Bob Hertzberg, a former Assembly Speaker, could run against incumbents Fran Pavley and Tony Strickland in the redrawn 27th district, which includes Malibu.
By John Howard / Capital Weekly
Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg said he is pondering a run for the state Senate in the newly drawn 27th District, where a political battle already is shaping up between Senate incumbents Fran Pavley and Tony Strickland.
Hertzberg, a Democrat who served as speaker from 2000 to 2002, said last week he may enter the race, at least in part to assure the defeat of Strickland, a Republican.
“I’m looking at it,” Hertzberg said, “for the purpose of helping the (Senate) Democratic Caucus.” Hertzberg has endorsed Pavley in the past.
Hertzberg, an attorney with the L.A. firm of Mayer Brown and a leading member of government reform efforts in Sacramento, has been in discussions with Democratic leaders in the Capitol about entering the race. A final decision has not yet been made, Hertzberg said.
The contest in the 27th District is another in a series of confrontations prompted by the configuration of districts crafted by the voter-approved Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission, which drew legislative and congressional boundaries for the 2012 elections.
Parts of Strickland’s 19th District and Pavley’s 23rd District overlap, setting up a potential showdown in the 27th. Pavley has announced she intends to run, while Strickland has not yet formally announced. Pavley worked as a history teacher at Chapparal Middle School in Moorpark for 25 years before entering politics. She 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.
Both Malibu Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich have endorsed Pavley.