About 70 people gathered in Hermosa Beach on Wednesday for a Beach Cities Democratic Club meet-and-greet with Congressman Henry Waxman and State Assembly candidate Al Muratsuchi.
Waxman, 37-year veteran in Congress, faces Manhattan Beach businessman and Independent Bill Bloomfield in the 33rd District congressional race. Forty-four percent of the newly drawn district’s voters are registered Democrats, while 28 percent are registered Republicans, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.
State prosecutor and Torrance School Board member Muratsuchi faces Republican businessman Craig Huey in the 66th District State Assembly race, where voter party registration is split nearly down the middle, with 38 percent of voters registered as Democrats and 35 percent as Republicans.
Waxman is new to the South Bay, but within a minute of his address steered his comments toward the region’s issues. “The lynchpin of the aerospace industry and the air force base is very clear to me,” he told the crowd. “If there’s ever a chance that anybody’s going to try to close that air force base, they’re going to have to do it over my dead body.”
Waxman also addressed his commitment to the environment, which he said unites the coastal cities in the newly drawn 33rd District, which stretches from Rancho Palos Verdes up the coast to Malibu. “There’s a lot of important issues that tie us all together, one of which I think is protection of the environment,” he said.
Muratsuchi said his platform focuses – jobs, schools and a clean, safe environment – transcend ideology. “We have to many ideologues too caught up in ideologies and not focused on concrete solutions,” Muratsuchi said, adding that as a school board member, he’s been frustrated with the state budget cuts that have impacted public schools and universities.
Muratsuchi linked school budget cuts to the great recession. “We need to improve the business climate here in California. We need to grow the economy, create jobs and make sure we’re not driving business out of the state of California,” he said.
When an audience member asked about the high number of drug offenders in the prison system, Waxman brought up education. “If we don’t start educating our kids, were going to start paying for them in prison,” he said.
Redondo Beach resident Donna Ryan was pleased with the candidates’ speeches. “It really went into more depth than what you usually get from a politician,” Ryan said. “It inspires me, I want to go help work on their campaigns.”
For Beach Cities Democratic Club President Diane Wallace, electing candidates who can reach beyond party lines is important. “We need people from both parties who are willing to work with each other,” she said. “One of the things (Waxman) reflected on is how he has been so successful in Congress because he has a very good working relationship with Republicans.”
Waxman still took a jab at the Republican Party, noting that he was struck by Rep. Todd Akin’s comments on rape and pregnancy. “It was clear Congressman Akin believed what he was saying about a woman who’s raped not being able to have a pregnancy as a result of it,” he said.
“When it comes to a lot of issues, there’s just not a willingness to look at science to make decisions,” Waxman said of the Republican Party, pointing to issues like family planning, contraception and global warming.
Waxman’s challenger, Bloomfield, touts his commitment to bipartisanship, citing his affiliation with No Labels, a grassroots, bipartisan organization with a platform to “stop fighting and start fixing” Congress.
Wallace said she worries about voter apathy and hopes intimate gatherings help fuel the local political dialogue. “Sometimes people are nervous about attending political events,” she said. “I hope in the South Bay we’re making some headway with having political events, (so voters can) ask questions and engage in some good conversation.”
Former Hermosa Beach Councilmember and Manhattan Bread and Bagel owner Michael Keegan and his wife, Superior Court Judge Lynn Olson, hosted the gathering at their Hermosa Beach home.
