Harman to run for Senate seat

Alicia Robinson

Huntington Beach Assemblyman Tom Harman is officially running for the

not-yet-open 35th District state Senate seat now held by John

Campbell.

Harman, 64, was already running a campaign for the Orange County

2nd District supervisor’s seat, but last week he filed to run for

Campbell’s Senate seat, which for now doesn’t officially open until

2008.

The June 2 nomination of Rep. Chris Cox to head the Securities and

Exchange Commission has led to a game of political musical chairs.

Campbell’s decision to run for the Congressional post has thrown his

Senate seat into the mix.

Cox is awaiting confirmation by the Senate, which could happen in

July. The White House on Thursday sent Cox’s nomination to the

Senate, where the banking committee will schedule a hearing after

next week’s recess, banking committee spokesman Andrew Gray said.

Despite Harman’s possible Senate bid, he hasn’t closed the books

on his campaign for supervisor.

The congressional seat and any resulting vacancies would likely be

filled by special elections, but the supervisor’s race is slated for

the 2006 ballot.

“I’m telling people that I’m simply putting that campaign on

hold,” he said.

“I will either win or lose very quickly. If I am unfortunate

enough to lose the Senate race, there will still be time for me to be

in the supervisor’s race.”

It’s natural for Harman to be interested in the Senate seat

because he already represents many of the same constituents in the

Assembly, he said.

If everything happens as predicted -- a rarity in politics -- some

people expect Harman to face off with Orange County GOP Chairman

Scott Baugh.

The Capitol Morning Report, a Sacramento political newsletter, on

Wednesday cited an unnamed source saying Baugh will announce a Senate

run.

“I think anyone who lives in that district and is political should

have an interest in that seat and should evaluate whether they would

be an appropriate candidate for that office,” Baugh said in an

earlier interview with the Daily Pilot. “I do live in that district.”

He added that it would be premature to announce candidacy for a

seat that’s not yet vacant.

The news of Harman’s Senate campaign could be good for Orange

County Treasurer-Tax Collector John Moorlach, who is so far the only

other candidate in the 2nd District supervisor’s race.

Moorlach, 49, has racked up 110 endorsements -- including one from

Cox -- and is piling up political capital now that the county is

facing a pension-related fiscal crisis.

After he prophesied the bankruptcy that hit the county in 1994,

Moorlach was appointed treasurer to clean up the damage.

A recent decision to increase pension payouts has left the county

looking at a deficit of $2.34 billion, possibly more, and people are

again turning to Moorlach for solutions.

He was considering a run for Cox’s House seat but says that’s

unlikely now.

“For me, I want to be part of the leadership solution,” he said.

“I’m not being effective, obviously, from my bully pulpit because

I’ve been screaming from here, and three supervisors didn’t take my

advice, and now they’ve put the county in jeopardy.”