BREAKING! Debra Bowen Will Formally Announce Today She's Running For Jane Harman's Seat

And then there were two.

Today, on the same day Jane Harman officially vacated her seat in Congress, Secretary of State Debra Bowen will announce she's joining LA City Janice Hahn in the race to replace Harman.

If successful, this would be Debra Bowen's second time representing the area. Bowen was elected to represent the 53rd Assembly District in 1992 and was re-elected in 1994 and 1996 before being elected to represent the 28th Senate District in 1998. Bowen was re-elected to her second and final four-year Senate term in 2002, representing the 28th District which stretches from Venice in the north, down the coast to Redondo Beach, then east to include all or parts of Carson, San Pedro, Long Beach, and Wilmington.

During her time in the Legislature, she was best known for shepherding laws that require that all election results be audited using the paper trail produced by electronic voting machines, laws allowing people to become permanent absentee voters, and laws which unlocked the Legislature's computer files and gave computer users Internet access to information about bills, committee analyses and legislators' voting records.

Bowen was also the first California lawmaker to voluntarily put her campaign finance reports online in 1995, several years before all candidates for state office were required to do so.

In 2006, Bowen was elected as Secretary of State, only the sixth woman to be elected to state-wide constitutional office. She was elected to a second term in 2010.

The race to replace Harman is likely to a competitive one. Janice Hahn has already racked up an impressive list of endorsements, including LA Councilman Bill Rosendahl (who lives in CA-36), LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, CA Assembly Speaker John Perez and, most notably, Senator Diane Feinstein.

How these endorsements will translate into votes is unclear at this point. Bowen and Hahn aren't likely to stay the only two candidates in this race, with two-time Harman primary challenger Marcy Winograd reportedly contemplating a run, and a number of Republicans and Tea Party members also considering their options.

Governor Jerry Brown has until March 1st to set a date for a special election to fill Harman's seat. According to Janice Hahn, the primary election will likely be held on April 12, with a general election coming sometime in June.

The special election primary will be held under new "open primary" rules. Voters can select any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate gets 50% +1, the top two vote-getters will have to run against each other in a June runoff.

Will Debra Bowen Announce She's Running For Jane Harman's Congressional Seat Tomorrow?

Many indicators say "yes".

This morning, Bowen tweeted

On Saturday, Bowen publicized her "exploratory committee" website, asking for constituent input on wether she should run. And all weekend I've been hearing reports of CA-36 voters being polled via robo-call about the race. Separate reports I've received say that Bowen and her campaign manager, Park Skelton, are waiting on poll results before making an announcement on Tuesday.

Potential candidates are rarely this public about entering a race without actually following through. So I'm going to go out on a very short limb and say by this time tomorrow it's likely we'll have two official Democratic candidates competing for Jane Harman's seat, Debra Bowen and Janice Hahn.

Hahn, who announced within hours of Harman's resignation, has been busy locking up a number of high-profile endorsements, including LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Bill Rosendahl and California Assembly Speaker John Perez.

Just this morning, she received the highest-profile endorsement to date, from CA Senator Diane Feinstein. (However, this endorsement is probably a lot more about marginalizing Bowen, who has been touted repeatedly as a possible challenger to Feinstein in 2012, than it is about helping Hahn.)

Bowen has the defacto support of California progressives and California Democratic Party Chairman John Burton, who sent out an email on February 7th claiming Bowen was the only person to "officially inform" him they were running for Congress. This even though Janice Hahn had announced earlier that same day she was running. It sets off an interesting dynamic, with politicos in Sacramento and Los Angeles taking sides in a race outside their district.

How this will translate into votes inside the district is unclear. But in another race a with similar (but far from identical) dynamic, the 2010 Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, Janice Hahn beat Gavin Newsom by 9 points in CA36. This was actually lower than the spread for LA County, where she beat Newsom by 30 points.

All of this points to a very competitive race, where both candidates will have to work very hard in a very short amount of time for votes and money in an off-year election where few are paying attention.

With Harman's resignation set for tomorrow, Governor Jerry Brown has until March 1st to set a date for a special election to fill Harman's seat. According to Janice Hahn, the primary election will likely be held on April 12, with a general election coming sometime in June.

The special election primary will be held under new "open primary" rules. Voters can select any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate gets 50% +1, the top two vote-getters will have to run against each other in a June runoff.

Don't Forget To Vote For Ted Lieu for State Senate Tomorrow!

Former 53rd AD Assemblymember Ted Lieu is running in the February 15 special election (TOMORROW!!!) to fill Jenny Oropeza's Senate District seat.

The big push is to get Ted elected by 50% plus one so that he wins outright and we don't need to go through a April 19 run-off election. This save tax payers' money, and most importantly, gets Ted in the State Senate working immediately on the issues that matter most to us.

Go out and vote, and bring a friend! If you haven't turned in your absentee ballot yet, just bring it to your polling place and drop it off. To find out where your polling place is, click on this link to find out!

Debra Bowen Takes One Step Closer To Entering CA36 Race, Assembly Speaker Perez Endorses Hahn

Late last night, Secretary of State Debra Bowen came one step closer to running for Congress. On Twitter, she invited voters to visit her "exploratory committee" page, where visitors saw this message:

I know the 36th Congressional District well: It includes my home, as well as most of the people I represented during my time in the California State Legislature. So I'm very seriously weighing whether I should run for Congress.

It’s a big decision. I’m thinking carefully about it, talking it over with my family, friends, and supporters, and I certainly want to know what longtime friends and supporters like you think, too.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your thoughts with me

So far, the only declared candidate to fill Jane Harman's seat is Janice Hahn, who announced her candidacy within hours of Harman's resignation. Hahn has already amassed a number of high-profile endorsements so far, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and California Assembly Speaker John Perez.

“Janice Hahn is a local leader who will go to Washington and fight for California, and create even more jobs. In just six days she has built a lot of momentum and is clearly taking the lead, receiving overwhelming support from local elected officials, community leaders and labor groups, and I am happy to be a part of her team,” said Speaker Perez in a press release distributed by Hahn's campaign.

Hahn is reported to have said a primary election would likely happen on April 12, only 10 weeks away. A number of local leaders and bloggers (including myself) have been approached by Hahn for an endorsement, but have so far withheld publicly supporting any candidate, waiting to see who else gets into the race.

To get an idea of what a Hahn/Bowen matchup might look like, it's instructive to look at this map showing how the district voted in 2010 in the Hahn/Newsom race for Lt. Governor.

YES THEY DID!

Leaderless, compelled by - but by no means determined by - social media, the Egyptian people rose up and smacked down a dictator who held their country in an iron grip for 30 years.

“I’ve worked my whole life to see the power of the people come to the fore,” activist Rabab Al Mahdi told Al Jazeera through tears. “I never thought I would be alive to see it. It’s not just about Mubarak. It’s a protest that brought about the people’s power to bring about the change that no one, no one thought was possible.”

It's impossible to know what will happen next, but one thing can be known with absolute certainty.

Now the real work begins.

Jane Harman To Resign Weeks Earlier Than Expected, Special Election To Be Held April 12, According To Janice Hahn

The LA Times is reporting tonight that Rep. Jane Harman will be resigning her seat two weeks earlier than expected after conversations with Gov. Jerry Brown regarding the timing of a special election to fill the vacancy.

Retiring Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) said Thursday that she would resign her House seat Tuesday to allow for a special election to replace her in early June.

Harman, who has been criticized for accepting a job with a Washington think tank so soon after winning reelection in November, said she wants to make the election "as inexpensive and as convenient for voters as possible" by allowing it to be held the same time as a potential statewide election on taxes.

She said she has had two conversations with Gov. Jerry Brown about the timing of her resignation. Once her seat is vacant, Brown can call a special election to be held within a specific time frame. He is hoping to ask voters in June to extend several expiring tax increases to help the state out of its budget deficit.

Also being reported tonight, the special election primary will "likely" be held April 12, according Janice Hahn, the only candidate to formally enter the race so far.

With Harman's resignation set for February 15, Governor Jerry Brown has until March 1st to set a date for a special election to fill Harman's seat. According to California election law, the election must be held between 112 and 126 days after the seat becomes vacant.

June 7th, at 112 days out, is a likely election date for the probable run-off, since it will coincide with the special state-wide initiative election Brown wants to call.

The special election primary will be held under new "open primary" rules. Voters can select any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate gets 50% +1, the top two vote-getters will have to run against each other in a June runoff.

Jane Harman Makes Resignation Official, Gives Two Weeks Notice

Yesterday, Representative Jane Harman announced her intention to resign from Congress to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Today, she made it official.

Rep. Jane Harman gave more than her two weeks’ notice Tuesday when she confirmed her decision to leave the House of Representatives for a think tank, ending her 16-year career as a leading centrist force on Capitol Hill.

Harman was officially offered and accepted the job of president, CEO and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars said at a press conference Tuesday morning. She plans to start work there on Feb. 28.

“Serving in Congress for over eight terms has been an enormous honor for me,” the Southern California Democrat said. “I often say I represent the smartest constituents on the planet, certainly the best congressional district, and I have assembled over the years what I call Team Harman, a group of staffers that is unequaled in — in the House. And it is very hard for me to leave my constituents, my staffers and my colleagues on a bipartisan basis.”

In an interview on MSNBC, Harman said the job materialized only after she was reelected to an eighth term in November. “After the election, after I was reelected by a large margin as moderate, which was a rare occurrence in the last election, the search committee came to me and I spoke to them in mid-to-late December about this opportunity,” she said.

Harman’s decision to leave was not driven by changes on the Hill, she said. Being in “the majority is better,” Harman admitted, “but I’ve felt that I was very productive in the minority.”

When asked if she would endorse a successor for her seat, Harman only said she wouldn't do so before she left Congress.

LA Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who is closely aligned with Harman and who attended the recent State Of The Union speech at Harman's invitation, has officially entered the race. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is widely reported to be seriously considering a run, as is Marcy Winograd, who twice challenged Harman in the Democratic primary.

Mattie Fein, the Republican candidate who lost to Harman in November, 60% to 35%, said she might run again as well.

Governor Jerry Brown has until March 14th to set a date for a special election to fill Harman's seat. The election must be held between 112 and 126 days after the seat becomes vacant.

The special election will be held under new "open primary" rules. Voters can select any candidate, regardless of party affiliation. If no candidate gets 50% +1,  the top two vote-getters will have to run against each other in a runoff.

BREAKING! CDP Chairman Says Debra Bowen Is The Only Candidate to "Officially Inform" The Party She Is Running For Jane Harman's Seat

Things just got a whole lot more interesting in CD36. This email just came in from John Burton, Chairman of the California Democratic Party.

Earlier today we learned that U.S. Representative Jane Harman (D-Venice) will be resigning from the House of Representatives in order to lead the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.

For almost two decades, Representative Harman has served the people of the 36th congressional district where she will be remembered as an advocate for her district and a strong voice in foreign policy. We wish her well in her new endeavor.

As of the sending of this email, the only candidate that has officially informed the California Democratic Party that they are running in the 36th congressional district is Debra Bowen. Bowen has been our Secretary of State since 2007 and she is a former State Senator and State Assemblymember from the area.

The date of the special election has not been set but as we learn more – and as any other candidates inform the Party they intend to run – we will keep you updated.

Peace and friendship,

John Burton,
Chair
California Democratic Party

Bowen has made no official announcement yet, but she does have a newly-activated Act Blue page for donations.

Winograd Says She "May Run" For Harman's Seat, Dings Janice Hahn For Supporting Israel (UPDATED)

From Politico.com

Jane Harman's retirement plans has raised the prospect that her left-wing 2008 primary challenger, Marcy Winograd, could capture the seat in a liberal California district.

One possible hitch: Winograd, a Democrat tells POLITICO, has considered leaving the party all together.

"We were informed by a colleague of Marcy's last evening that she intended to register as 'decline to state,'" said Los Angeles Democratic Party chairman Eric Bauman, referring to the state's registration for independent voters.

Winograd tells me she hasn't yet left the party: "I'm still a Democrat," she said. "I had been considering registering as a decline to state because there are a lot of people who long for independent voice, and I have always opposed the perpetual war policies of Republicans and Democrats."

Of running for the Harman seat, she said: "I'm weighting my options. I may run."

She also said one candidate, City Councilman Janice Hahn, had already called to ask her endorsement, but that she'd been putten off when her question to Hahn about Israel drew "a knee jerk repsonse that 'I'm a friend of Israel,'" which signaled to Winograd that if Hahn's elected, "we will once again have representative who is not an independent voice." She said she was waiting to see if another candidate Debra Bowen, would run.

Winograd no longer resides in CD36, and has reportedly re-registered to vote in Henry Waxman's district.

UPDATE 2/8: This morning Winograd issued a press release more or less confirming the Politico report.

‘Will you run again?’

‘I am exploring the possibility,’ I told them, adding that I live in Santa Monica now, less than a mile outside of the district that hugs the coast from Venice to San Pedro. In 2010, just months ago, the Winograd for Congress campaign mobilized 41% of the vote in a primary challenge to Harman. It was exhilarating, daunting, inspiring, and eye-opening as I precinct walked from one end of the district to the other.

Most of the support came from the northern end of the district, from Venice and Mar Vista, but we enjoyed significant inroads in the working class union strongholds of Wilmington and San Pedro.

I barely had time to digest the political possibilities before running back to class, to my South LA high school students, some of them dressed in military fatigues, where we would read Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic’s essay, “Breaking the Silence of the Night,’ a passionate account of Kovic’s transformation from blind follower to critical thinker and anti-war leader.

Winograd also stated she had yet to meet or talk with Debra Bowen, the other potential high-profile candidate besides Janice Hahn, but that she would make a decision on whether or not to run based on that meeting.

Janice Hahn Confirms She Will Run For Harman's Seat, Debra Bowen Is "Seriously Thinking About It" UPDATED

From Politico.com

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn intends to run for Democratic Rep. Jane Harman’s House seat when Harman resigns this week, according to a source familiar with Hahn’s plans.

Hahn is a member of a prominent Los Angeles political family: Her father, Kenneth Hahn, was a Los Angeles County supervisor known for his support for the civil rights movement, and her brother James was mayor from 2001 to 2005. She ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor last year, but came in second to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Janice Hahn is one of at least two Democrats with statewide profiles who are eyeing Harman’s district. The other is California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, whose campaign consultant told the Sacramento Bee is considering the race “very, very seriously.”

Secretary of State Debra Bowen confirmed on Twitter, she's "seriously thinking" of running for the seat as well, but has made no formal announcement.

Marcy Winograd, Jane Harman's primary opponent  in 2006 and 2010, left the district and has reportedly registered in Henry Waxman's district.

Janice Hahn's official statement:

LOS ANGELES, CA - Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn today announces the start of her campaign for California’s 36th Congressional District, which is being vacated by Congresswoman Jane Harman in March.

“It has been an honor to work closely with Congresswoman Harman over the past decade on a variety of important efforts to create jobs and improve security at LAX and the port. Her leadership will be missed,” said Hahn.

“I’m running for Congress to create new jobs, expand clean energy technologies and ensure that local small business owners get the help and opportunities they need to flourish in a global economy,” said Hahn.

“As someone who has served in local government for almost a decade, I want to bring that perspective and experience to Congress. It’s time we end the corporate tax giveaways to multinational corporations that send jobs overseas and invest those dollars in businesses that create jobs here at home. We need to invest in a clean-energy economy and there’s no better place to start than right here in the 36th Congressional District.”

Councilwoman Hahn currently represents a significant portion of the South Bay on the Los Angeles City Council. Most significantly, she serves as the Chair of the Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee, which oversees the Port of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles International Airport and the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Port and Airport have enormous implications for residents of the 36th District in terms of economic revitalization and job creation.

“I plan to work hard to win this seat. I am ready to run and ready to serve the people of the 36th District,” added the Councilwoman.

Councilwoman Hahn, 58 years old, is a Democrat and resides in San Pedro, a Los Angeles community in the 36th Congressional District. Hahn’s public service runs in the family: her father is former Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, and her brother is former Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn. Hahn was the Democratic nominee for the 36th Congressional District in 1998, when Harman left office to run for Governor.

BREAKING! Jane Harman To Resign From Congress (updated)

Rep. Jane Harman (D, a nine-term incumbent for the South Bay, announced today she will be resigning her seat.

Earlier today, I filed paperwork notifying the House of Representatives that I am in discussions to succeed former Rep. Lee Hamilton as President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. I send this note because a decision is imminent and I wanted you to hear the news from me first.

This is an excruciating decision because the distinction of representing the smartest constituents on earth will never be surpassed – nor will my relationships with my exceptional staff and colleagues in Congress. But shaping and leading the Wilson Center is a thrilling new challenge.

The news came as a surprise to both her constituents and fellow Democratic lawmakers in Congress, many of whom first learned of it from an MSNBC report.

According to the California election code, a special primary election to fill the vacancy will have to happen between 112 and 126 days from Harman's resignation. The election will be held under the new "open primary" system, where the two top vote-getters, irregardless of party affiliation,  will advance to the general election. The general election has to be completed within 180 days of the vacancy.

Although Harman faced two tough primary challenges from progressive Marcy Winograd, it is widely expected LA Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who unsuccessfully ran for Lt. Governor in 2010, will emerge the front-runner in any special election.





UPDATE: Debra Bowen is reportedly eyeing Harman's congressional seat as well.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen is considering running for the congressional seat expected to be vacated by Democratic Rep. Jane Harman.

"She is very, very seriously considering running for Congress," Bowen campaign consultant Steve Barkan said. "It's brand new news, and so she needs to take all factors into consideration."

Bowen herself  confirmed this in a Twitter post.


Harman's full statement below.

Earlier today, I filed paperwork notifying the House of Representatives that I am in discussions to succeed former Rep. Lee Hamilton as President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. I send this note because a decision is imminent and I wanted you to hear the news from me first.

This is an excruciating decision because the distinction of representing the smartest constituents on earth will never be surpassed – nor will my relationships with my exceptional staff and colleagues in Congress. But shaping and leading the Wilson Center is a thrilling new challenge.

I have always believed that the best solutions to tough problems require a bipartisan approach, and bipartisanship is the Center’s “brand.” Serving at its helm provides unique opportunities to involve the House and Senate, top experts, and world leaders in “great debates” about the most pressing foreign and domestic policy matters.

Should this opportunity come to pass, I would be required to resign my seat. But please know that I would remain in Congress for some weeks and do everything possible to ensure an orderly transition to whomever is elected to succeed me. Sidney and I will always retain our residence in Venice, be home frequently, and stay engaged at USC and active in the community.

You have elected me to nine terms in Congress – an honor without equal. I hope you understand how truly grateful I am for your friendship and support.

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