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The hot rumor going around that School Board member Monica Garcia is running State Assembly in 2014 gained a bit of credence when Garcia appeared as a “probable candidate” on the popular California politics website Around the Capitol.
Scott Lay, who maintains Around the Capitol, said in an email that his information about Garcia was “based on well-sourced rumors both before and after her re-election to LAUSD [board].”
The seat she’s rumored to be running for is the 53rd Assembly seat, which encompasses Downtown Los Angeles and is currently held by termed-out Assembly Speaker John Perez.
Not only is it a “safe Democrat” seat, it’s considered to be a “County Fed” seat, meaning that based on demographics and other dynamics it’s a seat insiders consider impossible to win without support of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
The County Fed, an umbrella group of other unions in LA County, is headed by one of the most powerful figures in the state, Maria Elena Durazo, who is a strong ally of Garcia.
The County Fed’s largest member union is the SEIU, but it also includes UTLA, which considers Garcia a political foe. And the County Fed has also supported another “probable candidate” in the 53rd, Miguel Santiago, a friend and ally of former School Board candidate Antonio Sanchez.
“I think what’s happening is that Monica is trying to get a sense if Maria Elena Durazo of the LA Fed would weigh in if it was Monica against Miguel,” said Around the Capitol‘s Lay in an email. “I don’t think Monica would run if the Fed is behind Miguel.”
Garcia is on vacation and was unavailable for comment, but her spokesperson Lizette Patron said she isn’t aware of any plans to run for higher office, noting that Garcia was just elected to another four-year term on the School Board.
However, Garcia’s six years as School Board President just came to an end, and she suddenly finds herself in something of a minority faction.
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