The last few years have brought many challenges for Americans and especially California residents. From the COVID lockdowns and the resulting destruction of small businesses and mandatory masking and vaccines to the very serious levels of inflation not seen since the 1970s, including skyrocketing fuel costs and increasing crime rates and homelessness.
Californians have had the crazy effects of the last few years turbo-charged on us, especially right here in Los Angeles County because of state and county governmental policies. For the first time, California is experiencing more emigration than immigration as people flee to more freedom and lower cost of living in other states. Gov. Newsom is actually airing ads in Florida asking some of them to come back — that is not a joke. All of this is largely the result of one-party rule in California. Incredibly, California is STILL in a declared “state of emergency.” Many people have resigned themselves to this political paradigm. But do we have to?
Malibu residents may not realize it, but political re-districting after the last census has created new State Senate, Assembly and Congressional districts for Malibu. In the past, these districts were solidly held by three career Democrat politicians: Henry Stern, Richard Bloom, and Ted Lieu. That is no longer the case. Starting in November, Malibu will have new representation in different districts, and this is where it gets interesting.
As a result of the California “top two” primary system, we now have three Republican women who are not career politicians but come from the “real world” of business and entrepreneurship facing off with three career politicians in these new districts that will now include Malibu. These three women are Lori Mills, Kristina Irwin, and Lucie Vlotsky, who will be running for State Assembly, State Senate, and Congress respectively.
These three women have all said that they feel compelled to leave their current lives and wade into the realm of politics because things have gotten so bad here in California on a wide range of issues. These three mothers are not happy with what is happening to our state and our country and feel that we are rapidly heading in the wrong direction. They have decided to put their current family’s lives and routines at risk and step up to fix things in the most challenging state and county for Republicans.
What are the new districts? Our new State Assembly District 42, where Lori Mills is facing off against Jacqui Irwin, who has been in public office since 2005, now includes Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, parts of Camarillo and other towns from Ventura County — which was essentially “Free America” during the pandemic compared to the max-lockdown of Los Angeles County — along with Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Topanga, and Malibu.
The new State Senate District 24 also includes Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Topanga, and arcs along the South Bay through Santa Monica, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes, and goes inland to Beverly Hills, West Los Angeles, Westwood and Bel-Air. This is where Kristina Irwin, a write-in candidate who has successfully made it onto the November ballot, will be going up against Ben Allen, who has been in the State Senate since 2015.
Congressional District 32 now ties Malibu in with Topanga, Bel-Air and goes up to Northridge, Sherman Oaks, Encino, and portions of Bell Canyon and Woodland Hills. This is where Lucie Vlotsky will be going up against Brad Sherman, who has been in political office for the last 25 years serving first in the State Assembly and now in Congress.
If you are not happy with the way California has handled things over the last few years and if you feel that we are headed in the wrong direction, you may now have the opportunity to change direction. These three new candidates to become the people’s representatives will be coming to Malibu and the other cities in these new districts to tell you what they are all about. They have left behind the comfort zone and have entered the political arena, and “We The People” should hear what they have to say — especially if we desire a change for our state and country. “In crisis, there is opportunity” and there has been no shortage of crises recently, but opportunity may have just arrived in the form of three mothers concerned about the future world their kids will be living in.
If you are happy with the direction of California or the way things were handled during our ongoing “state of emergency” this message is not for you. But if you are looking at what is going on around you and you are realizing that our state and our country are not headed in the right direction — then you might consider hearing what these new candidates have to say and let them know your thoughts about what is happening here in California. These are very, very serious times in California and America and we all need to start paying very close attention to what is going on and where we are headed. If we want to change that direction, it will not be easy, but it may be possible. It is time for everyone to get off the couch and get involved.
Rick Mullen, Malibu