CONEJO VALLEY : Professor Plans Bid to Succeed Beilenson

Michael Jordan, a Pepperdine University journalism professor, plans to make the jump into the political arena this campaign season as a Democratic candidate seeking to replace retiring Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) in Congress.

Jordan, 45, a former journalist with a law degree, said he is making his first bid for public office because he has a message that voters of the 24th Congressional District need to hear.

“The left-wing agenda and right-wing agenda are not the answer,” Jordan said. “A person who is in the middle, who is a consensus builder, a facilitator, a good listener is the answer. That’s what I’m made of.”

Jordan, who considers himself a moderate Democrat, believes that government has a role in solving America’s problems but needs to refocus its efforts and shrink in size.

Jordan, an associate professor of communications, said he is amassing a small army of student volunteers from Pepperdine to staff his campaign. He said he also is willing to commit a modest amount of his own money.

Jordan was a top editor at the Riverside Press-Enterprise before joining the Pepperdine faculty five years ago.

Brad Sherman, a member of the state Board of Equalization, is another Democratic candidate seriously considering the race in the 24th District, which stretches from Thousand Oaks to Malibu and into western portions of the San Fernando Valley.

Democratic Party leaders have been trying to round up a well-known candidate to maximize the party’s chances of hanging onto the congressional seat being vacated by Beilenson, a longtime Democratic lawmaker.

“I’m going to win this thing,” Jordan said Tuesday. “They are going to be surprised because Michael Jordan is a pretty big name.”