Democrats pick Pavley for Senate

Fran Pavley Fran Pavley claimed a landslide victory in Tuesday's primary election for the Democratic nomination for state Senate, 23rd District.

Pavley won the primary by more than a twotoone margin in Los Angeles County- with 67.6 percent of the vote- against Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (DVan Nuys), who finished with 32.4 percent. In Ventura County, Pavley prevailed with 58 percent of the vote.

Pavley will meet Republican nominee Rick Montaine in the November general election to replace Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). Most political experts believe the candidate for Kuehl's seat has been decided in the primary since the 23rd District, which stretches up the coast from West Los Angeles to Oxnard, is so heavily Democratic.

"It's very exciting," Pavley said. "It looks pretty good."

Pavley awaited results at the Reel Inn in Malibu with her husband, Andy, and 300 supporters.

Sen. Kuehl, Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica), Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and several former Agoura Hills mayors, including Ed Corridori, Louise Rishoff and Jack Koenig were a few of many local dignitaries at Pavley's party.

Pavley, Agoura Hills' first mayor in 1982, served in the California State Assembly from 2000 to 2006. She has been a trailblazer for "green" policies and won international acclaim with her Global Warming Solutions Act, (AB32), a landmark auto emissions bill that made California the first state to mandate a reduction in greenhouse gases.

For the past two years Pavley, 59, has served as senior climate advisor for the Natural Resources Defense Council and as a "Distinguished Policy Fellow" at UCLA.

If elected, Pavley said she would continue to focus on education, the environment and the economy, but for now, practical matters come first. She said she must locate a site for a district office, hire a staff and identify which committees she will likely join.

"I look forward to working with Darrell Steinberg," Pavley said. Steinberg, the Senate president pro tem-elect, worked with Pavley on various bills when she served in the Assembly.