House Call

The California Senate race to replace the retiring Dianne Feinstein is a good news-bad news situation.  The good news is that I think Democrats will have an abundance of great choices, any one of whom the state would be lucky to represent them.  At the moment, the terrific Katie Porter and Adam Schiff have declared their candidacies.  I’ve read discussion that two other members of Congress from Northern California might join the race – Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna.  Both are excellent, as well.  And there are others at the periphery of possibilities.  (Eric Swalwell for one, but I think he’s suggested he’ll be sticking with the House.)
 
That leads to the bad news.  Thus far, all these likely candidates are members of the House of Representatives.  Which means if they run for the Senate, only one can win the seat – and the rest will be out of politics.  And I would hate to lose any one of this group, let alone three.
 
(One downside, as well, with them giving up their House seats is losing those seats in Congress.  However, for every one of them but Katie Porter, they represent solid Democratic districts, so those should remain Blue.  Porter’s district in very Purple.  The one positive is that there is a good Democratic candidate who has declared for what will be her empty seat, State Senator Dave Min.  He currently represents pretty much the same House district in the California State Senate (which overlaps the House district by 80%).  That said, his state race he won was very close -- but then, so was Katie Porter's.)
 
There is some positive hope in this log jam.  It’s that if a Senate candidate sees they’re far behind in the polls and equally far behind in fund-raising, they have until late March of next year to drop out and declare again for their current House seat.  And I suspect that several could do that – and will.  But – I think that both Adam Schiff and Katie Porter will be in the race to the end.  Which means they’ll both be giving up their House seat, and one of them will be out.  Which would be a deep shame.
 
(Side note: California has a weird, open election system.  The two leading vote-getters in the primary run in the General Election, if no one gets 50% of the vote.  So, conceivably both Democrats could run against each other.  But even at that, only one will win, of course.  And if it turns out that Democrats split the vote, and a Republican gets in the final, General Election, the Democrat should still handily win in the state.  And because the primary happens after the deadline to declare, any House Democrats still running at that point will, as noted, lose their seat.)
 
I suppose any Senate candidates who stay in the race past the deadline for declaring to run again for the House and then lose in the primary could run as write-in candidates.  But that seems like it risks being very divisive and could knock out all Democratic candidates out of the General Election.
 
So, while I’m extremely encouraged by all the great Democratic candidates who’ve announced or will be running for the Senate seat, I’m very wary about the truly-excellent House Representatives the state risks losing.
 
All this leads to another point, one of personal privilege of sorts.
 
I’ve written here about a wonderful fellow named Nick Melvoin, who’s the son of my very good friends Jeff and Martha Melvoin.  As readers of these pages likely recall, Nick was elected to the Los Angeles School Board a couple years ago, and just won re-election.  In fact, he was the only sitting School Board member who won re-election in 2022 with over 50% of the vote (almost hitting 60%), and didn’t have to run again in the General Election.
 
As it happens, Nick lives in the area of Los Angeles that sits in the 30th Congressional District.  And that’s the district currently represented by Adam Schiff – who, as a candidate for the Senate now, will be vacating the seat.  And so, it will be an open primary in 2024.  And a couple weeks ago, Nick Melvoin declared his candidacy to run.
 
Now, yes, of course, I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t know Nick.  And I am not remotely objective about it.  But just because my thoughts about his candidacy is subjective, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come with solid reasoning to support it.  Indeed, I not only know Nick and like him a lot, I think he’s hugely qualified, especially for someone so young.  As I’ve noted in the past --
 
Nick is a graduate of Harvard, and got his MBA in Urban Education from Loyola Marymount -- and he put his money where his mouth is when he went to teach seventh and eighth grade at an inner-city school in Watts as an English teacher...also coaching the soccer and baseball teams, while helping start the school newspaper.

But further, Nick also has a law degree from NYU -- and worked in the Obama White Administration with the Domestic Policy Council...as well as the US Attorney’s office as a legal clerk, getting involved in civil rights investigations.  And has now been elected twice to the Los Angeles School Board (defeating the then-sitting president).  I should also mention that for the past 21 years he's worked at Camp Harmony for kids experiencing poverty.  He began as a counselor, and now is the director in charge.

So, while I can be accused of bias for supporting the son of a friend, I think it's fair to say that my bias is highly justified.  The CA-30 Congressional District will be losing a gem in Adam Schiff, but if Nick Melvoin wins the open seat, they will getting someone of high quality to carry it forward.
 
I have no idea who else will declare for the seat.  Perhaps a sitting state official who also represents the district.  Or another high-profile figure.  Or not.  I assume it will be a tough race, because it’s a notable district.  And I don’t know what will happen.  The only thing I do know is Nick Melvoin is wonderful, has been a strong School Board member, and the CA-30 would be incredibly lucky to have him represent him.  And conceivably for a long time.
 
In his favor, he uses technology like Heifetz uses a violin, and since first elected has stayed in touch with his constituents through emails, information updates and yearly reports not only more regularly than any school board representative I’ve had had in all my years in Los Angeles, but had he only sent one, single update that would have been more than all others combined.  He’s been profoundly responsive to the public he represents.  And yes, again, I’m biased.  But that’s basic reality.
 
If for any reason someone here is interested in reading about the guy – and if he wins a seat in Congress, I think he’s someone to keep an eye on (sorry, I mean "both eyes," because he's that good) – you can find more about him here.

Yours in biased, personal privilege.  But I'm right.