Candidates compete to fill Assembly seat vacated by Paul Krekorian
In a contentious race, three Democrats and one Republican will be on a special election ballot April 13 for the district representing Burbank, Glendale and parts of Los Angeles.
In Burbank, Glendale and parts of Los Angeles, four candidates want the state Assembly seat vacated after Paul Krekorian was elected to the Los Angeles City Council.
Three Democrats and one Republican are on the April 13 special election ballot for the unexpired term that will last only a few months. Candidates hoping to also win a full two-year term in November must run in two elections at once
Democratic candidates are Mike Gatto, a lawyer and part-time night school teacher who once worked for an area congressman; Chahe Keuroghelian, a small-business owner and former spokesman for the Glendale Police Department; and Nayiri Nahabedian, a board member of the Glendale Unified School District. The Republican is small-business owner Sunder Ramani.
In the special primary, voters will choose among all the candidates, regardless of party affiliation. If, as expected, no one wins a majority April 13, the Democrat with the most votes will face Ramani in a June 8 runoff. That is the same date as the statewide primary election, and all four candidates will be on their party's ballot then, regardless of the April outcome.
The race has been contentious in the 43rd Assembly District. Teachers aligned with Nahabedian, for example, publicized a letter they sent to Gatto objecting to his description of himself on the ballot as an "educator" (along with "attorney") because his teaching is limited. His primary occupation is as a lawyer.
Someone else filed a complaint with the state Fair Political Practices Commission contending Gatto violated election laws by allegedly mixing campaign accounts. The Gatto campaign called the filing "a total red herring" and said it has done nothing wrong. The commission does not comment on possible investigations.
During a candidates forum in which contenders were allowed to question each other, Gatto asked Keuroghelian