Assemblymember Betsy Butler wins one spot in November election for 50th Assembly District, likely to face Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom. Republican Senator Todd Zink narrowly edges Democrat Senator Fran Pavley in the 27th State Senate district primary, and the two will face off again in November.
By Elano Pizzicarola / Special to The Malibu Times
The races for the 50th Assembly and 27th State Senate districts were decided by razor-thin margins last week, with some votes still being counted as of Tuesday evening. The four Assembly candidates each finished with about 25 percent of the vote, while Republican Todd Zink edged Democrat Fran Pavley with 50.6 percent of the votes in the State Senate race.
Democrat Betsy Butler garnered 13,677 votes to narrowly finish atop the primary race in the Assembly contest. Democrat Richard Bloom came in second with 13,542 votes, only 710 ahead of third-place challenger Brad Torgan, a Republican, with 12,832. Democrat Torie Osborn trailed Torgan by only 21 votes, with 12,811. Vote-by-mail and provisional ballots were still being counted as of Tuesday evening.
In the past, Torgan would have advanced to the November elections as the only Republican in the race. This year, however, a new rule advances the top two vote-getters to the November election, regardless of party affiliation. While it is mathematically possible that Santa Monica mayor Bloom could be caught by Torgan or Osborn, it is likely that he will face Butler in the November election.
“I’m feeling confident at this point,” Bloom said, already anticipating the general election. “I’m looking forward to the next few months.”
Brad Torgan, despite spending far less on his campaign, has stayed in the running.
“I was actually very pleased,” said Torgan, who claimed he won Malibu and other nearby cities. “With the resources I had, I think I did a really good job.”
Osborn felt fully satisfied with the race’s recent results, in third place at the time.
“I think we put together an exciting campaign that energized dozens and dozens of volunteers,” she said. “You can defy expectations. Nobody expected this campaign to do well.”
Attempts to reach Butler’s campaign for comment were unsuccessful as of press time.
The candidates also reached out to Malibu residents and gave their thoughts on the lagoon situation.
Bloom wanted Malibu residents to know he has supported environmental initiatives in the past, and also that he pushed for portable stadium lights on Malibu High’s football field for night games.
As for the lagoon, Bloom backed the project staunchly. “I’m 100 percent satisfied that this is the best way to restore the lagoon to good health,” he said.
Bloom cited thorough studies done beforehand by many different organizations including the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, which he chairs, and the Coastal Commission.
Torgan thanked Malibu voters who supported him. He even praised those who made the trip to the polls to vote for his competitors, calling it a “civic duty” nonetheless. Torgan, who served as Chief Council of California State Parks during the Schwarzenegger era, called the lagoon project a matter of how to improve the lagoon, not one side hoping to destroy it.
“These are environmentalists battling other environmentalists,” he said. “Malibuites are some of the most passionate people you’ll ever find.”
Osborn has been swamped by emails from supporters, some of them Malibu residents.
“I’ve gotten wonderful support from Malibu,” she said. “I’ve been gratified by the response.”
Osborn shared that she admired Malibu residents for their recent ability to put aside differences, organizing for a common goal.
“This is a sign of the times,” she said. “Kind of a rising up of citizen activism.”
In the State Senate race, Todd Zink edged out Fran Pavley to win the 27th district primary, which includes Malibu. Zink finished with 57,493 votes to Pavley’s 56,226.
Zink attributed the win to people wanting better state government. For example, he vowed to improve education, feeling the system lacked real standards for graduation.
Pavley disagrees.
“There is a strong standard,” the former middle school teacher said.
She believes Malibu schools and others are partly plagued by disabled students being neglected and thus falling behind.
Despite loosing to Zink, she claimed she won Malibu, attributing the loss mainly to less voters heading to the polls.
“It’s a very different district,” Pavley said about Malibu, adding that Malibu is home to almost the same number of registered Democrats as Republicans.
Pavley has been representing Malibu for 11 years in the state government. She served as a member of the state Assembly from 2000 to 2006 and was elected to the state Senate in 2008 in the former 23rd District. But Pavley’s seat was made tenuous after the voter-approved Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission re-drew legislative and congressional boundaries last year ahead of the 2012 elections. The new 27th District includes inland areas such as Santa Clarita, which are seen as more conservative than coastal areas such as Malibu.
Pavley shrugged off the narrow defeat and said she was looking forward to the November elections.