Janice Hahn Questions Debra Bowen's Party Loyalty One Day Before Crucial Dem Party Endorsement Vote

(full disclosure, this blog has endorsed Debra Bowen for Congress)

Less than a month after Janice Hahn's allies in City Hall conducted a whisper campaign questioning Debra Bowen's stand on marriage equality, now it's Hahn herself leading the charge.



This time questioning Bowen's loyalty to the Democratic Party.

One day before a Democratic special endorsing caucus meets to officially support a candidate in the 36th district special election, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn’s campaign is presenting her as the only true Democrat in the race. It turns out California Secretary of State Debra Bowen was once a Republican.

The Hahn campaign hinted in a press release that she is the only Democratic candidate who has never been a member of another political party as it trotted out the endorsements of four officers of the state Democratic Party.

“Janice Hahn has always been committed to Democratic values,” First Vice Chairman Alex Rooker said. State party Secretary Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer said, “there is only one candidate in this race that has always been a Democrat.”

(editor's note: Roll Call should have attributed that last quote to Sergio Carrillo.  See full text of press release below)


Debra Bowen was a registered Republican until 1984, then switched party affiliation to become a Democrat. In 1992, during her first successful run for the California Assembly, she told the LA Times she made the switch because the Republican party lacked "compassion and tolerance and respect for others." She has remained a Democrat ever since.

Observers familiar with the race aren't convinced Hahn's charge will hold up to scrutiny. "Hillary Clinton was a Goldwater girl. Janice Hahn was a Clinton delegate in 2008. Does she want to renounce that endorsement because Clinton wasn't 'always a Democrat'?", said David Dayen, a writer for FDL News who's covered California politics extensively.

Current party affiliation hasn't always been a deal breaker for Janice Hahn either. Recently she endorsed Republican Mitch Endglander in the March 8th LA City Council race.

An official California Democratic Party endorsement would be helpful to a candidate as they compete for votes in the crowded, bipartisan field. A candidate would have to garner 60% of the caucus votes to win the endorsement.  Janice Hahn is reportedly worried enough about the endorsement that she showed up unannounced on delegate's doorsteps this week hoping to sway their votes.

As she did in the Lt. Governor's race against Gavin Newsom, Janice Hahn has shown no hesitancy to go negative in this race early and fast, whether it's baiting Marcy Winograd into joining the race with the hope her candidacy would cut into Bowen's votes, or conducting whisper campaigns questioning Bowen's stand on marriage equality and party affiliation.

However Hahn's strategy may backfire. Even though party registration in this district leans Democratic, the May 17th special election runs under "open primary" rules, where voters can cast a ballot for any candidate regardless of party affiliation.  Historically, Bowen's appeal has crossed party lines, especially with pro-choice Republican women, who helped Bowen win her first Assembly race in 1992 when the district was still majority Republican.

Hahn also runs the risk of turning off Democratic voters who see Bowen as a hero for her work on election protection and government transparency.

"It just smells," said Tony Salvaggio, a registered Democrat and party delegate from Manhattan Beach, "We should be debating facts, issues, and who's better qualified for the job, not what somebody's party affiliation was 27 years ago."

Below is the text from Hahn's press release:

UPDATE: CLCV Says Hahn's "Flip-Flop-Flip" on Oil Extraction Tax Factored In Bowen Endorsement

In an interview with the LA Weekly, California League of Conservations Voters SoCal director, David Algood, expanded on his organization's decision to back Debra Bowen over her rival Janice Hahn.

"Debra has a much longer record on the environment," said David Allgood, CLCV's Southern California director. "We know her to be a leader that doesn't knuckle under to pressure from special interests."

Allgood said the League had taken note of Hahn's flip-flop-flip on the L.A. oil severance tax. She proposed the tax last fall, before changing her mind and trying to keep it off the ballot. When it went on the ballot anyway, she then supported it. (It narrowly failed.)

"One of the things we considered was the ability of somebody to put their finger in the wind and change positions that quickly," Allgood said. "For her to have one position one day and the opposite position the next -- that was a big concern."

Back on March 4th, Venice For Change ran a story about Hahn's "flip-flop-flip", on Measure O, the ballot initiative to tax oil taken from within LA City limits she was for before she was against it before she was for it.

Responding to reports in this blog and also at Calitics, Janice Hahn apparently tried 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  reported that Hahn  reversed her position again 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.

Measure O was narrowly defeated in the March 8 special election.

California League of Conservation Voters Endorses Debra Bowen For Congress

The California League of Conservation Voters, which describes itself as "the non-partisan political action arm of California's environmental movement", today  announced they were backing Debra Bowen in her bid to replace Jane Harman in CA-36.

Secretary Bowen has a long track record of expertise and leadership on the environment. During her fourteen years serving in both houses of the Legislature, Bowen authored bills to protect our coast and restrict offshore oil drilling. She also co-authored four landmark environmental laws including the first bills in California to ever address global warming, environmental justice, and create a renewable portfolio standard. She also aided Senator Alan Lowenthal with his critical legislation to clean-up pollution in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

At a time when Congress is not only lacking environmental leadership but when the majority has become downright hostile towards any attempt to protect open spaces, improve public health, and protect clean air and water, Bowen will be a needed breath of fresh air in Washington.

In fact, if protecting the environment alone was the only reason to send Secretary Bowen to Washington, it would be enough. But electing her to Congress would also add an incredibly important leader in the field of fair elections and open government. While her environmental work has been notable, Secretary Bowen’s single most important piece of legislation was arguably AB 1462, the landmark law that made all of California’s bill information available on the Internet. A voter can easily find out how his or her legislator voted on any piece of legislation because of this bill, so if you’re following any piece of legislation online as it works its way through the California Legislature at the Senate and Assembly websites, you have Debra Bowen to thank for it.

Secretary Bowen also has a record of holding corporations accountable. Bowen was chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee during the height of the infamous Enron scandal. She was one of the lawmakers leading the charge against Kenneth Lay and Enron and investigating their manipulation of the energy market. Only too recently, Massey Energy and BP ignored safety violations that caused unparalleled environmental disasters and cost lives. We need a legislator who is smart, full of integrity, and has a track record of standing up against corrupt and powerful polluters and hold them accountable. We have such a leader in Debra Bowen.

The CLCV describes it's endorsement process as rigorous.

Candidates receive the League’s endorsement the old-fashioned way: They earn it. Before each election, we conduct field research to determine candidates’ environmental records. Then we send them questionnaires, testing their views on key issues. Finally, the candidates are interviewed by a panel of the League’s staff, board members and local environmentalists.

It's interesting to note that while LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn - Bowen's main opponent in the race - lists the endorsements of "environmental leaders" on her campaign website, she has yet to earn the endorsement of any environmental organization. Her council district includes San Pedro and Wilmington, two communities in CA-36 which have struggled for decades with environmental justice issues brought on by petroleum and shipping industries.

A Note From Your Blog Mistress

Earlier I posted an item about a Janice Hahn event here in Venice. The conclusion I drew from the evidence I had was wrong. I know this because you, my faithful readers (yes, all twelve of you), let me know this in no uncertain terms.

Which brings me to this point (warning: teachable moment coming up). A blog like this is only effective if it's accurate. My goal is that you can argue with my point of view, but you can't argue with the evidence I use to back up my point of view.

To that end, I encourage my readers to keep me honest. If I ever post something you don't think is accurate, and can back your opinion up with verifiable facts, I will correct the record.

I'm not so proud that I can't admit a mistake. That's why I'm leaving the original post up, with the correction, instead of wishing it into the cornfield. As far as I'm concerned it's a win-win for everybody.

200?

A tweet about the event from one of it's co-sponsors

A photo from the actual event.

A note from a reader: Hey Marta, (my husband) and I were there and there were probably around 200 people in attendance. The photo, obviously, shows a small portion of the home where Janice spoke - not showing the other side of the LR, the patios on either side which were packed. 

Fair enough. The record stands corrected.  I was not at the event. Clearly, the conclusion I drew from the evidence I had was wrong. I know this because you, my faithful readers (yes, all twelve of you), let me know this in no uncertain terms.

Which brings me to this point (warning: teachable moment coming up). A blog like this is only effective if it's accurate. My goal is that you can argue with my point of view, but you can't argue with the evidence I use to back up my point of view.

To that end, I encourage my readers to keep me honest. If I ever post something you don't think is accurate, and can back your opinion up with verifiable facts, I will correct the record.

I'm not so proud that I can't admit a mistake. That's why I'm leaving this post up, with the correction, instead of wishing it into the cornfield. As far as I'm concerned it's a win-win for everybody.

DFA's Howard Dean Personally Endorses Debra Bowen For Congress

Last week I reported that Democracy For America,  a progressive PAC with 7,000 members in CA36 and over a million nationwide, announced they were endorsing Debra Bowen for Congress.

Today we get an idea of what kind of support that endorsement translates into with this personal appeal from DFA's founder, Governor Howard Dean. Hoping to help boost Bowen's fundraising totals before the March 31st end-of-quarter reporting deadline, Dean asks his DFA membership to contribute to the campaign's Act Blue page.

Here's the letter in it's entirety:

I rarely endorse candidates in Congressional primaries. But Secretary of State Debra Bowen is a rare kind of leader, so when I heard that Debra was running for Congress, I pledged to do everything I could to help her.

I'm proud to endorse Debra Bowen — an intelligent, humble, and passionate public servant who has the courage to stand up to the special interests, and the record to back it up. We simply can't afford to let this opportunity to send a leader like Debra to Washington pass us by.

All of Debra's campaigns have truly been "people-powered" — and this time she needs even more grassroots action.

That's why I'm asking you, right now, to make a donation toward Debra's goal of 136 grassroots donations between now and March 31 — the first end-of-quarter reporting deadline. These fundraising reports will be scoured by the press, pundits, and her opponents to see if Debra's got the support she needs to win this election.

I know you've chipped in before, and I can't thank you enough for that — but making another contribution today will go so far toward ensuring that Debra's campaign has the momentum needed to win.

Click here to contribute $25 or more toward Debra's end-of-quarter fundraising goal!

Debra is the grassroots candidate in this race, and is a hero for working families, the environment, and better government. She won the John F. Kennedy "Profile in Courage Award" for her commitment to government transparency. And she will fight for jobs in ways that are pragmatic yet progressive, working from the bottom up to re-invest in our education system, protect our social safety nets, and trim our deficit while investing in our future.

Look, I've been part of a grassroots political campaign or two. I know what it's like to come from outside the political establishment, taking on the entrenched politicians and special interests with ideas and values that work for regular working folks. Debra's got a tough fight on her hands, but it's such an important one for us to win.

Grassroots activists like you and me are the ones who need to lift Debra up. Can you do that today, by making a donation toward Debra's campaign before Thursday's first critical deadline?

Make a contribution today — and help Debra reach her goal of 136 grassroots donations by March 31!

I am so proud to join the thousands of citizens and leaders who've endorsed Debra's campaign in the 36th Congressional District. We are all so lucky that we have the opportunity to elect a leader of such character and intellect.

Let's make sure we do everything we can to seize it.

Sincerely,

Gov. Howard Dean

P.S. It's hard to overstate the importance of the coming fundraising deadline. This is the first chance we have to make a major statement about Debra's powerful grassroots support, so contribute now — and let's make sure Debra's March 31 fundraising report is a strong one!

Eighteen Candidates Meet Filing Deadline for CA-36 Congressional Race

Eighteen candidates - Six Republicans, five Democrats, one Libertarian, one Peace and Freedom and five candidates without party preference - met the deadline to file nominating papers for the May 17 special primary election ballot to replace Congresswoman Jane Harman, who resigned last month.

The candidates who filed nominating papers include the following:

DEMOCRATS
Daniel H. Adler. New media entrepreneur in Marina del Rey.
Debra Bowen. California Secretary of State.
Loraine Goodwin. Physician, teacher, arbitrator of Madera.
Janice Hahn. Los Angeles City Councilwoman.
Marcy Winograd. High school teacher and anti-war activist.

REPUBLICANS
Patrick "Kit" Bobko. Hermosa Beach City Councilman.
Stephen Eisele. Businessman and aerospace entrepreneur.
Mike Gin. Redondo Beach Mayor.
Craig Huey. Small business owner.
George Newberry. Real estate agent and retired military.
Mike Webb. Redondo Beach City Attorney.

LIBERTARIAN
Steve Collett. Certified public accountant.

PEACE and FREEDOM
Maria E. Montano. Public school teacher.

NO PARTY PREFERENCE
Matthew Roozee. Business executive, mathematician.
Michael T. Chamness. Non-profit consultant.
Katherine Pilot. Longshore office clerk.
Al Salehi. Entrepreneur.
James L. Thompson. Retired.

The list may change again if some of the candidates' nominating papers can't be verified.

The number of candidates pretty much guarantees no one candidate will succeed in winning the May 17th election outright. Under the new "top two" primary election rules, if no candidate receives 50%+1 of the votes, the top two voter-getters will advance to a July 12th election.

A Few Thoughts On Last Night's CA-36 Candidate Forum

If you missed last night's Courage Campaign candidate forum for the CA-36 congressional race with Debra Bowen, Janice Hahn, Marcy Winograd and Republican Mike Gin, you can listen by clicking on the blog radio icon below.

Listen to internet radio with CourageCampaign on Blog Talk Radio

I will leave it to greater minds than mine to pick this debate apart, but there were a couple of take-aways from it that I think are worth highlighting.

Debra Bowen:  She did a pretty good job of reminding voters that of the four, she's the only one with an actually legislative record. Wether it was AB32 - the landmark global warming law which big oil recently tried to gut with proposition 23 - or Sheila Kuehl's single-payer legislation that was twice vetoed by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenneger, Bowen was the only one who actually had experience crafting, supporting and voting for legislation to deal with a lot of the issues that are still important to the district.

Janice Hahn: In her opening statement, Hahn highlighted her work as an LA City Councilmember, including this statement, "I've balanced my budget on the LA City Council." This sounded like a deliberate - if curious - choice of words, and it makes me wonder if she's sitting on internal polls that shows some vulnerability there. Just today the LA Times ran a story on the city's $400 million  budget shortfall, and a deal Mayor Villaraigosa reached with labor unions to cut the deficit by reducing wages and benefits.

Mike Gin: I have no idea why the openly gay mayor of Redondo Beach is still a Republican - he refuted nearly every position the GOP has taken in the last decade. I actually really liked the guy.

Marcy Winograd: Can someone please tell her Jane Harman isn't in the race?

Democracy For America Endorses Debra Bowen For Congress

Howard Dean's Democracy For America, a PAC with over a million members nationwide, announced today they're endorsing Debra Bowen for Congress.

We asked DFA members where they stood in the upcoming special election for Congress and the answer couldn't have been more clear -- DFA members overwhelmingly support Debra Bowen.

Thousands of DFA members in the district voted in our member poll and 70 percent of DFA members said that we should endorse Debra. So today, I am honored to announce our endorsement of Debra Bowen for Congress.

Join the campaign today -- Volunteer to put Debra Bowen over the top in the May 17 special election.

You already know Debra Bowen. DFA members across California worked hard for a national endorsement when Debra ran for Secretary of State in 2006. Local DFA members said Debra was a strong progressive who would lead reform of California's voting system from top to bottom. Her goal was to turn California into a world leader in voter integrity and protection.

We heard you loud and clear and together we worked to make sure Debra won. And you were right, Debra has been an outstanding Secretary of State and she'll make an outstanding Congresswoman for California's 36th District.

Join DFA members across the district in supporting Debra Bowen for Congress -- Sign up to volunteer today.

Working together, we can put Debra over the top on Election Day and send a progressive leader to Congress.

In 2010, DFA endorsed Marcy Winograd in her bid against Jane Harman. This is the second independent progressive organization to make the switch. In February, Blue America announced they would be supporting Debra Bowen in the race instead of Winograd.

Courage Campaign To Hold First CA-36 Candidate Debate On Thursday, March 24.

The 700,000 member Courage Campaign will host the first candidate forum in the race to replace Former Rep. Jane Harman in California’s 36th Congressional District on Thursday, March 24th from 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. PST.

Thursday’s forum will feature four of the leading contenders in the CA-36 Special Primary Election: Democrats Debra Bowen, Janice Hahn, and Marcy Winograd as well as Republican Mike Gin. Two other Republicans, Mike Webb and Kit Bobko, were invited but declined to participate.

The forum will be conducted by phone and streamed live over the internet at www.couragecampaign.org/CA36Forum. It will be moderated by Courage Campaign Chairman and Founder Rick Jacobs, with questions coming from Courage Campaign’s more than 4,000 members within CA-36.

Questions may also be submitted at www.couragecampaign.org/CA36Forum, or by tweeting questions using the hashtag #Courage36.

Each candidate will make a one minute opening statement, followed by questions which will cover a broad range of topics including Foreign Policy, the Economy and Jobs, the Environment and Civil Rights.

The program will end with each candidate making a closing statement up to 3 minutes in length.

Vice-Chair Of The Congressional Progressive Caucus, Judy Chu, Endorses Debra Bowen For Congress

(ed note - full disclosure, Venice For Change has endorsed Debra Bowen for Congress) 

At a gathering of over a hundred grassroots supporters, campaign staff, and elected officials from throughout the CA-36 district, California Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-32) announced she was endorsing Debra Bowen for Congress.

I'm here today because we have a tremendous opportunity to elect Debra Bowen to the 36th congressional district. It's truly exciting for me. I've known her for a long time. I've known her as a state assembly member, I've known her as a state senator, I've known her as Secretary of State. I've known her as extremely intelligent, always outspoken, a true leader, someone with integrity in every seat that she's been in.

And that's why I'm so proud to say I was was the very first Congressperson to endorse Debra Bowen for Congress.

You know with Debra Bowen in this seat, you will have someone who will stand up to Wall Street. You know that she understands our coastline is a national treasure and she will do as much as she can to defend it. You know that she understands the value of education, and that we have to concentrate like a laser to make sure we get jobs in this district.

And you know as Republicans attack a woman's right to chose, Debra will be there to stand up for us.

The Bowen campaign released dozens of endorsements to the press yesterday. Besides Congresswoman Chu, State Assemblymembers Betsy Butler, Mark Leno, Gil Cedillo, Wes Chesboro, State Senators Alan Lowenthal and Fran Pavley, Hermosa Beach Mayor Howard Fishman,  as well as former Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl and former City Council watchdog Laura Chick also endorsed Bowen.

The campaign also lists scores of "citizen endorsements" from ordinary voters in CA-36. Anyone interested in adding their name to that list can go to this link. 

To see more photos from yesterday's event, go to this link. 

CA-36 Act Blue Fundraising Stats - Hahn Leads Bowen, Support For Winograd Collapses

As of this morning,  Janice Hahn is leading, with Debra Bowen a close second, and Marcy Winograd a distant third. Here's how this breaks down:

• Janice Hahn - $49,467 from 207 donors (average donation = $238.97)
• Debra Bowen - $40,755 from 474 donors (average donation = $85.98)
• Marcy Winograd - $1,320 from 34 donors (average donation = $38.82)

It's important to note that Act Blue accounts for only a portion of a candidate's fundraising efforts (I've heard estimates of anywhere from 10% to 30%), but as an indicator of fundraising progress I think it's probably pretty representative of where the candidates are in relation to one another.

There's a couple of things I take away from this. First, Hahn has half the donor base of Bowen, but their pockets are far deeper. In the last 24 hours alone, 2 donors were responsible for $7,500 in donations to Hahn's campaign.

Secondly, Winograd's campaign this cycle is far different than her campaign against Harman in 2010. In that campaign, she raised nearly $90,000 from 3,182 supporters.

Winograd and her supporters may have a heavy presence on the California Progressive Caucus listserves, Twitter, and the comment sections of blogs this election cycle, but their passion has yet to translate into real world results.

Meanwhile, up to 19 candidates have filed so far for the CA-36 race, including our first Tea Party candidate, Republican Craig Huey, who announced his candidacy at a dinner meeting of the the South Bay Open Carry movement.

The number of candidates pretty much guarantees no one candidate will succeed in winning the May 17th election outright. Under the new "top two" primary election rules, if no candidate receives 50%+1 of the votes, the top two voter-getters will advance to a July 12th election. If the Act Blue numbers are any indication, it's looking more and more likely that those candidates with be Debra Bowen and Janice Hahn.