Longtime Democratic Rep. Jane Harman to Resign

Longtime Democratic Congresswoman Jane Harman announced Monday via an e-mail to supporters that she will step down to lead the Washington, D.C.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Harman has been representing the 36th Congressional District since 1992. The district includes Venice, Marina del Rey, Mar Vista and the South Bay, stretching as far south as San Pedro. It has been considered a safe Democratic district.

“This is an excruciating decision because the distinction of representing the smartest constituents on earth will never be surpassed,” Harman wrote in her e-mail. “But shaping and leading the Wilson Center is a thrilling new challenge.”

Harman, 65, did not set a specific date for her departure, though her e-mail said she would remain for “some weeks” to “ensure an orderly transition to whomever is elected to succeed me.”

Harman, a centrist Democrat and an expert on intelligence and national security, is one of the senior members of the Los Angeles delegation to Congress.

"She got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go over to the Woodrow Wilson Institute and we applaud them, although it’s certainly our loss here in California," said Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chair and California Democratic Party Vice Chair Eric C. Bauman. 

Once Harman officially resigns, California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, will have 14 days to call a special general election, which will take place 112 to 126 days from the date of his proclamation. A special primary election will be held eight Tuesdays before the special general election, according to the California Secretary of State’s office.

Jane Barnett, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, issued a statement Monday commenting on Harman’s announcement.

“Jane Harman’s resignation comes just one month into her new term and shows that she has put her own self-interest in front of the interests of the constituents she has sworn to serve,” Barnett said in a press release. “The Republican Party of Los Angeles is looking forward to a special election in the near future.  Our campaign begins today!”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat, already has announced her intention to run for the soon-to-be-open seat.

“I’m running for Congress to create new jobs, expand clean energy technologies and ensure that local small business owners get the help and opportunities they need to flourish in a global economy,” Hahn said in a statement.

Hahn ran for the congressional seat in 1998 when Harman stepped down to make an unsuccessful campaign for governor, but lost to Republican Steve Kuykendall. Hahn campaigned for lieutenant governor last year, but lost to Gavin Newsom.

Other possible Democratic candidates include progressive activist Marcy Winograd and Secretary of State Debra Bowen, according to media reports.

Winograd, of Marina del Rey, lost to Harman in the 2008 and 2010 primaries, though the race was the South Bay’s most competitive and Winograd won 37.5 percent and 41 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

Bowen, who is from Marina del Rey, represented the South Bay in the state Legislature for 14 years before she became Secretary of State in 2006. She was re-elected last year. One of her consultants, Steve Barkan, said she is “very, very seriously” considering running for Harman’s seat, according to a report in The Sacramento Bee.

Another possible candidates are former L.A. City Controller Rick Tuttle and former 53rd District Assemblyman and Democrat Ted Lieu, although he is currently running in the special election for the state Senate’s 28th District.

On the Republican side, some names being floated include former candidate Mattie Fein, who took 35 percent of the vote in the 2010 campaign against Harman, and Kuykendall, who held the seat from 1998-2000.

The special election will be the first congressional contest under the state’s new “open primary” that allows the top-two finishers in the primary to advance to the general election, regardless of their political party. California voters approved the measure in June. If a candidate takes more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, though, that candidate will win the election outright.

Bauman said it is very possible the election could see two Democrats pitted against each other if both are strong candidates.

Political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a Senior Fellow at USC's School of Policy, Planning, and Development, called the new primary system "a whole new ballgame."

While Democrats have a 16-point registration edge in the district, one in five voters have not stated a party preference. The results will "depend on what the field looks like, how many of the candidates are real, have name recognition, have money. It’s impossible to guess at this point," Jeffe said. 

Harman first ran for Congress in 1992 and has represented the district since, except between 1998 and 2000.

In her e-mail, Harman said she and her husband Sidney will maintain their home in Venice and remain active in the community.

Bauman said the 6th Congressional District has higher-than-average voter engagement.

“They are used to having representation at both the state and federal levels by leaders who really stand out from the crowd, as Congresswoman Harman has, and they will expect whoever runs and wins to also stand out from the crowd,” he said.

The Woodrow Wilson Center Board of Trustees will hold a meeting Tuesday morning to make a decision on their new president and will make an announcement afterward, ABC News reported.