State Assembly Race: Ward hangs with the big dogs
Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward (center) gathered with Manhattan Beach Councilmember Portia Cohen, Former Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano and other supporters at Upper Manhattan during Tuesday’s State Primary Election. Photo by Brue Siebs
by Andrea Ruse
As the polls for the state primary elections closed Tuesday night, Mayor Mitch Ward and supporters of his campaign for the 53rd District State Assembly seat gathered at Upper Manhattan in North Manhattan Beach, eagerly awaiting the results of a race into which Ward has poured $120,000 of his own money.
By the end of the night, Ward had finished a close fourth. Frontrunner Betsy Butler from Marina del Rey had prevailed among the eight Democrats that packed the primary.
Butler– who has been the target of a half-million dollar corporate-backed smear campaign — finished with 26.7 percent of the vote, followed by James Lau from Venice Beach at 17.8 percent. Nick Karno from West L.A. earned 14.4 percent of the vote, barely edging Ward, with 14 percent, out of the top three.
“We played with the big boys,” Ward said in an interview yesterday. “We represented the South Bay and played locally as best we could.”
The rest of the votes were split up between Kate Anderson from Mar Vista with 11.8 percent, Peter Thottam from Venice Beach with 5.6 percent, Edgar Saenz from Westchester with 5.5 percent and Diane Wallace from Manhattan Beach with 4.2 percent.
Ward hoped to represent the South Bay in November’s General Election against Republican candidate Nathan Minz and third-party candidates.
More than $2.2 million was collectively spent by Democrats in the race. From his experience in the race, Ward said he better understood the frustration of Democrats with “the institution of the party itself,” which has moved further away from grassroots campaigning, according to Ward.
“I came up against that process,” he said. “I just didn’t have the resources the others had. I’m a commercial actor. If I could’ve had a commercial on T.V., I would have.”
Nonetheless, Ward said he is excited to move forward with the lessons he’s learned.
“I grew tremendously,” Ward said. “I really felt the love of the people that I came across all over the district.”
Whether Ward will run for the seat again in two years remains to be seen.
“I never say never,” Ward said. “I can’t afford my own money to do something like this again. But if funding opportunities came early enough, I might try. Like I said, never say never.” ER