Updates in the Race for Congress: A Republican Comes Forward, New Endorsements

Independent candidate Marianne Williamson will hold her monthly town meeting tonight in Rancho Palos Verdes, discussing her campaign and the issues concerning voters in the 33rd Congressional District.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Unitarian
Church.

On Monday, Williamson promised not to accept contributions from political action committees and lobbyists.

“It is the undue influence of money on our political system which has turned our country into a system of legalized corruption,” said Williamson, a spiritual author and lecturer.

“I believe the effects of PAC and lobbyist money on our political process has prevented meaningful solutions on the central issues facing our country, from child poverty to climate change, to income inequality, our mass incarceration rate, energy independence and more.”

In other developments Monday in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Henry
Waxman, Bill Bloomfield, the independent candidate who received 46 percent of the vote in a race against Waxman in 2012, said he will not run, former Los
Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel was endorsed by director-activist Rob Reiner, and L.A. County Deputy District Attorney Elan S. Carr, a Republican, announced his candidacy.

Bloomfield wrote supporters that he and his wife, Susan, “have concluded that running for the 33rd Congressional seat at this time would not be the best use of time and resources to truly drive meaningful change on critical issues, particularly our passion for public education.”

Bloomfield wrote that since Waxman, D-Beverly Hills, announced his retirement Jan. 30, “I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and encouragement from so many of you who reached out to me and asked me to run for Congress again.” He promised he would “continue to speak out and work hard to make a difference.”

Reiner called Greuel, “the advocate we need in Congress today.”

Greuel received endorsements last week from former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, and Emily's List, which recruits and helps raise money for female Democratic candidates nationwide who support abortion rights.

Carr said he was running “because we need new leadership to get our economy moving again and to demand that the people's interests are represented in Washington.”

“Washington is badly broken and instead of showing leadership, the politicians have created total dysfunction, where compromise is condemned and everyone loses,” said Carr, an Iraq War veteran. “We have opportunities for greater economic growth, but we aren't taking advantage of them. We have the ability to reduce our annual deficits and the staggering national debt (but) we aren't doing it.

“We can make our education system worthy of our children, but we haven't. We can stand strongly with our friends and allies around the world, but instead we fail them.”

“We deserve better. I have been fighting both here and abroad to keep us safe and I believe our representative in Congress should be doing the same, fighting for us in Washington and showing no hesitation in reaching across the aisle to get things done when it's the right thing to do.”

Carr joined the race that also includes Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, and attorney Barbara Mulvaney, both Democrats, and television director and executive Brent Roske, an independent, in the race to represent the Westside, coastal and South Bay district.

--City News Service