As New Year’s Eve speedily approaches, City Council candidate Marcus Tiggs, no fledgling politician, was asked a question to which he has devoted heavy time.

With the April 10 election just over three months away, Mr. Tiggs is riding a Republican pony – for the first time – in his latest bid for a Council seat.

How can a Republican, even one as overtly congenial as Mr. Tiggs, succeed in a lopsidedly Democrat community?

“In the day,” he said, “people would answer that party affiliation is irrelevant. This is a non-partisan election.”

To underscore his assertion, Mr. Tiggs pinned a tail on the donkey, artfully speaking. “In the day, in Culver City, it really did not matter,” he said. “There have been prior electeds who have been Republicans.”

That was then.

Steve Rose is the lone GOP’er in recent years.

Now, it is different, Mr. Tiggs acknowledges.

“It is challenging,” he says, “because sometimes there is a whispering campaign: ‘Oh, he’s a Republican.’”

Mr. Tiggs is not hiding. He is proud.

“Yes, I am a Republican,” he says gently.

“But I still need to back out of my driveway as everyone else does.

“These are local issues.

City Hall, and the wider community, know Mr. Tiggs’s qualifications.

• “Being a Republican,” he said, “did not seem to matter when I was on the Planning Commission for eight years.
• “It did not matter when I was chairing Fiesta La Ballona, and on that commission for 12 years.
• “It didn’t matter being on the Centennial Committee handling the time caps.
• “It didn’t matter when I was on the School Board liaison.
• “But when it comes time to be a Council member, does it matter?

“I hope it doesn’t,” Mr.  Tiggs said.

He is a well-established bankruptcy lawyer on Wilshire Boulevard. He owns an enviable reputation personally and professionally.

He is known for fairness.

For fair-minded people, those add up to impressive credentials.