Republican Hopefuls in 36th District Position Themselves at Forum

Three of the six Republican candidates running for a vacant seat in Congress attended a candidates' forum Tuesday night hosted by the California Republican Assembly.

The forum was held at an Acapulco restaurant in San Pedro and was sponsored by the San Pedro Harbor Republican Assembly.

The candidates in attendance were Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, aerospace entrepreneur and businessman Stephen Eisele and small-business owner Craig Huey.

John Stammreich, president of the local Republican group, opened the event by asking each of the candidates to introduce themselves and then posed two questions to each before opening it up for queries from the group.

Huey said that Republicans could win the election in a district that is heavily gerrymandered for Democrats. He also told the conservative group that he was in position to win due to his fundraising and backing, citing support from Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), former state Assemblyman Chuck Devore and state Sen. Tony Strickland, among others.

"The three Democrats are killing themselves, that gives us an opportunity to win," Huey said of Democratic candidates Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn and teacher and anti-war activist Marcy Winograd.

The election is being held to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) who resigned Feb. 28 to join a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The 36th Congressional District includes Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Del Rey, Mar Vista, Venice, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach.

If no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the May 17 special primary election, a special general election will be held July 12.

Eisele, of Marina del Rey, said he was running for Congress as an outsider and would bring his experience in the aerospace industry to keep jobs in the district and grow the economy through private enterprise. Eisele said he would work to bring back aerospace and high-tech jobs to the district.

He blamed high tax rates for the loss of tens of thousands of jobs since the mid-1990s and said he would find ways to foster the "entrepreneurial spirit" that used to flourish in the area.

Gin noted his experience as mayor of Redondo Beach for the past six years and his eight years as a city councilman.

He said that 78 percent of voters in the district were dissatisfied with the performance of Congress and 69 percent were extremely dissatisfied.

"I'm one of those 69 percent," Gin said, citing the recent federal budget impasse as one of the reasons for his dissatisfaction.

Gin said he has had a balanced budget in Redondo Beach for years and would make that a priority as a member of Congress.

"We should be operating the federal government the way the city has been operating," Gin said.

Stammreich asked all three candidates if they supported the "Roadmap for America," the long-term spending reduction proposal advocated by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin).

Eisele expressed his support for the plan, saying it was a "bold idea to really get us back in the path of fiscal sanity."

"I think it's absolutely essential that we lean more on the private sector to do things that the public sector has traditionally done," Eisele said. He favors Medicare changes, such as options for vouchers and private savings accounts.

Gin said he wanted to know how the plan affects levels of service for Medicare and other entitlements.

"We paid taxes over the years. We paid into Social Security. We should be able to get our tax dollars back through these methods and I want to make sure the plan addresses issues like that," Gin said.

Huey said Ryan has created a historic opportunity to change the way we look at the budget and said he was excited about its potential.

Stammreich asked what the two major issues are in the South Bay and all three said jobs were their top priority.

The candidates also voiced their support for Second Amendment gun ownership rights in a question that was framed in relation to gun violence in Mexico. Gin and Eisele said border protection would be a top priority and Huey said he was a member of the National Rifle Association.

A state issue also came up when an audience member asked about AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 that was signed into law by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Gin said he supports clean water and clean air, but would want to know what impact environmental regulations would have on small businesses. He also said he supported alternative forms of energy. Eisele too offered his support of alternative energy, but favored private industry making it efficient instead of the government. Huey said that higher energy costs related to AB32 have made jobs disappear in California.

"Anyone who has business sense, you can't make it here in California," Huey said.

He said the Democrats who said they were going to rely on a "green economy" to create jobs live in a "fantasy world."

All three candidates also chided the No Child Left Behind federal education program and said education decisions should be left to the state and local school districts.

Eisele said that as the son of immigrants, he learned that if you studied hard, you could make it. Education should not focus on the mindset that everyone should go to college, but should offer options that play to students' strengths, Eisele said. He's in favor of charter schools and vouchers and said schools should be run more like businesses.

Huey said the Department of Education has stifled innovation and that he was in favor of increased competition among schools. Gin said that there's been too much of a college prep focus and supported charter schools, including vocational programs.

Gin responded to a question about candidate viability by saying that he has a fundraising goal of $300,000, has already raised more than $100,000 and has endorsements from local politicians. Huey said he has the money to run an aggressive campaign and his own advertising agency to help get his message out. Eisele said he was committed to running a modern campaign that would include social media outreach and added that he has raised $50,000.

Democrats have a distinct advantage in the 36th Congressional District, with 45.3 percent of the 347,812 registered voters identifying themselves as Democrats. Republicans trail with 27.5 of the electorate, while 22.3 percent of voters decline to state a party, according to information from the California Secretary of State's office.

The election should be the first real application of the state's new "top two" election system that went into effect Jan. 1 after voters endorsed the changes in June 2010 when they passed Proposition 14. Under the new rules, if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the May 17 primary, then the top two finishers will face each other in a special general election, even if they are from the same party.