Candidates for the 43rd Mirror Area’s Diversity

The motley cast of candidates in the 43rd Assembly District for the March 7 primary is as culturally varied as the district itself: a Republican Armenian, a Democratic Armenian, a pro-gun Republican transsexual from Pennsylvania, and the Democratic grandson of Hungarian and Mexican immigrants, to name a few.

The key to winning this rapidly changing, increasingly diverse district will be to attract ethnic voters, particularly Armenians, observers say.

“It is an area that has a large Armenian population that has been very politically active,” said GOP consultant Allan Hoffenblum. “And they have been out there working really hard to increase the number of voters.”

Until a decade ago, the district, which includes Burbank, Glendale, Toluca Lake, Griffith Park, Los Feliz and the eastern portion of Hollywood, was an unassailable GOP stronghold.

But redistricting in 1990 added Los Feliz and Silver Lake, and the flight of the aerospace industry and arrival of entertainment workers transformed the district into a vibrant multicultural mecca at a rate perhaps unsurpassed in the Los Angeles area.

In 1996, Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles)--who has been term-limited out of office and is now running against Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena) for the state Senate seat of Adam Schiff (D-Burbank)--became the first progressive Democrat to represent the area when he squeaked to victory by just 192 votes.

Today 45% of the 173,853 registered voters in the district are Democrats, and 35% are Republicans.

Street Campaign

In the Democratic primary, USC health care administrator John Hisserich is running against entertainment attorney Paul Krekorian, once a member of the City Ethics Commission, and well-funded Latino attorney Dario Frommer, who resigned as appointments secretary for Gov. Gray Davis to run for office.

Among Republicans, Glendale lawyer Mark MacCarley is running against former prosecutor Craig Missakian and computer executive Liz Michael, who identifies herself as a transsexual.

The campaign in the district is being waged in the streets--and those who have knocked on doors say more than 35 languages are spoken in the district. Candidate profiles are appearing in Korean and Armenian newspapers--sometimes indecipherable to the candidates themselves.

Eric Hacopian, who has closely followed Armenian trends for the past eight years and is working on the Krekorian campaign, said 100,000 of the 270,000 residents in the district are of Armenian descent.

Over time, many older, white, conservative voters have moved out, to be replaced by immigrants from Armenia and by immigrants fleeing unrest in Iran and other countries in the Middle East. In recent years, the new arrivals have become citizens and have registered to vote.

Glendale Councilman Rafi Manoukian’s campaign last spring marked a turning point, observers said. The Armenian candidate worked hard to get out 3,000 voters who had never cast a ballot in a municipal election, Hacopian said. Voter turnout jumped from 23% to 55%. Almost 70% of those were first-time voters, he said.

Hacopian said there are about 20,000 Armenians registered to vote--about 12% of the district’s total. Latinos--whom Frommer is hoping to win over--make up about 14% of registered voters in the district.

GOP Losing Favor

Hoffenblum said Republicans would like to win the district back--but a GOP victory in the 43rd would require a strong Republican Assembly candidate in November, and a strong Republican candidate for president.

Hacopian said he thinks Republicans have lost their grip for good.

“It’s essentially moved from a rock-ribbed white conservative district, in a very fast transition, to a marginal district that was up for play, to a district where whoever wins the Democratic primary is going to win,” he said.

Frommer leads Democrats in fund-raising, with $375,155. Krekorian has raised $227,011, including $45,000 in loans, and Hisserich has raised $169,203, including $50,000 in loans.

Frommer, 36, said he is the best-suited candidate in an era when term restrictions limit state Capitol experience.

“I know how Sacramento works,” he said. “That is what sets me apart.

Frommer graduated from Glendale public schools and has been involved in Democratic politics ever since.

In addition to working for Gov. Davis, Frommer was formerly an aide to Art Torres when Torres was in the state senate. He teaches political science at two local community colleges and has been endorsed by the state Democratic party, City Councilman Alex Padilla and United Teachers of Los Angeles.

His top issues are education, health care and preserving open space.

Frommer’s strongest competition comes from entertainment attorney Krekorian, 39, who was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley.

Krekorian says he has captured important local support, including endorsements from the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, state Sen. Schiff and a number of local Armenian groups.

Krekorian’s top issues are education, health care and keeping run-away movie production local.

Though Hisserich, 60, significantly trails Frommer and Krekorian in fund-raising, he seemed to get the warmest reception at a League of Women Voters forum on Thursday night.

Hisserich served on the California Coastal Commission from 1981 until recently, and has worked as a reserve sheriff’s deputy for 20 years.

In addition to education and health care, Hisserich said the state needs to set better pay and standards for nursing home workers.

The most recent fund-raising reports for the Republican candidates were not available, but by the end of January, loans made up the bulk of campaign coffers for all three: MacCarley had loaned himself $120,000, Missakian had loaned himself $85,000, and Michael had loaned herself $21,000.

Former prosecutor Missakian said he is the best GOP candidate because MacCarley and Michael used to be Democrats.

“I’m the only lifelong Republican in the race,” he said.

Missakian, 39, has received the endorsement of the Armenian American Republican Council Political Action Committee and the Armenian National Committee Political Action Committee, as well as state Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia).

Missakian said his top issues are crime, education and the economy. He said he wants to reform the juvenile justice system and to reduce corporate and private income taxes.

MacCarley, 48, is a Glendale attorney. He was a Democrat until the early 1990s, when he said he decided that many government programs demeaned the people they were supposed to help.

His top concerns are health care, education and quality-of-life issues and he advocates the breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Transsexual Businesswoman

Liz Michael, 43, calls herself a jill-of-all-trades who helped found and run an Arizona-based computer company. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Michael’s top issues are keeping guns legal and accessible, improving what she calls California’s “hostile business environment” and defeating Proposition 22, which--if passed--would recognize only marriage between a man and a woman in California.

She has been endorsed by a number of pro-gun groups and has centered her campaign on the Internet.