The campaign for Betty Karnette’s vacated 54th District State Assembly seat has become a little more clear after Tuesday’s primary election, as voters narrowed down their choices by selecting Long Beach Vice-Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal to represent the Democratic Party and Ranchos Palos Verdes nurse and teacher Gabriella Holt to represent the Republican Party. Libertarian candidate John Kling faced no opponent and will challenge Lowenthal and Holt in the November general election.
Lowenthal jumped out to an early lead after initial absentee ballots had been reported, and never looked back. She would go on to capture 68% of the vote, easily defeating opponent and 7th District City Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga for the right to represent the party.
Lowenthal described the victory as a dream, and commended Reyes Uranga, who she called “a strong Democrat who has committed to public service.” Their race was a long and tenacious one, filled with competitive (and rarely subtle) banter in debates and the media.
Lowenthal’s prize? Do it all over again, this time facing Gabriella Holt in the general election.
“The state is at a real crossroads with budget problems we’ve never imagined,” Lowenthal told a crowd of supporters that included councilmembers Dee Andrews, Patrick O’Donnell and Val Lerch at the Coast Restaurant and Hotel.
“It’s not about me,” she continued. “It’s really about all of you. We have reached Step 1 and we have from now until November to work really hard.”
Holt expressed similar enthusiasm for the upcoming general campaign – after beating fellow Republican Michael A. Jackson with 55% of the vote – and is looking forward to picking up the campaign trail where she left off.
“It’s exciting because it’s different,” she said from an election party at her Ranchos Palos Verdes home. “Now I think that we can really get to issues. There are lots of challenges going on in the state that we can have changes in and have a lot of discussion, and I find that very exciting.”
Holt will face a challenging road to victory in November, attempting to win election in a heavily Democratic district, a fact which Lowenthal was happy to address.
“All the Democrats will unite to keep a Democrat in the 54th,” she said. She agreed with Holt’s assessment that the campaigns will focus on the candidate’s differing beliefs, now that the field has been narrowed.
“From this point on we’ll examine more the ideologies and experience of the Republican candidate,” Lowenthal said.
Photo by Russell Conroy
Story by Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor