Fein, Harman win primaries
GOP candidate Matty Fein celebrates her primary victory at the Shade Hotel with Rosalie Olson, Jan Fleming, John Fleming, and Steve Mecias. Photo
Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman will face Republican Mattie Fein after each dispatched their respective party opponents in Tuesday’s primary elections.
Harman easily beat challenger Marcy Winograd, earning nearly 59 percent of the vote to Winograd’s 41 percent. Fein earned 50 percent of the vote in the GOP primary, outdistancing candidates Pete Kesterson, at 43 percent, and Andrew Sharp, at 7 percent.
At a victory party at Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach, Fein predicted that Harman would face a far steeper challenge from the GOP in the general election than she has in years past. She said that her support base would include everything from large corporations to small business owners and even union workers.
The Republican Party in the South Bay, Fein said, is about to broaden its appeal.
“For me, this is about bringing people together,” Fein said. “I truly believe this is going to be an all-inclusive tent to win the race.”
Fein runs a political and public relations firm and moved to Venice from Washington D.C. last year specifically to take on Harman. She offered a sharp critique of the Congresswoman. She said that Harman and her husband – Sidney Harman, the founder of Harman International Industries – have financially benefited from her 16 years as the South Bay’s congressional representative. She said that Harman for the first time recused herself on an issue this year, during the Toyota hearings, but in fact have a network of business connections the represent conflicts of interest.
“I think there are some very serious questions that need to be asked about her ability to vote impartially in Congress,” Fein said. “These are non-partisan issues…This woman has prostituted this district for her own purposes.”
Harman was en route back to Washington Wednesday morning and unavailable for comment. Her campaign manager, Harvey Englander, scoffed at Fein’s charges. He said Harman properly recused herself because her husband’s firm sold car radios to Toyota.
“We don’t really know anything about Mattie Fein,” Englander said. “We don’t know about her investments. We don’t even know if she really knows where the 36th District is. If she wants to continue the extreme far left tactics of Marcy Winograd, if that is where she wants to position herself, go for it.”
Fein said that a central issue of her campaign will be the economic health of the South Bay. She argued that Harman has not effectively protected the area’s manufacturing base.
“We need to keep businesses in California, and in this district, and work to bring businesses and jobs back to this area and make it the manufacturing hub it once was,” Fein said.
Englander said Harman’s record and endorsements speak otherwise.
“Congresswoman Harman has been an unbelievably effective fighter for industry and for jobs in the South Bay,” Englander said. “That is why she has the support of every major employer and union in the district. You don’t have both labor and management support unless you’ve done a good job.”
According to the most recent campaign filings available, Harman raised $762,000 in her primary campaign and her leading contributors included Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. Fein raised $117,000, mostly through self-financing – she contributed $108,000 to her own campaign.
Englander said that Harman’s sweeping victory over Winograd showed her continued popularity among South Bay voters.
“It was a very convincing victory last night,” he said. “Marcy Winograd spent, by her own estimation, close to a half million dollars…and she spent four years campaigning for this job attacking Congresswoman Harman’s record and integrity. And yet she received virtually the same percentage of votes she received four years ago. That just proves that Jane’s record and reputation is strongly supported by voters.”
Fein said this election is where Harman’s electoral success ends.
“Regardless of party, people are beginning to recognize that this district has been at her beck and call because of her ability to buy her elections,” Fein said. “I have some very strong feelings about how she has represented this district. She has put her career ahead of this district’s needs.”
Fein supporter Rosalie Olson said Fein is the Republican she has been waiting for.
“She’s got fire in her belly…” Olson said. “She is just the right person at just the right time.” ER