The filing period begins today for the June 3 primary election, which will lead to what likely is the biggest influx of newcomers to Los Angeles County government.
With term limits approved by voters in 2002 taking effect for the first time, Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky and Gloria Molina are barred from seeking re-election. Former state Sen. Sheila Kuehl and former Santa Monica Mayor Bobby Shriver have declared their candidacies for the Third District seat held by Yaroslavsky since 1994, as have West Hollywood City Councilmember John Duran and former Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich. Former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and El Monte Councilman Juventino `J” Gomez have said they will run for the First District seat held by Molina since 1991.
Sheriff Lee Baca’s announcement on Jan. 7 that he would resign prompted Long Beach Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell to seek the office. Gardena Mayor Paul Tanaka, a former undersheriff, and former Cmdr. Bob Olmsted were running even before Baca’s announcement.
With Assessor John Noguez on a leave of absence since 2012 in connection with ongoing criminal investigations that would lead to his being charged with 24 felony counts, West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang announced his candidacy to head the office responsible for establishing a taxable value for all property in the county subject to property taxation.
The June 3 ballot will include primaries for governor, seven other statewide offices, four seats on the Board of Equalization, all of California’s 53 congressional seats, 20 of the 40 state Senate seats and all 80 seats in the Assembly.
The county’s most contested congressional races will be in the 33rd District in the Westside and South Bay and 25th District in the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys. Former Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel and Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, are the leading candidates to succeed Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Beverly Hills, in the 33rd District. A third Democrat, attorney Barbara Mulvaney announced last week that she was
also running. Self-help author Marianne Williamson and television director and executive Brent Roske both declared their candidacies as independents before Waxman announced his retirement.
Former state Sen. Tony Strickland, and Sen. Steve Knight, both Republicans, and Democrats Dr. Lee Rogers, a podiatrist, and Jorge Puentes, are seeking to succeed the retiring Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, in the 25th District.
The state and congressional offices will be contested under the “top two” system for the second time. Under terms of Proposition 14, approved by voters in 2010, all candidates running for congressional, legislative and statewide offices, regardless of party, will appear on a single ballot. The top two finishers will advance to the November general election. Proposition 14 also gives candidates the right to decline to have their party stated on the ballot.
The filing period will close March 7, but will be extended to March 12 for offices where no incumbent files, except for those where the incumbent cannot seek re-election because of term limits.
