Oy. This is going to be a long election.

A couple of days ago rumors started circulating around the interwebs that CA36 Congressional candidate Debra Bowen was against marriage equality. Things came to a head on Monday when Chad Molnar, Councilman Bill Rosendahl’s LAX-Community Liaison  and one-time staffer to Congresswoman Jane Harman, posted this comment on Venice Patch.

Yesterday, Bowen’s campaign released a statement to correct the record.

Bowen’s campaign said Tuesday that information listed on Project Vote Smart’s 2002 National Political Awareness Test is incorrect. Campaign spokesman Steve Barkan said her record and actions put her firmly in the camp of those in favor of same-sex marriage.

As a state senator, Bowen twice vote in favor of same-sex marriage: in 2004 on Assembly Joint Resolution 85, which opposed the federal marriage amendment, and in 2005 on Assembly Bill 849, which would allow same-sex couples to marry in California.

Bowen has even officiated some same-sex marriages, including the wedding of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Zeke Zeidler and his husband Jay Kohorn, Barkan said.

Montana-based Project Vote Smart sends its National Political Awareness Test – now known as the Political Courage Test – to candidates in state legislative, congressional, gubernatorial and presidential races, asking for their views on a variety of issues, including hot-button topics such as abortion and gun control.

In 2002, Bowen was running for re-election for a state Senate seat and filled out the survey. She was elected as Secretary of State in 2006, after being term limited out of the state Senate.

Project Vote Smart national director Kristen Vicedomini said her organization sends the surveys to candidates, who fill them out and return them. In some instances a campaign worker or representative can fill out the survey, but the candidate herself must sign off on it. Three different Project Vote Smart employees check the information before putting it online.

Barkan said he doesn’t know how it came to be that Bowen’s 2002 survey said she was against gay marriage.

“It could’ve been an error on the part of her. She didn’t have a campaign staff in 2002. … More likely it was an error by a volunteer,” Barkan said. “What’s more important is her record.”

Gay rights organization Equality California, which has put out a legislative scorecard every year since 2004, has given Bowen consistently high marks for voting in favor of gay-friendly legislation as a state senator. In 2004 and 2005 she had a 100 percent rating, and in 2006 she scored 93 percent.

“She voted for the marriage bill in California and has been a strong and vocal supporter of marriage equality,” Equality California spokesman Vaishalee Raja wrote in an e-mail.

Vicedomini said Project Vote Smart allows candidates to update their answers if their positions have changed, but since Bowen’s survey is from 2002, “it’s a little bit past the window to update that.”

Bowen also responded directly to the concerns on a local listserve.

This issue is very personal to me – I have long told people that I am an automatic aye on any civil rights issue, and if voters don’t like that, they will have to find another rep. I have no room for compromise on this issue. I’ve talked to new members about finding their own such bottom line issues. This is one of my key no-room-for-negotiation bottom lines.

Apparently, none of this satisfied Mr. Molnar, who posted this comment on Venice Patch in response to the story.

Chad Molnar’s boss, Councilman Bill Rosendahl, was one of Janice Hahn’s first endorsements. According to Rosendahl’s city website, Molnar is:

experienced in understanding and addressing constituent concerns with large transportation hubs, having previously served as Congresswoman Jane Harman’s District Director and top advisor on issues surrounding the Port of Los Angeles.  He is a political veteran, having managed several campaigns for Congress and the state legislature.

His biography would suggest he’s worked closely with Janice Hahn, a council ally with Rosendahl’s office on many controversial LAX issues. And, of course, Hahn’s council district includes the Port of Los Angeles.

Campaign records show Molnar donated $250 to Hahn’s campaign in 2008.

Responding to inquiries at his office if he was the same Chad Molner who posted on Venice Patch, Molner had this to say.

Whatever happened to the first amendment, Marta?  I respect your right to express yourself, and you should respect mine.

In 2002, Debra said she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman.  That’s all I’ve said.  And that’s all I will say.

I am gay, and I am proud.  And I won’t let you bully me into silence.

Bill Rosendahl has declined comment for this story.

UPDATE

Chad Molner responded on Venice For Change, where this story was cross-posted:

I contacted Cory Allen, the president of the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club that Chad Molnar referenced in his original comment to Venice Patch. Mr Allen confirmed that Bowen wasn’t present for the endorsement meeting, but disputed the characterization that Bowen “snubbed” Lambda.

Allen said officers from the club had attempted to contact Bowen through Facebook and the candidate’s website, but was not able to get a hold of her in time for the meeting.

Although Long Beach Lambda ultimately endorsed Janice Hahn, Allen believes Debra Bowen is a strong supporter of equal rights.

“It’s clear she’s an ally for our community.”

The Hermosa Beach Patch is reporting this morning that Kit Bobko, a Republican serving his second term on the Hermosa Beach City Council, will throw his hat in the ring to replace Jane Harman in CA36

Bobko, 41, now joins Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and City Attorney Mike Webb as Republican candidates in the race to fill Harman’s seat…..

“I’m going to Washington to take on the establishment politicians who think we can borrow and spend our way to growth,” Bobko said in a statement Sunday.

Bobko, who has lived in Hermosa Beach for 11 years and serves as a litigation partner at a Los Angeles law firm, hopes to appeal to voters by touting a fiscal conservative message and promising to fight on taxpayers’ behalf.

“Folks don’t want more expensive government programs or more red tape, and they certainly don’t want more taxes,” Bobko said. “What people tell me is that they want the bureaucrats and politicians to get out of their way so they can grow their business, keep more of the money they earn, and save for their families.”

During Bobko’s terms on City Council, he has been outspoken about public pension reform and serves on the Business License Tax Review Committee. He is also proud that the city hasn’t faced a deficit during his tenure, he said.

Bobko’s announcement is good news for the two Democratic frontrunners in the race, Debra Bowen and Janice Hahn. Since it’s unlikely that any candidate will get the 50% +1 they’ll need to win the first round of voting outright, a crowded Republican field will dilute vote totals for conservatives and help Bowen and Hahn emerge as the top-two vote-getters, allowing them to advance to the general election.

No election date has been set yet. Gov. Jerry Brown has until March 14 to announce the date of the special election will be held.

When it comes to Measure O, the ballot initiative to tax oil taken from within LA City limits, Janice Hahn was for it before she was against it before she was for it.

Responding to reports in Venice For Change and also at Calitics , Janice Hahn is apparently trying to rewrite history in regards to Measure O, the oil severance tax she opposed putting before voters for the March 8th special election.

The City Maven wesbsite is  reporting tonight  that Hahn is once more reversing her position on Measure O, releasing a statement in support.

“I’ve always supported an oil extraction tax, and I continue to support it. In fact, during my recent campaign for lieutenant governor, I proposed a statewide oil extraction fee to help fund higher education,” Hahn said. “I support Measure O. I proposed Measure O. I will vote for Measure O. I hope Measure O passes.”

Quibbling with the past, Hahn went on to say that her no vote was out of an abundance of concern regarding voter turnout.

“I supported placing Measure O on a regular election ballot where turnout and participation is higher and it would have a greater likelihood of passing. I opposed placing it on the March ballot because turnout is substantially lower and less representative of the electorate as a whole,” Hahn said.

According to City Maven a review of of the November 17th council meeting shows there was no mention of voter turnout in regards to the oil tax. At the time, Hahn was quoted as saying,

“I’ve reconsidered this and I have heard from various business groups who do feel like this might be the wrong climate to put this on the ballot. We know the oil companies are probably going to mount a massive campaign to defeat this and at the end of the day, the way we’ve structured it, really would only generate around $2 million to the city of Los Angeles. So, at this time, it is my recommendation that we don’t put this forward on the ballot.”

KCET reports that the measure is opposed by the California Independent Petroleum Association,  which has lobbied extensively to expand offshore drilling off the coast of California and in ANWAR, opposes Cap and Trade, and any limits to hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”), a controversial and dangerous means of natural gas extraction made famous by the HBO movie, “Gasland”

According the KCET, CIPA has given more than $400,000 to California candidates from 2001 to 2010. Sixty-two percent of those candidates were Republicans.

Some of Measure O’s opponents have gone on to endorse Janice Hahn in her bid to win the Congressional seat vacated by Jane Harman.

On March 8th, Los Angeles voters will have the opportunity to vote on a variety of ballot initiatives, everything from a proposal to tax medical marijuana dispensaries to a hike in property taxes to fund public libraries.

One of the most popular initiatives – Measure O, a proposal to impose an oil severance tax for oil extracted within the city limits of Los Angeles – was introduced by LA Councilwoman (and current candidate in the CA36 Congressional race) Janice Hahn. The measure is projected to bring in about $4 million in revenues annually. Neighboring cities of Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Long Beach, and Seal Beach already impose a similar tax.

Measure O is endorsed by the California Courage Campaign , the LA Conservation Corps, the Sierra Club, and other environmental organizations.

Yet a year after Hahn first proposed the idea, she now stands as the only LA City council member in opposition to the measure.

Hahn’s turnabout shines a rare spotlight inside the world of LA City politics, where interest groups often create chaos with the legislative process.

From the LA Times:

Buffeted by the competing wishes of special interests, the mayor and various civic leaders, council members repeatedly changed their minds on the ballot proposals, hastily rewriting some while killing others outright……

A separate tax on oil production was proposed by Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose harbor district has the most refineries. After representatives of those refineries complained, Hahn publicly rescinded her support on the day of the crucial vote.

Hahn’s colleagues passed it anyway, delighted to find a new source of money for the city’s cash-strapped budget.

KCET reports that the opposition is sponsored by the California Independent Petroleum Association, “a non-profit, non-partisan trade association representing approximately 450 independent crude oil and natural gas producers,” according to its website. CIPA has  lobbied extensively to expand offshore drilling off the coast of California and in ANWAR, opposes Cap and Trade, and any limits to hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”), a controversial and dangerous means of natural gas extraction made famous by the HBO movie, “Gasland”

According the KCET, CIPA has given more than $400,000 to California candidates from 2001 to 2010. Sixty-two percent of those candidates were Republicans.

Some of Measure O’s opponents have gone on to endorse Janice Hahn in her bid to win the Congressional seat vacated by Jane Harman.

Yesterday, as thousands of Angelenos began assembling in solidarity downtown at LA City hall with the workers of Wisconsin, Marcy Winograd, the latest candidate to enter the race to fill Jane Harman’s vacated congressional seat, kicked off her campaign with friends, family and about a dozen supporters on a windy sidewalk outside a Torrance, CA drugstore.

The gathering was relatively modest compared to her campaign kickoff in 2009 against then incumbent, Jane Harman.

Yesterday at the Venice Pier, Marcy Winograd announced her campaign for Congress in front of about 75-80 supporters and friends, and many leaders of the progressive activist community in Los Angeles……

Marcy gave a short speech where she emphasized her no-holds-barred progressive values and offered a true contrast to her incumbent opponent. She called for a “new New Deal” to put America back to work, announced support for John Conyers’ HR 676, questioned the continued bailout of the banks and the use of Predator drone strikes in Pakistan, argued for rapid transit and renewable energy in the Los Angeles area, and said of her primary challenge, “this will reverberate throughout the country.”

Winograd’s choice to run for CA36 has a number of progressive activists scratching their heads. With Harman out of the picture, Winograd’s candidacy no longer has the urgency of a protest campaign. And with two well-known Democrats already contesting the open seat, including Debra Bowen, California’s popular and progressive Secretary of State, Winograd has virtually no chance of surviving the first round of voting, let alone winning the seat outright.

Even though Winograd took 41% of the vote in her last primary challenge against Harman, the dynamic is far different in this race.

Under new rules approved by voters last year, the CA36 race will be the first congressional election in California run as an “open primary”. Under this system all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run against each other in a single contest. If no one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters advance to a second election. In this way, the election more closely mirrors a general election, since Republicans, Democrats and Independents can vote for any candidate.

So far there are three Democrats in the race and only one Republican – Mike Webb, the City Attorney of Redondo Beach. Since Republican candidates have in the past captured between 30%-40% of the CA36 vote in the general election, it’s far more likely that Webb (if he remains the only Republican in the race) would advance to the second round against either Hahn or Bowen, than it is for Winograd.

If Winograd herself is worried about splitting votes with the more liberal Debra Bowen and handing the election to a Republican, or to Hahn – Jane Harman’s preferred candidate – she’s not showing it.

Asked if she was worried about playing a spoiler role for Bowen, Winograd said she likes Bowen and would like to see her continue as Secretary of State.

“I have great respect for Debra Bowen,” she said. “I’m glad to see she is taking more of a leadership role on getting out of Afghanistan. That’s good. I think my entering the race plays a role in shaping the debate.”

However, progressive activists who supported Winograd in the past aren’t so sanguine, and are withholding both monetary support and endorsements, choosing instead to support Bowen

Another challenge for Winograd, who is accustomed to running against Harman, will be defining herself to voters. Both Hahn and Bowen are far to the left of Harman – neither are Blue Dog Democrats like the former congresswoman – so there’s very little substantive issues where the three differ.

The exception is Israel, an issue Winograd is quite passionate about, but her views aren’t widely shared or popular with voters. (Rep. Henry Waxman once said of her views, “in Marcy Winograd’s foreign policy, Israel would cease to exist.”)

Without Harman as a foil, it will remain to be seen if Winograd can make a case for herself with voters in 2011. Winograd and her supporters seem to understand this, because they’re doing everything they can to keep Harman a factor in the campaign.

A supporter close to Winograd’s campaign, trying to distinguish his candidate from Bowen, made this argument to activists on a local listserve,

“Bowen’s whole political career is a mirror image of Jane Harman’s record and her right-of-center races for the assembly and senate are there for all to see!”

Also posted at Venice For Change

The Pasadena Star News is reporting tonight that Santa Monica resident Marcy Winograd will officially enter the race to replace her long-time opponent Jane Harman.

Anti-war activist and progressive Democrat Marcy Winograd said Thursday that she’s planning a run for a soon-to-be-vacated South Bay congressional seat.

An official announcement is scheduled to be made at 10 a.m. Saturday at Fox Drugs, 1327 El Prado Ave. in Torrance, Winograd said.

Winograd, a Santa Monica resident, took 41 percent of the vote in last June’s 36th Congressional District primary against Rep. Jane Harman, who is expected to resign Monday to lead the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a Washington think tank.

Explaining her decision to run, Winograd said, “I feel that we need a real progressive in the race, somebody who has been advocating for a long, long time that we need to transition from a war economy to a green economy.”

As I reported earlier, Janice Hahn’s campaign apparently baited Winograd into running, hoping to split the progressive vote with Debra Bowen, a development which would benefit Hahn.

A PCCC poll released earlier this week between Bowen and Hahn put Bowen 4 points ahead. But an internal poll released by the Hahn campaign, which included Winograd, put Hahn 5 points over Bowen.

Today the folks at Hahn Campaign™ touted yet another high-profile endorsement, that of newly elected State Senator and former political rival Ted Lieu. Lieu went on to win 57% of the vote after for the seat vacated by State Senator Jenny Oropeza’s death, clearing the field for a Lieu victory.

Lieu’s is a significant endorsement since his district and CA36 share much of the same territory.

The Hahn Campaign ™has been working the phones overtime ever since she announced her candidacy two weeks ago. But what do all these endorsements mean? And why is Hahn working so hard to get them?

I’ll answer the second question first. Candidates work so hard for endorsements for several reasons. Endorsements mean money and resources. Endorsing officials and community leaders will often do so on the condition they’ll fundraise, or lend their names to fundraisers to draw participation. Organizations like unions can lend significant institutional support by putting boots on the ground to canvas and phone bank.

An impressive and extensive list of endorsements convey inferred legitimacy to a candidate. They act as “validators” for the busy voter, who might not be paying very close attention to a politician’s policies, but who sees the name of a trusted official or organization endorsing a candidate and thinks their policies and values must closely mirror their own.

Lastly, endorsements can also act as a “shock and awe” strategy, discouraging lesser-known or under-resourced candidates from entering the race, clearing the field of pesky challengers.

The Hahn Campaign ™has been working the “shock and awe” doctrine overtime. Within 24 hours of announcing her candidacy, Hahn had secured the endorsement of dozens of politicians, including the Mayor of Los Angeles and nearly the entire LA City Council. In two weeks, she’s amassed over 80 endorsements, all the way from Senator Diane Feinstein to the President of the Long Beach Democratic Club.

But what do all these endorsements really mean?

Politics.

Or, as one politician who’s name sits high on the Hahn Campaign’s ™ endorsement list told me, “Look kid, if Hahn loses, I still have to work with her. If she wins, I have a friend in congress.”

While not all the endorsements on Hahn’s website represent this kind of transactional politics, a lot of them do. Nearly every name on Hahn’s list endorsed before the other Democratic candidate, Debra Bowen,  had officially announced. The Hahn Campaign ™ was calling in favors, and they was calling them in as fast as they could.

(Full disclosure, I was contacted by Janice Hahn and asked to endorse her within hours of Harman’s resignation. I told her I wouldn’t, because I wanted to see who else would enter the race. It’s probably not hard for any of you to guess who’ll I’ll be supporting based on the Act Blue widget at the top of this blog, but more on that later.)

So my advice when analyzing endorsements in this race, especially so early on, is to ask yourself, “What does the endorser get out of this?”

Is the politican/oganization endorsing because they think that candidate would be the best one for the district, or because they owe that candidate a favor, fear repercussions if they don’t endorse or hope to do a little horse-trading in the future?

Do your homework, ask questions, then decide.

In what can only be described as a cynical and calculated move to bait Marcy Winograd into entering the CA36 Congressional race and split the progressive vote, Janice Hahn issued a press release today urging Debra Bowen to join her in a pro-Israel pledge.

The problem isn’t the pledge itself – a fairly standard boilerplate declaration that supports Israel’s right to exist, a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian peace process, and enforcing sanctions against Iran – the problem is the timing of the pledge and it’s explicit attack on Winograd.

Hahn’s press release comes on the heels of a Daily Breeze article which stirred up a hornets nest amongst progressives in the district because of this paragraph:

“I did some hard analysis about where I thought I could best serve this country and this state at this moment in history,” Bowen said. The former lawmaker said she plans to focus on improving education and strengthening jobs in the local aerospace industry while also building up the nation’s military.

Marcy Winograd in particular jumped at the quote, and forwarded her concerns to listserves throughout the district.

I thought I’d share concern expressed on the CDP Progressive Caucus list serve about a Daily Breeze report that Debra Bowen, when announcing her candidacy, indicated that she supported a military build-up. …. For me, this is code for more bomb-building, with no emphasis on transitioning aerospace into Green jobs that we desperately need. Last week I asked her if she would join the Out of Afghanistan Caucus, but never received an answer on that issue.

Bowen quickly sent out a letter to supporters in the district saying she was “stunned” to see her interview characterized as it was, and said she had called the reporter to correct the record.

I’m gravely concerned about the cost of war and the number of lives lost. I think we need a safe and rapid exit from Afghanistan, for one example, and said so very specifically in that interview. I would much rather that these resources go towards jump starting our economy, restoring excellence in our schools and providing quality job training, developing energy independence via green alternatives, improving on health care as it is implemented, and addressing the need for care for the increasing number of seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s and children with autism, diabetes, and other conditions that threaten their independence and quality of life.

Janice Hahn and her campaign manager, Joe Trippi, would love nothing more than to have Winograd run. With a credible Republican challenger now in the race – Redondo Beach City Attorney Mike Webb – a split vote between Bowen and Winograd would likely eliminate both in the first round of voting.

In the new “open primary” system the two top voter-getters would advance to a second round of voting if no one receives %50+1 of the primary vote. And that’s unlikely with a three or four-way ticket.

Cross posted at Veniceforchange.com