Three vie for Muratsuchi’s AD 66 seat
Graphic
Incumbent Al Muratsuchi, Democrat from Rolling Hills Estates, is facing off against Republican Frank Scotto, of Torrance, and independent Caney Arnold, of Harbor City in the 66th Assembly District race. The primary election is June 5. The top two vote-getters will go on to the general election unless one of the candidates receives more than 50 percent of the votes.
Muratsuchi and Scotto are favored to continue on to November’s general election. Both are well-known political names; Muratsuchi is in his second term, winning his seat back in 2016 from David Hadley, who overtook Muratsuchi during the 2014 election.
Muratsuchi’s messaging indicates that a vote for him is a vote against the Trump Administration’s agenda.
“I’m delivering on South Bay priorities, like getting our fair share of funding for schools, fighting against the Trump administration proposal to open offshore oil drilling, and delivering significant state funds for a Metro South Bay extension,” Muratsuchi said. “I’m confident that voters will judge me by how I’m fighting for and delivering for the South Bay.”
Muratsuchi pointed to $231 million in funding secured to accelerate construction of the LA Metro Green Line light rail extension to Torrance. The funds come from Metro’s modernization program, which aims to have a series of transit projects completed in time for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Everyone in the South Bay is going to benefit from expanding LA Metro by cutting down on traffic and air pollution,” Muratsuchi said. “In order for us to have a functioning economy and a functioning community, we need to invest in our infrastructure.”
Scotto, however, believes that raising taxes — as done with SB 1, the gas tax increase passed in 2017 — is not the answer. He said the legislature needs to learn to make do with what the state already has.
“The reason I’m motivated to run is that it’s my responsibility, because of the direction the State of California has gone in,” Scotto said.
Elected four times in Torrance (twice each as councilman, then mayor), Scotto termed-out in 2014. He sold Frank Scotto Towing in 2016 and continues to own gas stations in Torrance.
Scotto’s criticism of the State Government runs deep, as he demonstrated when blaming California for automaker Toyota’s decision to move its headquarters to Texas.
“It’s not that I think my election will change all these things, but I’ll be a voice up there, and I want to say that enough’s enough,” Scotto said. “We need to stop giving them more money and make them understand what they have is what they need to spend.”
Scotto acknowledges that he has work ahead of him. Democrats hold the voter registration edge in the district, 40.8 percent to 30.1 percent for Republicans. But he believes victory should be in hand if he carries Torrance and simply “moves the needle” to the right through the rest of the district.
Caney Arnold’s path to victory doesn’t seem quite as straightforward. He’s a relative newcomer to politics, losing in 2017’s Los Angeles City Council District 15 race to incumbent Joe Buscaino.
“Frankly, if I look at Scott and I look at Al, on a lot of issues, I don’t see any difference,” Arnold said.
He took particular issue with Muratsuchi’s decision to abstain from voting on Senate Bill 54, which created the “Sanctuary State” law. Arnold believes that “someone who’s stronger, who’s going to stand up for things” should hold the seat.
Muratsuchi said SB 54 was “more about politics.”
“While I support law enforcement in general, I did not want to support or contribute to the divisive anti-immigrant rhetoric that has been coming from President Trump and on down to some of our local Trump activists,” Muratsuchi said of his abstention.
Arnold feels he earned his stripes during his 32 years working for the U.S. Department of Defense, standing up for what he thought was right.
As a Democrat, Arnold believes that his rocking of the establishment’s boat is hurting his fundraising capabilities.
“You look at any old political movie, with the mafia, the government and police involved, it feels that way here,” Arnold said. “I’m not going to get money from anybody connected to the party, or from a non-profit, because they’re all scared of upsetting an incumbent.”
His first priority, were he elected, would be to educate the public on transparency and accountability with regular constituent meetings.
“Look at Assembly websites: It’s all feel-good photo-ops, but no discussion of educating voters on what the issues are,” Arnold said.
If campaign donations are any indication, Arnold appears to be a long shot. As of the most recently filed campaign finance forms, Arnold has received $3,883.36 in support, mostly in self-loans.
Scotto’s donations total $422,903.54, as of May 22, with more than a quarter of his funding ($121,750) coming from voters on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Muratsuchi has raised $785,747.13.. Of this 92 percent has come from donors outside of AD 66, including more than $560,000 from political committees, police officers associations and labor unions.
According to County data, six percent of the district’s 140,609 mail-in ballots had been returned by May 22.