Jim Brandt Announces Assembly Campaign in AD 54

In 2006, Jim Brandt fought the good fight in his run for Congress against our favorite loony incumbent Dana Rohrabacher. Today, he is moving on to a new challenge: Helping the Democrats retain the Assembly seat currently held by moderate Democrat Betty Karnette.

Karnette will be termed out in 2008, and the Democrats may need to gear up for a fight in a district where they only have AN EIGHT POINT registration advantage. After all, the Republican-leaning Palos Verdes Peninsula is in the district. Enter Jim Brandt, a retired Marine and succesful businessman who has always been active in South LA County affairs:

For the past four years, I have worked hard for our community to
address difficult issues such as port security and air quality, a balanced
budget and fiscal responsibility, energy independence, and health care.
With your unflagging, much-appreciated support, I ran a strong campaign
against an entrenched incumbent. Though we didn't win that battle,
we're still fighting the good fight!

Recently, after much soul searching and counsel, I have decided to
continue to serve my community and find solutions for these, and other,
important issues. I have decided to run for the open 54th California State
Assembly seat in 2008.

We need pragmatic, visionary leaders with real-world experience to
bring commonsense leadership to the Statehouse. It's time to look beyond
politics and bring people together to solve the tough problems we face.

I met Jim when he was running in the 46th CD last year. I saw him go up against Crazy Dana in one of the few debates that Rohrabacher agreed to. What particularly fascinated me was that while Rohrabacher snuk away immediately after the debate, Jim stayed and answered any more questions that local residents had.

Jim is someone who really cares about what happens in Long Beach, San Pedro, and Palos Verdes. I was surprised by his extensive knowledge about the pollution problems at the LA/Long Beach Port. I was also amazed by his extensive knowledge of the security issues involving the LA/Long Beach Port. And yes, he was also able to speak knowingly and eloquently on matters ranging from climate change to immigration, and he offered pragmatic yet progressive solutions to all of them. I am sure that if elected to the Assembly, that Brandt would do a great job making a difference for his constituents in South LA County.

(Cross-posted at Calitics)