Potential successors line up
Many are expected to vie in a tough race to replace Waxman
The sudden retirement of Rep. Henry A. Waxman set off a land rush Thursday of politicians and other prospects eyeing an exceedingly rare shot at an open congressional seat in one of the most aff luent, strongly Democratic redoubts in the country.
By the end of the day — amid all the pent-up ambition — more than half a dozen were considering a run to replace Waxman in what promises to be an expensive, crowded and highly competitive free-for-all.
“This is the type of seat that opens up once every generation, and if you’re elected you’ve got a lifetime job, as long as you don’t get caught up in scandal,” said Allan Hoffenblum, a former Republican strategist who competed against Waxman and his powerful Democratic operation and now publishes the California Target Book, a nonpartisan guide to state elections.
Former Los Angeles city controller and mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel said Thursday that she would seek the seat. Other potential candidates were state Sens. Ted Lieu of Torrance and Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills and Assemblyman Richard Bloom of Santa Monica; Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a former South Bay lawmaker; local radio host Matt Miller; women’s rights activist Sandra Fluke — all Democrats — and Manhattan Beach
businessman Bill Bloomfield, an independent and former Republican who spent $7 million of his own money in an unsuccessful 2012 race against Waxman.
Even before the congressman’s announcement that his 20th term would his last, two other political independents had stated their plans to run: Brent Roske, a television producer and director, and Marianne Williamson, the author of several self-help books.
Amid Thursday’s swirl of rumors and speculation, with fresh names surfacing almost hourly, a few prospects took themselves out of the race.
Sheila Kuehl, a former state senator and assemblywoman who represented the Westside and the Valley, and Bobby Shriver, a former mayor of Santa Monica and nephew of President Kennedy, both said they would continue their campaigns for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
The retiring supervisor they aim to replace, Zev Yaroslavsky, did not explicitly rule out a try for Waxman’s seat but made it seem highly unlikely. “My first reaction is [that] to be a [congressional] freshman at the age of 65 is not something I’ve longed to do all my life,” Yaroslavsky said.
Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley of Oak Park, facing a tough reelection fight in her more Republicanleaning district, sought to quash the notion she would move back to Santa Monica and try for Waxman’s seat. “It is a great honor to represent Ventura County in Congress,” Brownley said in a statement, “and I hope to be able to do so for many years to come.”
Strongly Democratic by registration, California’s 33rd Congressional District stretches along the coast from Malibu to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, taking in the wealthy hubs of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. It is home to Hollywood moguls and celebrities as well as some of the biggest donors in the Democratic Party, a fundraising base that Waxman used to great political advantage, as could, presumably, his successor.
But even before his election to Congress, Waxman was a political power, a partner in the “Berman-Waxman machine” that f lexed its muscles for more than two decades from a base on Los Angeles’ Westside.
Grooming candidates for positions from city councils to the state Legislature to Capitol Hill, Waxman, former Rep. Howard L. Berman and their team of campaign operatives were innovators in voter persuasion, the use of targeted mail and the bundling of campaign cash. Berman’s brother, Mi- chael, managed Waxman’s first campaign — a 1968 upset election to the state Assembly — and for years played a major role in the drawing of California’s political boundaries.
The power of the machine waned, however, as demographics changed, modern technology surpassed their creativity, and the principals increasingly lost interest in local politics, turning their focus to national and international affairs. In the ultimate blow, Berman lost his seat in Congress in a fratricidal 2012 race against a fellow Democrat, Brad Sherman.
Thursday’s announcement represented another shudder in a seismic shift in the local political landscape; Waxman’s seat is suddenly available at the same time there is a rare opening on the five-member Board of Supervisors as well as an open- seat race for county sheriff.
On the state level, after years of stasis California is suddenly teeming with congressional competition. Only a single House seat traded partisan hands from 2000 to 2010. But this year alone there are more than half a dozen races that could produce a switch.
The change results from two factors: the redrawing of political boundaries by a nonpartisan commission after the 2010 census, which made many districts more competitive, and rules allowing the top two primary voter-getters to advance to a November runoff, regardless of party.
In 2012, the first test of newly drawn districts and the top-two system, Waxman faced his first serious challenge in years. Running as an independent, Bloomfield won 46% of the vote and forced Waxman to devote more time to his own race and less effort to helping Berman, his decades-old friend and political ally.
Bloomfield said he was considering another run for Waxman’s seat.
“We’re leaning toward running,” Bloomfield said in an interview.
Lieu came close to revealing his plans.
“Today and for decades to come we will honor Congress member Waxman,” the state senator said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon. “Tomorrow I will make a formal announcement regarding my intentions.”