40th District

Questionnaires were distributed to candidates in March. Answers have been edited to fit the available space. The answers of the four Democrats vying for their party's nomination are listed first in alphabetical order; then those of the three Republicans. Green, Libertarian and Peace and Freedom party candidates are unopposed in the primary. Business Environment Q: Do you believe businesses are leaving California due to a hostile business environment?

In these days of jampacked flights and weather delays, it may be hard to believe that anything aviation-related can bring people together, but Edie Lambert and Lloyd Levine are living proof that love conquers all. So before you slug your seatmate, consider these two stories. It was the Monday after Thanksgiving, November 2005, at Sea-Tac airport. Lambert saw Levine in front of her in the Southwest line and thought he was cute and tall. "I'm 5 feet 10 inches, so I notice height," Lambert says.

Candidates for the 40th Congressional District will appear at a forum Wednesday sponsored by the Balboa Bay Republican Women, Federated. The noon meeting will be at the Airporter Inn, 18700 MacArthur Blvd., Irvine. Cost is $11 for the luncheon. Reservations may be made by calling Ruth Nerney, (714) 673-7263, or Lynn Turner, (714) 646-6101. Expected to appear at the forum are Irvine City Councilman C.

Endorsements from two influential Assembly incumbents were not enough to boost their aides to primary victories in the San Fernando Valley. Instead, the Democratic nominations--and, most likely, the Assembly seats--went to a small-city mayor and a Capitol staffer whose opponent turned sharply negative in the race's final week.

C. Christopher Cox, a virtual unknown in Orange County before he left his job as a lawyer in the White House to run for Congress, took a decisive early lead Tuesday night in the bitterly contested race for the Republican nomination in the heavily GOP 40th District. In early returns, Cox, 35, of Newport Beach, was outpolling the two other leading candidates in the race--Irvine Councilman C. David Baker, 35, and Newport Beach businessman Nathan Rosenberg, 36.

Democratic congressional candidate Lida Lenney on Monday night called upon Republican C. Christopher Cox to apologize for sending voters in the 40th Congressional District a pair of so-called "hit pieces" against two of his GOP primary opponents. But Cox, a former senior associate White House counsel and one of the leading candidates in the race, declined, saying he had nothing to apologize for.

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) said Wednesday that he supports Irvine City Councilman C. David Baker in the crowded race to fill the seat he is vacating in the heavily Republican 40th Congresssional District. Badham's endorsement is a significant boost for the campaign of the 36-year-old Baker.

Nathan Rosenberg's campaign slogan in recent weeks has been, "read my book," a reference to the 80-page volume covering his life and political positions that was sent to voters in the 40th Congressional District. It is a campaign tactic that isn't likely to be copied by C. Christopher Cox, one of Rosenberg's main rivals in the June 7 GOP primary. Cox, who served two years as a White House employee, doesn't take kindly to the "kiss and tell" best sellers by former Reagan Administration officials.

As a resident of Orange County, I would like to express my concern regarding Arthur B. Calvahouse's letter to the editor (May 1). Calvahouse, a member of the President's Counsel (in Washington), took it upon himself to clarify Chris Cox's role as another member of the President's Counsel. He stated that this was a major question being raised by the voters of Orange County. Unfortunately, Calvahouse is truly misinformed. The voters in the 40th District are not interested in what Cox did for our illustrious but outgoing Reagan Administration.

Abortion, racism and theft became issues Wednesday in the 40th Assembly District race, a tight, heated contest between two San Fernando Valley Democrats who support reproductive rights for women. Incensed by a mailer that suggests candidate Lloyd Levine is anti-abortion, a San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Organization for Women endorsed Levine on Wednesday over opponent Andrei Cherny. The NOW chapter had remained neutral in the race because it considered both Democrats to be allies.

The race to succeed powerful Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg has transformed from the anointing of his handpicked successor to a roiling, no-holds-barred political street brawl. Both Hertzberg's choice for his San Fernando Valley district, Andrei Cherny, and his opponent, Lloyd Levine, are young, ambitious and backed by powerful forces in the Democratic Party. Both are running for office for the first time and are expected to spend more than $500,000 by their party's primary on Tuesday.

Abortion, racism and theft became issues Wednesday in the 40th Assembly District race, a tight, heated contest between two San Fernando Valley Democrats who support reproductive rights for women. Incensed by a mailer that suggests candidate Lloyd Levine is anti-abortion, a San Fernando Valley chapter of the National Organization for Women endorsed Levine on Wednesday over opponent Andrei Cherny. The NOW chapter had remained neutral in the race because it considered both Democrats to be allies.

Speaking to San Fernando Valley executives Thursday, the two Democratic candidates for the 40th Assembly District seat stuck to the topics of education, crime and traffic, and displayed just brief flashes of the sniping that has become a hallmark of the race between two political novices.

At ages 26 and 32, respectively, Andrei Cherny and Lloyd Levine are too young to be branded Old Boys. Still, the Democratic candidates for the San Fernando Valley's 40th Assembly District are politically connected beyond their years. Cherny was writing speeches for then-Vice President Al Gore 10 days out of Harvard and helped craft his party's platform in 2000. He also worked for the district's current assemblyman, Speaker Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), whose term expires this year.

Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-Van Nuys), 45, was first elected to this seat in 1991. A former aide to Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle, Friedman is single and has one child. Republican challenger Noel DeGaetano, 51, of Van Nuys, owns moving company franchises in Van Nuys and Santa Clarita. He is married and has six children. Friedman has established herself in Sacramento as one of the capitol's most aggressive champions of women's causes.

After an expensive and bitter campaign, Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) apparently has defeated Republican businessman Joseph Ghougassian in a special election Tuesday for a vacant state Senate seat from southern San Diego County. With all 170 precincts counted, Peace had a 52% to 48% lead. That reflected a 2,300 vote margin, but 4,800 absentee ballots were yet to be counted.

After months of rumors, allegations of adultery against front-running candidate C. David Baker surfaced this week in the race for the Republican nomination in the 40th Congressional District. At a Newport Beach candidates' forum Thursday night, an unidentified man stood up as Baker was being introduced and shouted, "Mr. Baker, the issue is adultery." The man was ushered out of the room and fled before he could be questioned.

They once lived in the same neighborhood in Newport Beach. Off and on over the years, they attended the same social events, supped with some of the same friends, even played bridge together. And years ago, when Bruce W. Sumner, then a Republican, left his Assembly seat to pursue a law practice, his neighbor, Robert E. Badham, was elected to fill his place. So there is history here--bonds that party differences can't untie-- between Robert E.

State Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Bonita) has privately told political leaders in Sacramento and San Diego that he may soon resign, which would lead to a special election this fall to fill the final year of his term. Deddeh, a member of the Legislature since 1966, declined comment Friday but said he would make a statement about his future Monday or Tuesday.