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Impending Battle in AD 53...part two
The 53rd AD will again be campaign central - but this was true even PRIOR to Asm. Gordon's illness.

George Nakano's comments should be seen as nothing but political grandstanding and taking advantage of any opportunity to get in the paper. And Nakano needs the help, he lags far behind Assemblymember Oropeza in fundraising.

Nakano will need drastic help if he hopes to beat Oropeza for Bowen's seat.

From the Daily Breeze, 5-27-05
Politicians eye seat as assemblyman recovers
Republicans file 53rd District notices while pulling for Democrat Mike Gordon's health. Former Assemblyman George Nakano calls GOP candidates' actions insensitive and inappropriate. By Michael Gardner
Copley News Service
SACRAMENTO -- While the South Bay political establishment pulls for Assemblyman Mike Gordon's recovery from a brain tumor, an elections clock has started to tick for his allies and foes alike.
Two Republicans -- including former Redondo Beach Mayor Greg Hill, who lost to Gordon in November -- have filed required notices to run for his 53rd District seat.
Potential Democratic candidates are expected to remain on the sidelines until the seriously ill Gordon signals whether he plans to seek re-election. He has filed preliminary papers to run again.
"It would be extremely delicate for a Democrat to start filing," said Allan Hoffenblum, a South Bay political consultant. "The Democrats are not going to do anything until Mike Gordon does something."
Early filings for the June 2006 primary also reveal several other potential matchups.
As expected, former Torrance Assemblyman George Nakano and Carson Assemblywoman Jenny Oropeza appear to be heading toward a showdown to replace termed-out state Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach. Bowen is running for secretary of state.
Also, Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, may face a primary challenge for her Harbor-area seat and some notable names could square off in an open Inglewood-Gardena district.
Gordon, a former mayor of El Segundo and longtime Democratic Party activist, disclosed in March that he is seriously ill. Requesting privacy, his family and staff have revealed little since, except to say he has returned home and doctors expect a full recovery. Chief of Staff George Wiley declined to comment for this article.
Gordon serves a moderate district that includes Torrance, El Segundo and the beach cities. In 2003, 54 percent of the district's voters supported the recall of Gov. Gray Davis and 53 percent chose then-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him. However, voters chose Gordon over Hill by an 8-point margin the following November.
Sensitive to Gordon's condition, Republicans delicately broach the subject of campaign plans.
"As far as Mike is concerned, my prayers are with him," Hill said. "I suspect he'll be healthy and ready to go" by the time the general election race begins more than a year from now.
Torrance City Councilman Paul Nowatka, who has joined Hill in filing preliminary papers for the GOP primary, called Gordon's situation "a tragedy."
"It's a very uncomfortable feeling" to be running under the circumstances, Nowatka said.
Napolitano interested
Steve Napolitano, a Republican who just finished his third term on the Manhattan Beach City Council, has not taken out papers to run but confirmed his interest.
"Mike Gordon is a good guy. My prayers are with him," he said.
No Democratic challenger has filed, although political insiders say the party likely would rally around Torrance City Councilman Ted Lieu. Before his illness, Gordon touted Lieu as a probable successor, according to Nakano.
"Mike has publicly stated several times that when his term is over he would be supporting Ted Lieu as a replacement," Nakano said.
Lieu said he expects Gordon to be back on the job soon and to defend his seat in 2006.
"Mike is a fighter," Lieu said. "Other people may be positioning themselves to run. I'm choosing to pray for Mike and his family."
Nakano said it appears unseemly for candidates to be scrambling more than a year before the June 2006 primary, given the uncertainty of Gordon's status.
"It is inappropriate and insensitive to do that now," Nakano said. "At worst, you appear like a vulture."
But Republican candidates are staring at a possibly bitter and costly primary. Endorsements must be lined up and funding pledges secured early if the field is crowded -- tasks that would likely occur regardless of Gordon's health.
Filing a notice of intention, which is what Hill and Nowatka have done, is the first step. It allows candidates to form exploratory committees and begin raising money. But the deadline for filing will not be until January or February, depending on a final elections calendar still to be determined by the secretary of state.
Candidates can change their minds up until the deadline. Hill, for example, said he's talking to his fiancee and supporters "to see if they want me to do it again."
The landscape would be radically altered if Gordon's health forces him to resign. Schwarzenegger is expected to announce by June 13 whether he will call a November special election on his reform agenda. If Gordon resigns, his replacement could be selected then.
"I really haven't wanted to even think about a special election," Nowatka said. "Assemblyman Gordon is a friend and his illness is scary. This is a 2006 race and let's pray that he recovers and we have a friendly competition for the seat then," Nowatka said.
Napolitano said Republicans must be lined up if there is a special election in the Assembly district.
"We all hope Mike Gordon recovers," he said. But, "if there is a special election it's important we (Republicans) have representation."
A special election, Napolitano suggested, would be a "free-for-all -- just a horse race. ... The best thing for everybody would be to have an election in 2006 when it's scheduled."
Early filing foreshadows some interesting campaigns in other South Bay districts. More candidates are expected as the primary season draws closer.
San Pedro resident Donald Glavich, a law student and former Daily Breeze sports copy editor, is looking to challenge incumbent Karnette in the Democratic primary for the 54th Assembly District, which includes the Harbor Area.
"Over the course of her political career, there hasn't been significant legislation to come from her," Glavich said. "There are a lot of needs of our community that haven't been fulfilled."
Jockeying in the 51st
Prominent names are already jockeying in the Democratic primary for the open 51st Assembly District, which includes the Inglewood and Gardena areas.
Early filers include Gardena City Councilman Steve Bradford and the Rev. Norman Johnson Sr. of the First New Christian Fellowship Church. Curren Price, an Inglewood city councilman, has said he will run, but has not yet filed paperwork.
Incumbent Jerome Horton, D-Inglewood, is termed out. He plans to run for the Board of Equalization.
Long Beach City Councilwoman Laura Richardson, a Democrat, is looking to succeed Oropeza in the 55th Assembly District, which takes in Carson and some of the surrounding area. But first she must get by another Democrat, Warren Furutani, a Los Angeles Community College District trustee. Michael Jackson of Long Beach has filed for the GOP primary. He could not be reached.

posted by Jose Gregorio Esparza @ 9:43 AM

1 Comments:
Duck Twacy said...
Yes, George Nakano will need all the help he can get is right.

Never mind the fact that this samurai sword wielding sensei is retirement-ready (this guy has been nothing but a bottom feeder at the public trough for two decades); his multiple nefarious ties to convicted felons Gene and Nora Lum, Chinese arms dealers, shady intelligence community mercenaries, and other South Bay organized and white-collar crime figures, have always set off alarms in the law enforcement community (ignore the fact that Torrance PD regularly 'supports' him with their token donations - LA County Sheriff's Asian Crimes Unit knows better, as does the FBI). He helped launder thousands and thousands of illegal dollars through his campaign coffers for years through straw donors like Lani Sakoda, the Lums, Dynamic Energy Resources, and several South Bay aerospace company and Government contractors.

He has hidden (well, not so hidden anymore) ties to Bush, Inc., and is in bed with the pharma companies. The auto industry owns him lock, stock and barrel.

Nakano's FBI file is fat and heavy.

We should know. We helped make it.