Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday called a May 17 special primary election for Jane Harman's former South Bay congressional seat.
Brown had planned to consolidate the 36th Congressional District election with an early June statewide ballot measure to extend temporary tax increases, but missed the deadline as Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento remain at loggerheads over the issue.
Harman, a Democrat, resigned on Feb. 28 to take a position leading the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan Washington think tank.
Several Democrats have lined up to succeed her, including Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn of San Pedro and California Secretary of State Debra Bowen of Marina del Rey. Anti-war activist and high school teacher Marcy Winograd of Santa Monica, the Democrat who won 41 percent of the vote against Harman in last June's primary, is also running.
Among Republicans, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin and City Attorney Mike Webb have declared bids. Last week, Hermosa Beach City Councilman Kit Bobko announced his candidacy.
Insiders consider Hahn and Bowen to be the front runners.
Allan Hoffenblum, a former GOP consultant who co-edits the California Target Book, a nonpartisan guide to state elections, said whoever wins the race could face re-election in 2012 in a substantially-different district after political boundaries are redrawn this year.
The 36th Congressional District currently stretches from Venice down the coast to San Pedro.
Hoffenblum envisioned a new district that includes the Palos Verdes Peninsula, home to a sizable Republican voting bloc.
With that potential political sunlight on the horizon, Republicans may be positioning themselves for the next election cycle.
"Mike Gin wants to make sure Mike Webb doesn't jump ahead of him," said Hoffenblum. "Kit Bobko wants to make sure the Redondo Beach guys don't jump ahead of him."
"These aren't flakes, these are good candidates," Hoffenblum continued. "These are the types of candidates that Republicans would surely be trying to recruit (in 2012)."
The election to replace Harman will be the first congressional race to test the state's new "jungle primary" law.
If no candidate wins a majority of votes and takes the seat outright, the top two vote getters advance to a July 12 special general election, even if they are members of the same party.
Hoffenblum predicted turnout for the special primary of between 15 and 25 percent.
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