Bill Clinton Endorses Janice Hahn for Congress

President Clinton endorsed Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn on Monday in the 36th Congressional District race. 

“America is at a crossroads and we need to decide whether we are going to pursue a path of right-wing extremism or one of compromise and common sense solutions," Clinton said in a statement endorsing Hahn, a fellow Democrat.

Hahn faces Republican Craig Huey in a July 12 runoff to fill a seat left vacant when longtime Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) resigned in February to join a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

“Janice has proven herself to be a champion for creating jobs, cleaning our environment, protecting a woman’s right to choose and expanding access to health care. We need people like Janice Hahn in Congress, and I’m proud to endorse her,” Clinton said.

Huey, a Torrance businessman and tea party candidate who lives outside the district in Rolling Hills Estates, surprised election watchers when he finished second to Hahn in the May 17 primary election that drew more than a dozen candidates. The district skews largely Democratic with 45 percent of its roughly 345,000 voters registered as Democrats, compared with 27 percent registered as Republican and 22 percent declining to state their party preference, according to the California Secretary of State's office.

The largely coastal district stretches from Venice to San Pedro, and includes Marina del Rey, Mar Vista, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach and neighboring communities.

In an email sent to Hahn supporters, Clinton called Huey a right-wing extremist and asked for contributions on Hahn's behalf.

If elected, such extremists "will hide behind a veil of concern for federal spending to push through a broad right-wing agenda dismantling Medicare, privatizing Social Security, undermining the environment and balancing the budget on the backs of America's most vulnerable people," Clinton said.

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