Grunion Gazette

Lowenthal's Old Seat

Assembly Race Pits Karnette, Kuykendall

By Kurt Helin
Editor

October 14, 2004

In an era when most state legislative districts are drawn up to be “safe” for one party or the other, Long Beach ’s 54th State Assembly seat is in the middle of one of the few intensely contested state election races this November.

Long Beach resident and Democrat Betty Karnette held this seat for two years, has spent the last six in the state Senate and now wants to return to the Assembly. Opposing her is Republican Steve Kuykendall, who said he was encouraged to run again for the seat he held from 1994 (when he defeated Karnette) to 1998 by the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.

The 54th Assembly District includes most of Long Beach as well as part of Palos Verdes and San Pedro. For the past six years, Alan Lowenthal, who is now seeking a state Senate seat, has represented it.

While the district has more registered Democrats than Republicans — 46.3% to 35.7% — it is the 16% of district voters who list themselves as independent that make the contests for the seat historically close.

Both sides expect that again this time, which has led to a flood of money from the state parties turning this race into one of the most expensive Assembly seat races around. Combined, the candidates are expected to spend in excess of $1 million.

These two faced off for this same seat in 1994, with Kuykendall defeating Karnette by less than 600 votes. Karnette says she believes that will be different this time because of what she accomplished for the area in her six years in the state Senate.

“We really need experience in the legislature,” Karnette said. “You need to understand how things work and have relationships to get things done.”

Kuykendall said that the wrong things have gotten done — that the performance of the state legislature in the past decade is the reason there needs to be a change. That’s what prompted him to run, he said.

“The state just got in worse and worse condition month after month,” Kuykendall said. “I was just looking at a state government that was dysfunctional.”

Kuykendall puts much of the focus of his campaign on financial issues, specifically retaining major businesses in Long Beach . He pointed toward efforts during his term representing the 54th District to expand the enterprise zone at the Long Beach Airport , a key factor in Boeing keeping 717 production in Long Beach , as the kind of steps he would take.

“One of the big problems we have is we are chasing away business rather than encouraging it and keeping it here,” Kuykendall said.

Karnette — who has been called a “job killer” by the Long Beach Chamber — said that creating jobs is a priority for her as well, but that it should be done through innovation. When talking about environmental concerns at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles , she said there is room to create jobs there.

“Environmental technology is one of our greatest resources,” Karnette said. “We need to work with the colleges to create environmental technology jobs that will both help the economy and clean up the environment.”

Kuykendall said the key to dealing with the balance of port pollution and job growth at the ports should involve old-fashioned political pragmatism.

“I think probably the kind of balance we need is something that could be co-sponsored by Kuykendall and, if he wins, Lowenthal,” Kuykendall said. “We come at it from different perspectives, but we both have enough pragmatism in us to get something done.”

Right now, the Sacramento legislature is so partisan that it is adding to the gridlock, Kuykendall said, something he feels he can help break. He also said he is the right man to help Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger right the state’s ship, someone who can work to grow the state’s economy.

Karnette agreed that partisanship is a problem in Sacramento , but said her optimistic and open nature help break that down by forming good relationships on both sides of the isle.

“To deal with partisan issues, you need to look at the issues and not the people and come up with a solution that works for everyone,” Karnette said.

Karnette added that her optimistic nature is the kind of thing that is needed to get things done in what can be a very cynical Sacramento atmosphere.

Education and health care are two key issues Karnette said she wants to focus on if elected. With health care, she said there are a number of issues that need addressing but she hopes to work to get prescription medications from Canada available in California . With education, she said that finding money for programs such as adult education are key.

“There are many people who need to be educated and trained for a new job,” Karnette said. “Maybe people need to learn the language to get that new job. They should pay something (for the education), but the state should make it affordable.”

Kuykendall said that there is money within the budget to solve some of the problems, such as education. He said he sees a state system that has too much bureaucracy and overhead, which sucks money away from teachers and classrooms.

Both candidates are spending money and making numerous appearances, looking to motivate their core voters and sway any undecideds.

Schwarzenegger may play a key role in this race — of all the districts in the state represented by a Democrat, the 54th had the highest percentage of votes for the governor.

He has endorsed Kuykendall, but some observers feel that one or two high-profile appearances by the governor in the district backing the Republican could be a key step.

Ultimately, it is the voters that will choose between Kuykendall and Karnette. They head to the polls on Nov. 2.

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