Bloom declares victory in tight Westside Assembly race

The latest ballot count prompted one of the contenders in a close Assembly contest to declare himself the winner.

The Wednesday afternoon update by Los Angeles County election officials led Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom to declare victory in an email thanking supporters after his lead over Assemblywoman Betsy Butler grew to 1,246 votes.  Both candidates are Democrats.

The Butler campaign could not be reached for immediate comment Wednesday.

[Updated at 7:32 p.m. Butler campaign manager Parke Skelton said Wednesday evening that he did not expect Butler to be able to make up the difference. "It's over," Skelton said.]

County officials plan another update Friday as they work to finish counting ballots from the Nov. 6 election.  Counties must finish and report results to the secretary of state's office by Dec. 4; legislators are to be sworn in Dec. 3.

Countywide, fewer than 100,000 ballots remain to be counted, according to some unofficial rough estimates.

In another close Assembly race, Lancaster City Councilman and former Sheriff's Deputy Ron Smith, a Republican, held a 969-vote lead over Demoratic attorney Steve Fox. The 36th Assembly District tends to vote Republican, although the registration is nearly evenly divided.

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Photos: Betsy Butler and Richard Bloom. Credits: Butler campaign and, for Bloom, Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

 

Butler slips farther behind Bloom in latest vote update

 

Assemblywoman Betsy Butler has slipped 888 votes behind Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom in their close race for an Assembly seat on the Westside.

The most recent ballot tally by Los Angeles County election officials, released Monday afternoon, showed Bloom with 89,705 votes to Butler's 88,817. This is the widest margin to date in the race as counties continue to process ballots they were unable to count on election night.

Counties have until Dec. 4 to finish counting those ballots, which consist of some mail-in ballots; some so-called "provisionals," which have to be checked against voter registration rosters and verified as valid; and some too damaged to be read by tabulating machines.

Both candidates are Democrats who competed in the Nov. 6 general election because of the state's new "top two" primary system. Incumbent Butler had substantial backing from Assembly Speaker John A. Perez (D-Los Angeles) and the California Democratic Party.

County officials, who have been processing ballots daily and posting updated tallies every few days, could not say how many ballots remain to be counted in this race.

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Photos: Assembly candidates Betsy Butler and Richard Bloom. Credits: Butler campaign and Danny Moloshok / Associated Press

 

 

 

Bloom widens lead over Butler in tight Westside Assembly race

In the latest tally of ballots remaining from election day,  Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom widened his lead over Assemblywoman Betsy Butler to 430 votes.

Bloom has 87,270 votes, or 50.12%, to Butler's 86,840, or 49.88%, according to the update provided Friday afternoon by Los Angeles County elections officials.  The next update is scheduled for Monday.

The candidates for the 50th Assembly District on the Westside, both Democrats, are locked in one of the tightest races in California, with the outcome still uncertain more than two weeks after the Nov. 6 general election.

Counties have until Dec 4 to finish tabulating ballots and report results to the secretary of state.   Legislators are to be sworn in Dec. 3, putting extra pressure of election workers to finish the job. 

It was unknown Friday how many ballots remain to be tabulated in this contest.

 

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Photos: Assembly candidates Betsy Butler and Richard Bloom. Credits: Butler campaign and, for Bloom, Danny Moloshok/Associated Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gap shrinks in close Assembly race

A close Westside Assembly race got even tighter when Los Angeles County elections officials released an updated vote tally Friday afternoon.

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom's 212-vote election night lead over Assemblywoman Betsy Butler dropped to 103 votes. 

Both candidates for the 50th Assembly District are Democrats and their Nov. 6 competition was made possible by the state's new primary system, which sends the top two vote-getters to the general election, regardless of party.

The Registrar-Recorder's office announced it had counted an additional 98,896 ballots countywide, mostly mail votes, since election night. More than 693,000 remain. 

Officials could not say how many ballots are yet to be tallied in specific contests. The next update is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Statewide, some 3 million have yet to be processed. The uncounted are mostly vote-by-mail ballots submitted on election day and provisional ballots that include those turned in by people whose names were not on the lists at polling places but who believe they are registered to vote.

Counties have until Dec. 4 to finish tabulating the eligible ballots.

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Photo: Voting at an Alhambra fire station during the Nov. 6 general election. Credit: AFP / Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Democrats face off in hard-fought Westside Assembly contest

One of the more hotly contested state legislative races this year pits Assemblywoman Betsy Butler of Beverly Hills against Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. They are battling so hard, voters might forget that both candidates are Democrats.

Butler has an edge in a couple of areas. She has been endorsed by the county and state Democratic parties and she has spent more than $1 million so far this year, more than twice the amount spent by Bloom. Special interests have independently put more than a quarter of a million dollars into the 50^th Assembly District race, evenly matched between the two candidates.

Theirs is one of 28 state legislative and congressional contests throughout California where candidates from the same party are facing off in the Nov. 6 election, thanks to a voter-approved reform that allowed the top two vote-getters in the primary to advance to the general contest, regardless of party affiliation.

The change presents both challenges and opportunities for Eric Bauman, chairman of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. On one hand, his party wins no matter which candidate the voters pick.  On the other hand, an inter-party battle, whether it's Butler and Bloom or veteran Democratic Congressmen Howard Berman and Brad Sherman in the San Fernando Valley, can be divisive.

"This race and the Berman-Sherman race are examples of the worst possible outcomes for us because we have two good Democrats running against each other and it causes conflict between people," Bauman said.

Still, he said there was no thought of staying out of the Assembly contest, and the endorsement of Butler was made early in the year, when there were three Democrats and one Republican competing in the primary.

"There are some people who don’t believe  that the party should endorse a Democrat against a Democrat, even in the primary," Bauman said. "But our theory and belief is that part of the responsibility that we have is to educate voters about who believe is the best candidate in the race."

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Photo: Assemblywoman Betsy Butler and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. Credits: Butler campaign; Danny Moloshok / Associated Press

Imus, Cook in House race; counting in other squeakers goes on

This post has been corrected. See the note below for details.

Officials have finished counting  ballots in a close inland congressional district race that will pit two Republicans against one another in the Nov. 6 general election.

With election results certified Friday by San Bernardino County, the candidates will be Assemblyman Paul Cook of Yucaipa and home builder and anti-illegal immigration activist Gregg Imus of Lake Arrowhead.

Two other counties that reach into the sprawling 8th Congressional District finished counting their smaller chunks of the ballots earlier.

Thirteen candidates, including two Democrats and one independent, were on the June 5 primary in the solidly Republican district, making this the largest field of any of the House of Representative races this year in California.

Under the state’s new elections system, only the top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of any party affiliation, advance to the general election.

In some other close races, Los Angeles County elections officials continued to tally votes Friday in three squeakers.  While the contests remained close, the finishing order of the candidates has not changed with recent updates.

Assemblywoman Betsy Butler of Marina del Rey and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, both Democrats, continued to hold first and second place, respectively, in the 50th Assembly District race.

[For the record, 8:11 a.m., June 23: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the Butler-Bloom race was in the 66th Assembly District.]

Ian Calderon, son of Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Whittier), was keeping his lead over fellow Democrat and former Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez for the second slot in the general election for the 57th Assembly District; the winner will face Republican Noel A. Jaimes in the strongly Democratic district.

And in the heavily Democratic 46th Assembly District in the San Fernando Valley, charter schools executive Brian C. Johnson, a Democrat, was trailing Republican Jay L. Stern for second place by just 35 votes, according to Friday’s update. Democrat Adrin Nazarian handily captured first place on the ballot. The five Democrats on the ballot split their party’s vote, allowing Stern, the only Republican, to slide into second place.

County officials hope to finish counting all the remaining ballots by Monday afternoon.

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Photo: A California polling place on June 5. Credit: Associated Press

 

 

California state lawmaker wants fracking moratorium

A state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would ban the use of hydraulic fracturing in California until regulators write rules governing the controversial procedure.

The measure, introduced by Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey), would bar oil regulators from approving new drilling permits for wells where firms employ “fracking” to tap oil deposits.

The bill comes as the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources travels the state soliciting public comment on hydraulic fracturing, the first step in what is expected to be a lengthy rule-making process.

Environmentalists and community activists have raised concerns about the potential environmental and public health hazards of a procedure that involves injecting chemical-laced water and sand deep into the ground to tap oil. The oil industry counters that firms have used fracking for decades without incident throughout California.

Much of the anxiety stems from the fact that, unlike other oil-producing states, California does not require oil companies to disclose where they use the procedure or what chemicals they inject into the ground.

Another fracking measure, AB 591 by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), would change that. The bill, which stalled last year after objections by the energy industry, would require oil companies to report to regulators what chemicals they use and how much water they pump in hydraulic fracturing operations. The information would then be posted on a state website.

The state Senate rejected a bill last month that would have required energy firms to notify property owners before fracking on or near their land.

California Senate rejects 'fracking' legislation

State officials ask energy firms to disclose 'fracking' sites

Brown administration to create regulations for hydraulic fracturing

-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento

Twitter.com/mjmishak

Photo: A fracking operation takes place on leased farmland near Dimock, Pa., where dairy farms used to dominate. Credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times

Torie Osborn hopes to ‘friend’ voters

Assembly candidate Torie Osborn has begun using a new online social organizing tool designed to help her campaign volunteers reach out to their Facebook friends and mine votes from those who live in her Westside district.

The system can identify which of a person’s Facebook friends is registered to vote in  the 50th Assembly District, where Osborn is competing  with two other Democrats—Assemblywoman Betsy Butler and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom—and  Republican Bradly S. Torgan, an environmental attorney.  The top two finishers in the June 5 primary will advance to the November general election, regardless of party, in the hard-fought, high-spending contest.  (Butler and Osborn both had nearly $500,000 in their campaign treasuries at the end of the latest reporting period.)

Once the “Facebook for Torie” system locates registered voters, it can send volunteers to a phone bank interface to contact those voters.  Based on their conversations,  the volunteers can label  each  voter “supporter,” “undecided” or “supporting another candidate” and the results are added to the voter file for the campaign’s records.  Volunteers can learn how to use the new system by watching a video on—what else?—YouTube. 

Osborn campaign advisor Dave Jacobson said this is the first time the organizing tool has been used in a California political campaign.  It recently won a Campaign Excellence Award for best use of new technology from the American Assn. of Political Consultants, based on its  debut  in a 2011 ballot measure campaign in Ohio.

This isn’t the first time the Osborn campaign has tapped into technology.  It recently began using a virtual phone banking operation in which volunteers can call voters from the comfort of their own homes.  No  more slogging  to the campaign office  through that notorious Westside traffic!

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Photo: Facebook signage at the company's Menlo Park campus. Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

L.A. County labor federation picks its candidates

The  influential Los Angeles County Federation of Labor  on Tuesday announced its endorsements in  this year's congressional and legislative elections--support that can be crucial in hotly contested races.

The AFL-CIO-affiliated federation, the second-largest in the country, represents more than 300 local unions.  It has several avenues for helping its endorsed candidates, including communicating its choices to members, spending money independently to support or oppose candidates  and providing  volunteers to walk precincts and call voters.

Several of this year's congressional and legislative races are featuring intraparty fights in strongly Democratic districts, where the federation's backing is likely to count most. The endorsements  include one for Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro), who is competing with Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach) for a newly drawn House seat.

But in the area's hottest congressional race to date--in which Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard L. Berman are vying for a newly drawn district in the San Fernando Valley--the federation  could not agree on a candidate.

Among the several Assembly races with at least two Democratic contenders, the federation endorsed the following candidates:

Richard Alarcon for AD 39, Adrin Nazarian for AD 46, Betsy Butler for AD 50, Jimmy Gomez for AD 51, Reginald Jones-Sawyer for AD 59 and Anthony Rendon for AD 63.

Candidates seeking an endorsement were required to pass muster with three separate federation groups.

"We expect politicians to stand up for working men and women across Los Angeles County," Maria Elena Durazo, the federation's top executive, said in a statement announcing the endorsements.

Under the state's new elections system, at least some of these intraparty fights are likely to last into the fall  because the top two finishers in the June primary will advance to the general election,  not the top finisher from each party, as before.  In addition,  candidates are running in new districts, drawn for the first time by an independent citizens commission  without regard to party registration or  incumbents' homes.

The federation has also made endorsements in several upcoming races for local offices.

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Photo: Rep. Janice Hahn, right, won the county Federation of Labor endorsement over Rep. Laura Richardson. Credit: Associated Press, Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some Democrats win a nearly clear path to state party backing

Some Democrats in intraparty fights for seats in Congress or the Legislature this year got a boost from local “pre-endorsement” conferences over the weekend that help position them for advantage in competing for the California Democratic Party’s endorsement.

The biggest winners in the conferences were those who got at least 70% of the vote in their respective conferences — including Rep. Janice Hahn of San Pedro, who is competing with Rep. Laura Richardson of Long Beach for the newly drawn 44th Congressional District seat in southeast Los Angeles County.

Other area Democratic congressional candidates in competitive races who reached or surpassed that threshold were Rep. Linda Sanchez of Lakewood, who is vying with state Sen. Ron Calderon of Montebello for the newly drawn 38th District  in the San Gabriel Valley and Ventura County Supervisor Steve Bennett, who is running for the open 26th District seat in an area with a slight Democratic registration edge.

The rules for winning the state party’s endorsement at next month’s convention in San Diego are complicated, and the high threshold is important because it allows candidates who crossed it to be voted on via consent calendar. Candidates who received more than 50% of the pre-convention votes but less than 70% will also be considered for endorsements at the convention but face a somewhat trickier pathway.

Rep. Brad Sherman, who is competing with Rep. Howard Berman for the newly drawn 30th District in the San Fernando Valley, won 54% of the vote to Berman’s 36%.

In some intraparty battles in Assembly races, Pasadena Councilman Chris Holden, running in the newly drawn 41st District; state party official Reginald Jones-Sawyer, in a crowded contest for the the 59th District in South Los Angeles; and Montebello school board member Edwin Chau, running for the open 49th District in the San Gabriel Valley, all polled above 70%.

Winning a chance for the party endorsement at the convention were Assemblywoman Betsy Butler of Marina del Rey, who is running against community activist Torie Osborn and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom for the newly drawn 50th District on the West Side. Others include union official Jimmy Gomez for the East Side’s 51st District and former Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez for the 57th District in eastern Los Angeles County. Among Bermudez’ competitors for the open seat is legislative aide Ian Calderon, part of a prominent San Gabriel Valley-based political family.

With the new wrinkles in this year’s elections — changed political districts and a “top two” primary system that is likely to pit two competitors from the same party against each other in several general election contests — the party’s endorsement could be crucial. The party can provide financial and other campaign support to its chosen candidates, and those candidates can claim party backing in intraparty fall elections, which could be key in strongly Democratic districts.

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