As the campaign season winds into its final weeks, Sandra Fluke and Ben Allen are vying for Ted Lieu’s State Senate seat in a District 26 that has attracted big money and national attention.
Lieu chose to run for Henry Waxman’s 33rd U.S. Congressional seat in the Nov. 4 election, leaving the two top candidates from the June 3 “jungle” primary election, Fluke and Allen, both Democrats, competing to take over the 26th.
At the Kiwanis Club of Hermosa Beach on Oct. 13, Beach Cities residents filled the hall to capacity, eager to hear the positions and debate of State Assembly and State Senate candidates.
Rabbi Gila Katz organized the event and KTLA’s Glen Walker acted as moderator for the two-hour forum. While assembly candidates Republican David Hadley and Democrat Al Muratsuchi butt heads over hot-button issues like oil drilling, the drought and job loss, the debate between Fluke and Allen was more cordial but more complicated. Both struggled to appear respectful of their opponent while attempting to differentiate themselves on policy and campaign approach.
A Santa Monica native and child of educators, Allen studied law at Harvard University and is now on the faculty at UCLA as a lecturer in law and education. Allen is a school board member in the Malibu-Santa Monica School District and has previously served as school board president. He said he is driven by a passion for education and for rebuilding broken school systems in the district.
“Fifty percent of the state’s budget is in education,” Allen said. “And when the state gets a cold, schools get the flu.”
Beyond education issues, Allen emphasized the need for open space preservation and state infrastructure improvements. He also criticized Sacramento’s political insulation, saying it shows “how much the state can get in the way of business.”
Fluke, an attorney and public interest advocate, was thrust into the spotlight in 2012 when she spoke at a House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee meeting about the importance of contraception being covered by health insurance, even at Catholic institutions like Georgetown Law, where she was a student. Rush Limbaugh attacked Fluke on his radio program, calling her “a slut” and “a prostitute” who expects the state to pay her to have sex. Limbaugh later apologized for his remarks, but Fluke rejected his apology.
“I hope that my time in the spotlight has shown you what my leadership looks like,” Fluke said. “I stay firm on my principles. And the work I have done in the last decade, helping to pass bills for public assistance, addressing unemployment and help for victims of human trafficking, shows you what is most important to me.”
Fluke’s platform includes focus on reinvesting in early childhood education, affordability of higher education, environmental protection, economic growth and campaign finance reform.
An audience question about school vouchers and Common Core curriculum sparked the evening’s strongest reaction from an already feisty audience.
“Vouchers can cross the line between church and state,” Allen said. “But I do support some school choice, like charter schools, in areas where public schools are weak. And I support Common Core because I think it helps kids think more broadly.”
“I have deep concerns about vouchers,” Fluke said. “The program takes resources out of public schools and (lowers) public involvement. … Common Core can actually benefit us so that it’s done in a thoughtful way.”
After a particularly vocal member of the audience booed Fluke, a man behind him stood up and shouted, “I’m sick of hearing the boos, I want to listen to the candidates.” A brief shouting match ensued.
Gila Katz cooled the audience down, saying disagreements can be handled outside but “not in the Kiwanis club.”
Allen has scored a number of high-profile endorsements, including Henry Waxman and former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, as well as a slew of local elected officials such as Redondo Beach Mayor Steve Aspel, Manhattan Beach Mayor Wayne Powell and nearly the entire Hermosa Beach City Council. Between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, Allen acquired $964,577.69 in campaign contributions.
“I am really proud of all of the endorsements I’ve gotten,” Allen said in a recent interview.
Fluke’s campaign contributions from the same period totaled $1,102,994.94. Her endorsements include the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, California’s Firefighters and Paramedics, California’s Teachers and Nurses, Congresswoman Janice Hahn and Attorney General Kamala Harris.
Fluke said she is “proud that she has gained 4,600 individual contributions from grassroots fundraising, most of which were for $250 or less.
She told the audience that campaign finance reform would be her first order of business in Sacramento.
“Living my values around independence and campaign finance reform is a stark difference between me and my opponent,” Fluke said in an email last week. “He has had an independent expenditure of more than $1 million from one single individual, more than doubling his own campaign budget.”
Allen was hesitant to criticize Fluke’s campaign but insisted that his level of endorsements come not from private interests, but from public trust in his ability to lead.
“It can be frustrating to make a substantial difference between the messages of two Democratic candidates,” Allen said. “I am most proud to have the support of Henry Waxman and Richard Riordan. I think I’ve gotten my message across.”
UPDATE: Sandra Fluke’s campaign has responded to questions of her residency and state Senate eligibility through a statement from her attorney:
James C. Harrison, ESQ.: “As Sandra has explained many times, she moved to the district with her now husband in 2007, to the border of Santa Monica and Venice. In 2010, they purchased their current home in West Hollywood and have lived there ever since. Just like many Angelenos, Sandra had to travel back and forth for school and work, but Los Angeles was always her home. Recent politically-motivated reports regarding Sandra’s residency are misleading and not factually accurate. To be clear: Sandra meets all the legal residency and other requirements to run for and hold the office of State Senator.”
