Capitol Alert: Janice Hahn to run for Harman's congressional seat

Capitol Alert

The latest on California politics and government

February 7, 2011

Janice Hahn to run for Harman's congressional seat

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has announced that she will seek to succeed Democratic Rep. Jane Harman in the 36th Congressional District.

The Los Angeles County coastal seat is expected to be up for grabs amid reports that Harman will resign to become president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars later this spring.

Hahn, who represents an overlapping city council district, threw her hat in the ring this afternoon.

"I'm running for Congress to create new jobs, expand clean energy technologies and ensure that local small business owners get the help and opportunities they need to flourish in a global economy," she said in a statement.

The San Pedro Democrat, who lost a primary bid for lieutenant governor last year, ran as the democratic nominee for the seat under previous district lines in 1998.

Hahn, who has served on the city council since 2001, has high name identification in the area due in part to her family's political prominence in Los Angeles. Her father was the late Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and her brother, James Hahn, was mayor of Los Angeles.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen is also considering running in the special election, which will be conducted under the state's new top two primary rules. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, the top two candidates, regardless of party, will advance to a run-off election to fill the seat.

A special election to fill the seat will be set by Gov. Jerry Brown once the seat is vacant.

PHOTO CREDIT: Los Angeles City Councilwoman and candidate for Lieutenant Governor Janice Hahn talks with an attendee at the California Democratic Convention in Los Angeles Saturday, April 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

About Comments

Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.

What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com

Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)

Here are some rules of the road:

• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.

• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.

• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.

• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.

• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.

• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.

• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.

• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.

You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.

If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.

blog comments powered by Disqus

FOLLOW US | Get more from sacbee.com | Follow us on Twitter | Become a fan on Facebook | Get news in your inbox | View our mobile versions | e-edition: Print edition online | What our bloggers are saying