Southland House Races Include Four Seats Without Incumbents

LOS ANGELES, CA — Voters in four Southern California congressional districts Tuesday will choose candidates to meet in November to succeed House members not running for reelection — including Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, who are running for the U.S. Senate.

A field of 15 candidates is running to succeed Schiff, D-Burbank, in the predominantly Democratic 30th Congressional District -- 12 Democrats, two Republicans, and one candidate with no party preference.

Democrats on the ballot include former Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer; state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge; Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale; Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education member Nick Melvoin; West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne; Jirair Ratevosian, a former State Department official; and actor Ben Savage.

The district stretches from West Hollywood to Pasadena and Echo Park to the Angeles National Forest.

Schiff has not made an endorsement.

Four Democrats, three Republicans and three candidates with no party preference are running to succeed Porter in the 47th Congressional District, which was represented by Republicans from when it was created after California gained seven House seats in the reapportionment following the 1950 census until Porter defeated then-Rep. Mimi Walters in 2018.

The Democratic candidates include Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine and voting rights advocate Joanna Weiss. The Republicans include former Assemblyman Scott Baugh and business owner Max Ukropina.

Baugh lost to Porter, 51.7%-48.3%, in 2022 and was among the candidates in the 2018 primary challenging then-Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R- Huntington Beach, finishing fourth in a race eventually won by Democrat Harley Rouda.

Rouda, who lost his bid for a second term in 2020 to Michelle Steel, announced his candidacy to succeed Porter in January 2023, but withdrew three months later after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a fall. Rouda has endorsed Weiss.

Min pleaded no contest on Aug. 29, 2023, in Sacramento County Superior Court to driving under the influence of alcohol above the legal limit of 0.08. He was sentenced to two days in jail, three months in a first offender program and placed on three years of informal probation, according to Shelly Orio, a public information officer for the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office.

The first offender program includes 30 hours of alcohol and drug education counseling.

When contacted by City News Service for a response following his plea, Min's office referred back to a statement the senator issued when he was arrested on May 2, 2023.

"Last night I was cited for a misdemeanor for driving under the influence," Min said in a statement from his office in May. "My decision to drive last night was irresponsible. I accept full responsibility and there is no excuse for my actions. To my family, constituents and supporters, I am so deeply sorry. I know I need to do better. I will not let this personal failure distract from our work in California and in Washington."

Min's arrest and plea have prompted criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

Weiss has used it in a commercial billing herself as "the Democrat we can trust." Ben Petersen, the Western press secretary of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said following Min's arrest, "Voters will rightfully question David Min's judgment after this incident."

The campaign arm of the House Republicans has made the race one of its top target races.

Porter endorsed Min on Jan. 18, 2023, the day he announced his candidacy, saying she has "have every confidence that his campaign will ensure that California's 47th Congressional District continues to be represented by a progressive Democrat."

The 47th District stretches from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and also includes Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Newport Beach.

In the Northeast San Fernando Valley's predominately Democratic 29th Congressional District retiring Rep. Tony Cárdenas, D-Pacoima, has endorsed Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, D-North Hollywood, to succeed him.

Community organizer Angélica María Dueñas, a Democrat who lost to Cárdenas, 56.6%-43.4% in 2020 and 58.5%-41.5% in 2022, is among the two other candidates on the ballot, along with Republican Benito "Benny" Bernal, a family and youth advocate.

Retiring Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk, has endorsed Sen. Bob Archuleta, D-Pico Rivera, in the race to succeed her in the predominantly Democratic 31st Congressional District in the San Gabriel Valley.

Former Rep. Gil Cisneros, who from 2019-21 represented the then-39th District, which ran from Walnut in the north to Chino Hills in the east, Hacienda Heights in the west and Fullerton in the south, and Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, are among the five other Democrats on the ballot.

Mary Ann Lutz, a member of the Citrus Community College District Board of Trustees, workers' rights advocate Greg Hafif and health care advocate and businessman Kurt Jose are the other Democrats on the ballot.

Two Republicans are on the ballot -- clinical psychologist Pedro Antonio Casas and lawyer/entrepreneur/educator Daniel Jose Bocic Martinez -- along with two candidates without a party preference, teacher Erskine Levi and commissioner Marie Manvel.

By STEVEN HERBERT City News Service