As City Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Bonnie Lowenthal prepare to run for State Assembly, only one thing remains in their way: Prop. 93

BONNIE LOWENTHAL by ALICE RUTHERFORD

Long Beach City Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Bonnie Lowenthal are preparing to run against each other for the California state Assembly’s 54th District seat later this year. Forms have been filed, endorsements solicited, campaign accounts opened and many thousands of dollars collected. But before they can completely check off their to-do lists, the women must first suffer defeat: Proposition 93, an initiative both Lowenthal and Reyes Uranga say they support, has to fail on Feb. 5.

If passed, Prop. 93 would tweak California’s term-limit law. But neither Lowenthal nor Reyes Uranga will run for the Assembly in 2008 unless voters defeat it.

That’s because although Prop. 93 would limit legislators to 12 years of service (down from 14 years), it also includes a controversial exemption for dozens of current incumbents—including 54th District incumbent Betty Karnette, who will be termed out if Prop. 93 loses. Karnette leaves no doubt that, given the chance, she would run one more time. And she clearly expects she would win.

“I think I do a good job and I’d like to remain in office,” says Karnette, her voice still thickly padded with a Kentucky accent a half-century after she moved to Long Beach from Paducah. “I feel pretty good about the people re-electing me. Every time I run I get more votes. Besides, I’m up to third in seniority in both houses, and the first among women. I’m the matriarch of the legislature!”

Mindful of Karnette’s political strength—as well as political etiquette; Karnette is a fellow Democrat—Reyes Uranga and Lowenthal insist they will not run against her.

“If Proposition 93 passes, I will be behind Betty Karnette,” says Lowenthal, who represents the First District on the City Council. “She has been a strong advocate for this area.”

“Betty has indicated she would only run for one more term,” notes Reyes Uranga, the Seventh District council member. “If that’s the case, I’d wait until 2010. Why push it if she’s only going to run for one more term?”

Prop. 93 reduces the number of years state legislators can serve by two years—total, in both houses—as opposed to per-house limits of six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. Proponents suggest the change would eliminate the scramble for political survival among legislators who often spend their time in one house angling for seats in the opposite house so as to extend their careers.

“I think it will help legislators focus,” says Reyes Uranga. “But just as importantly is that, by having a limit on total service in either house, it brings parity to both houses. Before, there was a sense that the Assembly was a farm team for the Senate.”

“Without having to worry about moving from one house to another, legislators will have the kind of stability that will help them fend off the influence of lobbyists,” says Lowenthal. “They’ll be able to develop expertise over a longer period of time. I think we’ll have better leaders.”

Due to the exemption for incumbents, however, some say Prop. 93 will most notably benefit its major advocates, including Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata—who are permitted a full 12 years in whichever house they now occupy, no matter how many years they’ve already been in office.

Karnette falls into that category, but she insists she would only run for a single two-year term, even though Prop. 93 would permit her more. “No matter what happens with Prop. 93,” says Karnette, “I am running for state superintendent of public instruction in 2010.”

That would seem to fold nicely into the political timetables of Reyes Uranga and Lowenthal, inasmuch as they face City Council term limits in 2010.

“We’ll just do it again in two years,” says Reyes Uranga. Lowenthal, however, won’t commit to an Assembly run in 2010.

“I can’t predict what I am going to do two years from now,” she maintains. “But if Proposition 93 passes, I’m in with both feet.”

Prop. 93 had a big lead in the most-recent California Field Poll—50 percent yes, 32 percent no, 18 percent undecided. But that data is nearly a month old (Dec. 27, 2007) and it included the notation that only 25 percent of voters had even heard of the initiative. With results from another poll due this week—taking in the TV commercials that have revved up—the outcome may be very much in play.

Meanwhile, the candidates-in-waiting continue serving on the City Council, where their every comment and vote carries the weight of possible further consequence to the Assembly race they may wage.

“It’s a little difficult sometimes because people have the perception that we’re already running against each other,” says Reyes Uranga. “But I’d like to think we can maintain our professionalism and not go crazy.”

Tags: Betty Karnette, bonnie lowenthal, elections, Long Beach, prop 93, term limits, Tonia Reyes Uranga