District pits Republican Susan Shelley against Democrat Matt Dababneh.

Shelley, 54, is an author and publisher from Woodland Hills.

Dababneh, 32, is a chief deputy to Rep. Brad Sherman and lives in Encino.

The Assembly district includes Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Northridge, Winnetka and Woodland Hills in Los Angeles County and Bell Canyon in Ventura County. The district’s voter registration is heavily Democratic.

If Dababneh wins, it would restore a Democratic supermajority in the state Assembly.

The Democrats already have a supermajority in the Senate.

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patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com