Berman-Sherman battle enters final weekend

The two Democratic House veterans battling in what has become one of the costliest and most contentious congressional races in the state continued to pound each other as the race headed into its final weekend. But they also had some positive messages for voters who might be weary of all the negativity.

Volunteers for Rep. Howard Berman planned to fan out throughout the San Fernando Valley’s 30^th District to distribute a double-message door hanger. One side features a photo of an angry Sherman reaching for Berman when things got physical at a Pierce College debate earlier this month. The flip side takes an entirely different tack — it shows Berman when he was invited to join President Obama at a fundraiser earlier this year and  lists some of Berman’s endorsers, including Gov. Jerry Brown, both of California’s U.S. senators, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Times and the L.A. Daily News. One of Berman’s final two mailers strikes similar themes, and the other provides a chart comparing the two congressmen’s records.

Berman’s weekend will be divided between get-out-the-vote activities at his campaign headquarters and  contacting voters by attending farmers markets, house parties  and a Day of the Dead festival, said campaign strategist Brandon Hall.

Hall believes more than one-quarter of voters still haven’t made up their minds and could make the difference if most of them go for the same candidate.

“We’re focusing on those voters and making our case that Howard is by far the more accomplished” of the two lawmakers. “I think we have made the case,” Hall added, that while the two have similar voting records, “you could not have two more dissimilar people in temperament and substance.”

Sherman, who has made a career of attending community events and holding “town hall” meetings with constituents, is spending much of the final weekend calling supporters to be sure they cast ballots.  Campaign spokesman John  Schwada said Sherman and volunteers have been averaging 1,500 calls a day recently.

Schwada said Sherman currently is airing two cable TV ads, one a positive piece about his family and accomplishments for constituents and another slamming Berman for travels abroad financed by taxpayers or special interests. The last piece of campaign mail will land in mailboxes over the weekend, but Schwada wouldn’t say what it contains.

 Sherman has campaigned on his accessibility and visibility at community events and has tried to turn Berman’s long list of endorsements from national political figures on both sides of the aisle into a shortcoming.

“Brad is the voice of the Valley and Howard Berman is the voice of outsiders,” said Schwada. 

But Hall said Berman’s backing from such Republican stalwarts as Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina show Berman’s ability to command respect across the political spectrum and to work with members of both parties to get things done.  “Our job is to make people understand what Howard’s record is,” Hall said.

Nor do the two camps agree on the significance of the Pierce College dust-up. During a particularly heated argument at the candidates forum, Berman, shouting “You’re wrong! You”re wrong,”  moved close to Sherman, who clutched him by shoulders and yelled, “You want to get into this?!” The incident was caught on video, posted on YouTube and made news on both coasts. It was used by the Berman campaign in mail and a TV ad questioning Sherman’s temperament.  

The Sherman campaign responded with a mailer saying the whole thing was blown out of proportion: “About five seconds of conflict in a heated year-long campaigns.  Is this an important issue? No.”

But the Berman camp thinks it could be a game-changer, a “defining moment,” Hall called it.

Voters, of course, will decide which view is right.

ALSO:

California sets new record for voter registration

Authorities racing the clock to identify Arizona donors

L.A. Democrats decry outside group's mailer slamming elected officials 

--Jean Merl

Photo: Reps. Howard Berman, left and Brad Sherman at a candidates forum earlier this year. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times

 

 

Rep. Judy Chu blasts false "endorsements" in Assembly race

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) wants to set the record straight about whom she's endorsing in the heated Assembly race to replace her termed-out husband, Assemblyman Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park).

And it's not Matthew Lin, the Republican physician who is running against Chu's and Eng's choice, Democrat Ed Chau.

Chu, who was angry enough about the matter to call a news conference Thursday, is upset about Lin mailers that feature photos of Chu and Eng, as well as other Democratic elected officials who have not endorsed the Republican.

"Stop the shameful and unethical use of our names and pictures on your mailers!" Chu said she was publicly telling Lin. "We do not endorse you and we demand that you stop this immediately."

The mailers do not specifically say that Chu and the others endorse Lin, but Chu said voters could easily be misled.

"Is this the kind of person that we want to be our elected leader?  Absolutely not," Chu said.

Some Lin supporters suspect that the dustup over the photos was meant to divert attention from a Chau campaign stumble. Lin got a court restraining order against the Chau campaign to stop it from continuing to disseminate the Social Security number of Lin's wife, which was included in a Chau mailer about tax liens.

Chau and Lin are locked in a tense, costly battle for the 49th Assembly District in the San Gabriel Valley.

ALSO:

California sets new record for voter registration

Arizona nonprofit must turn over records, judge orders

Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to pick a central Prop. 30 sales pitch

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Rep. Judy Chu addressing the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in September.  Credit: Getty Images

 

More than 500,000 already have voted by mail, L.A. County says

More than 549,000 mail ballots already have been returned to Los Angeles County elections officials. That's more than 10% of the county's registered voters, officials said Thursday.

Democratic ballots -- 277,741 -- made up the largest number of those returned by  2:30 p.m., the L.A. County registrar-recorder's office said. Republicans had returned 162,788 of the ballots, and voters without a party preference accounted for another 71,426.

Ballots cannot be counted until the polls close on election day, Nov. 6.

Mail voters who wish to see whether the county has received their ballots may do so  by signing on to lavote.net and  clicking on the "vote by mail status" button.

ALSO:

California sets new record for voter registration

Arizona nonprofit must turn over records, judge orders

Gov. Jerry Brown has yet to pick a central Prop. 30 sales pitch

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Voting at a Van Nuys restaurant during the June primary. Credit: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times

L.A. Democrats decry outside group's mailer slamming elected officials

The Los Angeles County Democratic Party on Tuesday denounced an outside group's mailer in a hotly contested San Fernando Valley congressional district race. The mailer, sent to Republican voters by Californians for Integrity in Government to support Rep. Brad Sherman in his battle with fellow Democratic Rep. Howard Berman, features three prominent liberal Democrats who are supporting Berman.

"If you love these politicians, then vote for Howard Berman," says the mailer's headline above photos of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California.

Eric Bauman,  chairman of the county Democratic Party, released a statement saying his organization "strongly condemns the negative and divisive mailer by the so-called Californians for Integrity in Government.

"This is exactly the reason why we opposed 'super Pacs' and other non-identified independent expenditure committees that feel free to make misleading, nasty, ugly and libelous statements about candidates without restraint."

Some critics saw the mailer as racist, sexist and anti-gay because Waters is black, Boxer is a feminist and Frank is gay.

The Berman campaign on Monday criticized the mailer in an email to supporters seeking donations. "I know your mailbox has been filled with distorted information about Howard, but this one takes the cake," the email began.

The Sherman side also condemned the mailer and pointed it out has no control over actions by groups operating outside the campaign.

Californians for Integrity in Government has spent around $400,000 to oppose Berman and support Sherman, federal records show. Another outside group has raised money to support Berman and oppose Sherman.

Both Democrats are trying to appeal to Republican voters as well as their own base.

ALSO:

Skelton: Proposition 39 fixes lawmakers' tax mistake

Ex-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez takes hit in real estate market

Berman, Sherman mix it up -- again -- in congressional race forum

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman, left, and Howard Berman at a candidates forum earlier this year. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Sen. Feinstein starts statewide TV campaign ad

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, facing a little-known, underfunded Republican challenger in the Nov. 6 election, has begun airing a TV ad, her first of the political season.

The positive ad features Feinstein talking about issues at stake in this election.  She touches on a mortgage refinancing plan she has authored and says she supports "investments in research and development, education and transportation, to create good jobs."

And, she promises in the ad, "I'll always support a woman's right to choose and honor our nation's commitment to Medicare and Social Security."

The ad is airing in all the state's major media markets, said Feinstein's campaign strategist, Bill Carrick.

Feinstein was first elected to the Senate 20 years ago.  She faces autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who has raised just $718,579 to Feinstein's more than $13.7 million, according to the latest reports on file with the Federal Election Commission.

ALSO:

Skelton: Proposition 39 fixes lawmakers' tax mistake

Ex-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez takes hit in real estate market

Berman, Sherman mix it up -- again -- in congressional race forum

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Sen. Dianne Feinstein in April.  Credit: Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

Bill Clinton to endorse more Democratic congressional candidates

Former President Clinton continues to be a hot commodity in contested congressional races.

On Tuesday, Clinton will participate in a rally at UC Irvine to endorse several Democrats in Southern California races targeted by both major parties as they battle for control of Congress in the Nov. 6 election.

Slated to receive Clinton's backing are Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, who is battling Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland for an open Ventura County seat; state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, who is running against Republican city councilman Gary DeLong for an open Long Beach-based seat; San Diego port official Scott Peters, who is challenging Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Carlsbad); emergency room physician Raul Ruiz, who is trying to oust Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Palm Springs), and community college trustee Mark Takano, who is running against Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione for an open seat in the Inland Empire.

Earlier this month,  at UC Davis, the former president endorsed four Northern California Democrats in tough House races. He also came out for Proposition 30, the state measure backed by Gov. Jerry Brown on the Nov. 6 ballot that would raise taxes to fend off further cuts in schools and colleges.

And early in the super-heated contest between Democratic congressmen in the San Fernando Valley, Clinton endorsed Rep. Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks over Rep. Howard Berman of Valley Village.

ALSO:

Skelton: Proposition 39 fixes lawmakers' tax mistake

Ex-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez takes hit in real estate

Berman, Sherman mix it up -- again -- in congressional race forum

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Former President Clinton speaks during a campaign stop for President Obama in New Hampshire earlier this month. Credit: Jim Cole / Associated Press

Berman, Sherman running new attack ads on TV

 
Is anybody surprised? The Howard Berman campaign has a new TV ad featuring  last week's heated confrontation with rival  Brad Sherman, capturing the moment at which Sherman pulled his smaller, older opponent close and shouted, "You want to get into this?"

The two Democratic congressmen, battling for a San Fernando Valley congressional district seat, had been arguing at a Pierce College candidates forum during an increasingly bitter campaign. The Berman ad, riffing on the campaign's previous allegations that Sherman is "ineffective, mean and too angry," shows the congressman's  face convulsed with anger while a man's voice announces, "Brad Sherman is just not fit to represent us."

Sherman's campaign also has a new TV ad. It features a cardboard cutout of Aloha shirt-clad Berman photographed at some of the places he has visited around the world and talks about the congressman's trips paid for by taxpayers or special interests and  his attendance record.  "Forty years in Congress," it says, "176 junkets, 1,434 missed votes."

Less than three weeks to go until voters send one of these longtime officeholders back to Washington and the other to the ranks of the unemployed. 

ALSO:

Gov. Jerry Brown to hit the road for Prop. 30

Jerry Brown, back on the stump, reaches out to young voters

State hotline gave wrong information on voter registration deadline

--Jean Merl

Photo: Reps. Howard Berman, left, and Brad Sherman at a candidates forum early this year. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reps. Berman, Sherman continue to rake in campaign cash

  
Ka-ching! That’s become a familiar sound in the San Fernando Valley slugfest between Reps. Howard Berman and Brad Sherman.

Together, the two Democrats have spent more than $9 million through Sept. 30, according to the latest campaign finance reports.  Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican Jim Rogan set a record for a California House race by spending $11.5 million in their 2000 Glendale-area contest won by Schiff.

Heading into the crucial final weeks before the Nov. 6 election, Sherman had more cash on hand  than Berman -- $1.8 million to about $394,000, according to the reports. But each campaign contended that the other had less money to spend than reflected in the reports because of debts.

In addition to what the candidates spent, the race has drawn $2.5 million in outside spending, including $1 million spent by a pro-Berman Super PAC for such things as putting Berman’s name on a mailer targeted to Republican voters. A pro-Sherman group, Committee for Integrity in Government, also has spent about $179,000 on the race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics.

Some other California races that have been targeted by the parties in their battle for control of the House have drawn a lot more outside spending.

Sherman raised a total of about $3 million for the election cycle, including $700,000 of his own money loaned to the campaign. Berman raised a total of roughly $4.2 million for the election cycle.

ALSO:

Skelton: Proposition 39 fixes lawmakers' tax mistake

Ex-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez takes hit in real estate market

Berman, Sherman mix it up -- again -- in congressional race forum

-- Richard Simon in Washington

Photo: Reps. Howard Berman, left, and Brad Sherman at a candidates forum early this year. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times

Public memorial service added to Mervyn M. Dymally rites

The family of former lieutenant governor and lawmaker Mervyn M. Dymally has added a memorial service to the rites scheduled for him on Wednesday.

In addition to the public viewing, from 9 to noon, and the limited-seating funeral, at 12:30, at Holy Cross Mortuary in Culver City, there will be a  2 p.m. memorial service at Faithful Central Bible Church, 321 N. Eucalyptus Ave., Inglewood.

Dymally died Oct. 7 at age 86.

ALSO:

Opponents prime arguments for corporate tax campaign

Procter & Gamble stands aside as corporate tax battle heats up

Assembly speaker backs Proposition 39's corporate-tax revamp

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Mervyn M. Dymally. Credit: Nick Ut / Associated Press

Berman, Sherman mix it up -- again -- in congressional race forum

In what has been dubbed by a journalism organizaton as one of the "10 nastiest House races" of the election season, rival Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman faced off at yet another candidates forum Wednesday.

While some of the more personal attacks they have lobbed at each other, regarding Berman's use of a government car and Sherman's earnings on loans he made to his campaign, were absent from Wednesday's 90-minute forum, the congressmen each managed to land some zingers.

Berman called his rival for a newly drawn San Fernando Valley congressional district seat a "me too congressman," alleging he's known for jumping on popular bills as a co-sponsor but has passed only three he wrote -- two of them to rename post offices.

Sherman retorted that improving someone else's bills and stopping "bad" legislation was just as important as introducing legislation. 

Then he dinged Berman for voting to go to war with Iraq (so did Sherman, but he insisted it was only after  he felt boxed into a choice between giving then-President George W. Bush "no power or too much power."   Both said their votes were a mistake, based on erroneous intelligence reports that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction.

The forum, held at ONEgeneration in Reseda and sponsored by the League of Women Voters and four other organizations, was the latest in at least half a dozen such head-to-head squareoffs between the two congressmen since the first of the year.

The session broke little new ground but gave about 200 audience members a chance to size up the competitors in person. 

The two men again demostrated that they agree on many issues, among them the need to protect women's rights, to avoid the "fiscal cliff" that awaits the nation in January if House Democrats and Republicans can't agree on a budget and deep spending cuts kick in, and the importance of not yielding to calls to allow oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

Both supported the Affordable Health Care Act and said Wednesday that it had already provided access to healthcare for thousands of uninsured people and was a good first step.  And each said he wanted "comprehensive" immigration reform, including securing borders, providing a path to legal residency for  otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants and sanctions against employers who hire workers without proper documentation.

And there was the political equivalent of party favors for those who stopped by the candidates' tables in the lobby. Volunteers offered their candidate's trademark "Congressman Brad Sherman" combs in four colors.  Their counterparts handed out bags of "I'm with Howard" cheese corn.

ALSO:

Gov. Brown vetoes bill restricting how motorists pass bicyclists

California budget stumbles as redevelopment funds prove scarce

Jerry Brown signs restrictions on Buy Here Pay Here used-car lots

-- Jean Merl

Photo: Reps. Brad Sherman, left, and Howard Berman at a candidates forum earlier this year. Credit: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times