The Mar Vista Community Council held a candidate forum Tuesday night, June 1st, and it was very well organized — much cleaner and smoother than Democracy usually is, so I commend the MVCC and all the people who put it together. Brian Watt of KPCC was the moderator, and it turns out he’s a Mar Vista stakeholder as well, so that was cool to know. (I am a big fan of kpcc, so it was great to meet him — just wanted to share that.)

The 53rd Assembly District is a crowded race. It’s Ted Lieu’s seat in the State Assembly and he’s vacating it to run for Attorney General. Seven democratic candidates were on hand, as were as a republican and a green party candidate. I commend them all for giving it a shot and making a go of it.

You know from reading this and my other blog, I’m a liberal democrat with pretty lefty leanings, so although I was open to hear the views of Nathan Mintz (R), he doesn’t have my support. However, since he’s the only one running in his category, he’ll be on the November ballot should anyone else care to vote for him. Lisa Ann Green (green party — and Yes, that’s her real name) – she’ll also be on the November ballot since she’s running as the only Green in the race. I loved what she had to say and I love that we live in a country where she has a right to say it.

Now for the dems: I wish they could run as a team, since they all have varying degrees of skill and passion about the democratic process, but they can’t. And as you also know from reading MVM, I have already endorsed Kate Anderson, and the forum didn’t change my mind. Betsy Butler, Nick Karno, Edgar Saenz, James T. Lau, Peter Thottam, and Diane Wallace are running on similar (but not identical) parts of a basic democratic platform: education and job creation being high on the list. (Please note: Mitch Ward (d) is also running but was not able to attend the forum, nor was Ethan Musulin (libertarian).) But Kate Anderson is getting my vote on June 8th because I think she has the ability to work with people on all sides of an issue. I have seen her in action, working on local education projects, and she has been able to handle some very tough customers — people who are a challenge for anyone to work with — and bring them all to the table harmoniously. I think that’s going to take her far in Sacramento.

In the 36th Congressional District, Marcy Winograd had it over her opponents without even saying a word, in my opinion. They’re all running for Jane Harman’s seat and so is she, so it’s a tough fight by any stretch. But Marcy’s the only other democrat — Pete Kesterson and Andrew Sharp are both republicans, as is Mattie Fein (who was not able to attend), and so neither of them represent values I look for in a candidate — and Herb Peters is a libertarian who seems to stand for things I really can’t support, like taking us back to the 1800′s to find economic prosperity. (I think.) So Marcy Winograd’s getting my vote on June 8th. No surprise.

No matter who you’re supporting, please get out and vote on June 8th. Democracy takes work, people. It’s important to be a part of it. And please note that is probably the only time you’ll see me give out so much space and so many links to republicans — ever.