Candidates Vie for Time at Forum

About 150 people filled a car showroom in Torrance on Monday night to listen to 13 of the 16 candidates running to represent the 36th Congressional District.

The candidates' forum was sponsored by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters Beach Cites and Torrance Area and was held at "Dave's Garage" at Pelican Products in Torrance. 

The large field of candidates is vying to replace longtime to join a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The candidates are in the homestretch for the May 17 special primary election to represent the district, which includes Hermosa Beach and other communities stretching down to San Pedro.

The district skews Democratic with 45 percent of its roughly 345,000 voters registered as Democrats, compared with 27 percent registered as Republican and 22 percent saying they decline to state their party preference, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

Teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd was blunt about the race during her final remarks.

"In the 36th Congressional District, Democratic Party registration leads by about 18 percentage points; in all probability a Democrat will win this seat," Winograd said.

Winograd, who focused on her anti-war platform, reminded audience members that she gained 41 percent of the primary vote in June when she ran against Harman.

The May 17 election will be held under the state's new "top two" primary system. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, the top two vote-getters—regardless of party—will face each other in a July 12 special general election. The winner will serve the remainder of the two-year term, which ends Jan. 3, 2013. 

The wide field proved a challenge to handle with the candidates sharing a stage with a large U.S. flag behind them as they made opening and closing statements and fielded questions from moderator Fatima Malik of the League of Women Voters under strict time rules.

The previous night's announcement of terrorist Osama bin Laden's death influenced some of the opening remarks with Democratic candidate and Hollywood producer Dan Adler calling it "a night of true unity," while Republican candidate and Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin opened by thanking the troops and reminding people to remain vigilant in regard to the war on terror.

The two Democratic candidates who have raised the most money, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn and Secretary of State Debra Bowen, rarely had a chance to offer juxtaposing views due to the format of the first question-and-answer session in which three candidates had one minute to answer the same question.

Both were asked whether they supported or opposed a Republican plan in Congress to cut $750 billion from Medicaid's budget and children's health programs.

"I don't believe that there's much that I could be more opposed to than Paul Ryan's proposal for handling the future of health care for our seniors and our budget," Bowen said in reference to the GOP budget plan proposed by the Wisconsin congressman. 

Hahn said she had been spending a lot of time with senior citizens on the campaign trail and noted their concern over the budget proposal "that pretty much dismantles Medicare." She said that more than half of the bankruptcies in the United States were related to health care expenses.

"Let's not get back to the place where people have to choose between health care and their prescription drugs and whether or not they could pay their mortgages," Hahn said.

During the rapid-fire question-and-answer session, the candidates had only 25 seconds to answer questions that included the debt ceiling, their ability to work across the aisle in Congress and whether teens should receive scientifically based sex education that includes information on condoms.

The forum ended with the candidates making  a one-minute closing statement.

Republican Craig Huey talked about his outsider status and said he wasn't a career politician, but a businessman who would bring "economic sanity" to Washington.

Maria Montano, a public school teacher running under the Peace and Freedom Party label, got a chuckle from the crowd after she read her closing statement that ended with her saying, "Please vote for me. Just vote for me OK."