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Democratic War for L.A.'s Richest
Betsy Butler and Torie Osborn woo the carbon-counting strata of Assembly District 50
The tiny percentage of black voters in the district are mostly clustered in the far southeastern sector of the 50th and have more in common with black and Latino residents in South L.A. Geographer Robinson says few are likely to vote in this race. The same holds true for Koreans and other Asians, also clustered in the southeastern section. Latinos in the 50th are generally wealthier than L.A. Latinos and tend to hold political views similar to the white voters.
Republican Torgan, who has virtually no hope of winning, is making an effort to attract those with a libertarian bent. "My core values are limited government, fiscal restraint and a strong belief in civil liberty," he tells the Weekly. "When I looked at the race, I only saw candidates who were far left and farther left. I didn't see anyone with my values." But even this Republican is pro-choice and pro–gay marriage.
ILLUSTRATION BY FRED HARPER
PHOTO BY NANETTE GONZALES
Torie Osborn
Butler, Osborn and Bloom, meanwhile, each are trying to forge a crunchy coalition of white folks: canyon people in the Santa Monica Mountains, gays and lesbians in West Hollywood and other enclaves, beach people in Santa Monica and Malibu, ex-hippies and neo-hippies, environmentalists, entertainment-industry hotshots, lawyers and academics, feminists, social-justice activists, vegans, animal-rights activists, surfers and rich philanthropists.
At West Hollywood's trendy Lemonade restaurant, which offers hibiscus and watermelon-rosemary lemonades, Betsy Butler sits on the patio wearing oversized sunglasses. With an assistant sitting by her side, she fits in seamlessly with the urbane, entertainment-industry crowd having a late lunch.
Asked who's going to win the top two slots on June 5 and advance to the November runoff, Butler says casually, "Who knows?"
She's reluctant to go further, saying only that she wants to be one of the two left standing. She's willing to talk about her baby bottle law, though, and her experience fighting the chemical industry to get it passed. The feedback she has received tells her that "people know exactly what the bottles [I sent] were about. ... Everyone has an infant in their life."
She has largely stayed out of the public sniping over whether she should have mailed them to voters. As a sitting legislator, she says, "I don't have time — I have way too many bills to be passed."
Andre Parvenu, an urban planner who was one of 14 citizens on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which re-drew the voting districts, says this wasn't intended — a rich, white, liberal district of unusually like-minded people surrounded by the hurly-burly and diversity of Los Angeles.
He calls it an accident produced by complex formulas used to divvy up Greater Los Angeles. "It's simply a matter of circumstance," Parvenu says. "We used the same criteria as other districts in the state."
Under those criteria, Parvenu says, the commission wanted each voting district to have an equal population, to be as compact as possible (not gerrymandered by political incumbents into bizarre shapes like squirrels, poodles or army tanks) and to respect city borders — not cut up towns like West Hollywood or Beverly Hills.
The commission didn't consider household incomes or types of employment but did try hard to observe natural boundaries such as mountains. "Geography ... had a great deal to do with our decision making," Parvenu says.
One key hope of those who worked hard to undo the longtime gerrymandering of California was that the citizen commission would create some voting districts in which competing values and competing parties talked about big ideas and vied for the attentions of a more richly mixed electorate.
But in this race, lacking any meaningfully divergent views among the frontrunners, unfolding in a district that bears little relationship to its larger surroundings, this may be the first election decided by a battle over baby bottles.
Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.
38 comments
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The voters are smarter then the average bear and they chose the two best candidates in incumbent Betsy Butler and longtime Santa Monica Councilman & Mayor Richard Bloom. Clearly the most articulate, thoughtful and experienced of the pack, Bloom's inclusion in the the top two only confirms his status as a top tier candidate. The bluster and static of other candidates was finally ignored and the delusion that Speaker John Perez is a political boss wasn't even believable. Either Butler or Bloom will serve the district well.
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Honestly, Los Angeles seems to have become one giant insane asylum.
The economy is in ruins, suffering is exploding in the city, and the Hollywood-types mouth liberal platitudes while acting in more elitist ways than slaveholders did at the height of slavery in the south.
What is utterly amazing is that the people who are suffering, the tiny sliver of non-government-employed middle class and the lower class people ALSO mouth the same idiotic liberal platitudes, and keep voting for the same liberal morons who have destroyed what was America's greatest state.
Absolutely mind-boggling.
And please, let's note something here: with all the discussion of the gay credentials of the various people, less than 2 percent of the U.S. population is gay. (http://www.theatlantic.com/pol...
When what the rest of us are going through catches up with this crowd, they are going to think they've died and gone to hell. They have no clue that their money is going to dry up like a water plant in the desert.
Reading the comments has been...informative. I plan on printing this whole thing out just as a reminder of a certain viewpoint and Outlook in this country.
I'm sorry but why isn't anyone talking the fact that Torie Osborn is backed by the LA City Hall Machine?
Interesting that you bring up Senator Fran Pavley. Let me quote her comment on Betsy Butler:
"Betsy's unmatched tenacity and commitment has ensured that California children will finally be adequately protected from dangerous chemicals. Betsy Butler is among our most effective fighters for consumers, our environment and our children."
Now even Torrie Osborn can't argue with those wise words from Senator Pavely.
If Sen. Pavley felt so strongly about Butler, why didn't she endorse her? Because she didn't. Instead, Butler has to resort to using quotes made years ago for a different election.
Au contraire, Ed, the fact that Pavley explicitly did not endorse in this race is a testament to the strength of Torie Osborn.
Can the Osborn Machine stop with the lies? Nah.
Sen. Fran Pavley authorized for Betsy Butler to use the quote for the mailer, get your facts straight
None of them are or have been Fran Pavley, who you all lost with this crazy redistricting, and who is now confronted with over 60% of her new district never having elected a Democrat. This mind-boggling new State Senate District 27 stretches from Magic Mountain through Simi Valley to the Santa Monica Mountains to Malibu, with little ole Topanga --- not rich, but mostly white -- at its eastern edge. As a longtime Topanga resident and actively involved, I have a suggestion to Westsiders: sure, pick one of the 3 Dems who will ultimately win in the 50th, but send money and support Fran's way ASAP! What happens in this race will have far greater impact for years to come on all of us who care about the health of our environment, the welfare of children and the future of public education. It's a race none of us can afford to lose.
If A.D. 50 is a new district, then it has no incumbent, and no candidate should be able to claim incumbency. Just sayin', Ed Buck.
Whatever the name of the district, Butler didn't live here until she decided to run here. Torie Osborn lives here and is a part of the political fabric in this district. I've been an active member of the Santa Monica Democratic Club for 28 years, and I wouldn't recognize Butler if she knocked on my door. I've worked with Torie Osborn in the women's movement, the fight against HIV/AIDS, and the peace with justice movement here in Los Angeles over the years. We encouraged her to run before the lines were even drawn. The Speaker is trying to slap down a grassroots movement, and the people will win in the end. Torie Osborn for Assembly!
Torie Osborn IS Assembly District 50. She's the ideal person to represent our beliefs and interests in Sacramento. Betsy Butler jumped in the race late and underestimated the free thinking of District 50's residents. We have a track record of electing leaders to the Assembly -- Julia Brownley, Sheila, Tom Hayden, etc. -- and we're not going to budge just because John Pérez thought Betsy would have a safer election here. In other words, AD50 just isn't that into Betsy.
Regarding Richard Bloom:
His Santa Monica support in this race is overestimated. He has a few signs up, but no one expects him to place in the top two. The fact that he has won reelection to the council is a non-issue. Incumbent city council members in SM are virtually guaranteed reelection and are notoriously difficult to unseat. Ask anyone in Santa Monica; it's common knowledge here that his candidacy for the Assembly is an effort to raise his profile and rise up out of the council, as his options (politically and professionally) becoming increasingly slim.Most important, Bloom failed to capture even a respectable percentage of votes at the Santa Monica Democratic Club endorsement meeting. Bloom, the audience's mayor, garnered only 9% of the 65-odd voting members, leading me to believe his only votes were his wife, his campaign manager and perhaps one or two friends. I, along with 77% of the membership, voted for Torie, who won the endorsement on the first vote. Keep in mind, this club has been endorsing Richard for the better part of two decades, and it dumped him because Torie's performance in the prior discussion was stellar and Richard tentatively supported the death penalty in certain circumstances (a petition to end the capital punishment was signed by almost everyone in the room before the meeting began).
PS AD50's influence will outlive that of the Speaker. Something to keep in mind.
RE: Dem Clubs
Torie Osborn bought 40 votes in EVERY SINGLE CLUB to secure the endorsement. Give me a break kid, you're new to politics and Torie seems the cool thing, I get it. But this district deserves someone like Betsy who has the experience.
PS. Can you pick up Torie's non-recyclable 16 page mailer?
Westladem, you should know what you're talking about before you post. You can't buy memberships to the Santa Monica Democratic Club for other people. The rules forbid it. Same with SMRR. Same with the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, where the membership is fixed. The vote at the Stonewall Democratic Club was 154-55. Let me repeat that: 154-55. The vote at the Malibu Democratic club was 41-5. Butler has little support among grassroots Democrats. You can only go blaming that on Torie for so long.
Look, you're supporting Butler. Fair enough--there are plenty of good reasons for doing that. But that doesn't mean you should go spreading falsehoods about the support that Torie has received--which is also for very good reasons.
It is interesting how you speak about assembly district 50, as though it has existed since time began. It is brand new, just months old. So all of your crap about "We" in the 50th AD is bunk. Brownley, Shelia, Tom Hayden etc, never represented the 50-th AD. That said, I live in the new AD50. I am a gay progressive Democrat with a long history of activism and involvement. I'm voting for Betsy Butler. She is supported by the entire LGBT caucus, the Democratic party, and most of the LGBT community.
Right on Ed! I live in the NEW AD50, have been represented by Mike Feuer who is straight, OMG! I will be voting for Betsy too!
I'll take toxic free baby bottles over reams of wasted glossy paper any day. I'm voting for Betsy Butler because she has kept it all positive and focused on working for the public good while Torie has tried to divide progressive democrats.
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Can someone explain to me those odd photos that are supposedly meant to compliment this article? WTF? And don't give me that art school confidential jive: Because it's art, you don't necessarily have to get it.
Wow. Leave it up to the LA Weekly to distill complicated issues in the race to a "catfight" between two women.
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It's funny, when I interview with Patrick for this article, it was clear from talking with him that he had a very specific narrative he wanted to write. It appears a month, and I don't know how many interviews later, that narrative didn't change one bit - that this race is just a cat fight between Betsy and Torie over a district full of over-privileged white people.
Here's an article that does a much better job of seeing the forest for the trees: http://www.thenation.com/artic...
The top-two primary is not an “an experimental election reform.” It’s in the California Constitution and it’s not scheduled to expire.
I'm voting for Betsy Butler because of what she has done. The other candidates tell you what they hope to do.
Honestly this is the saddest state of affairs for this race.
But honestly, can Torie Osborn stop sending me so much mail? I feel so sorry for the trees
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