[img]1562|left|||no_popup[/img]Shortly before 12:30 this afternoon, state Sen. Curren Price (D-Culver City), smilingly feeling like a new man, stepped through the doors of Maria’s Italian Kitchen on South Flower Street, easy walking distance from the Los Angeles City Hall that he hopes will become his new home next July.
Following the path of every Los Angeles legislator with ambition in Sacramento, he wants to come home to crown his political career.
Deciding to leave Sacramento and come home to Los Angeles to pursue a just-right seat, Council District 9, sprawling South Los Angeles, was about as difficult for Sen.Price as determining whether to go or stay on a green light.
“I want to be where the rubber meets the road,” he said.
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Photo by Najee Ali.
Arena Where the Action Is
As County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Sen. Price’s predecessor in Sacramento, U.S. Rep Karen Bass (D-Culver City) and Mayor Villaraigosa all figured out swiftly, what personally happens in Sacramento, unfortunately, often stays in Sacramento.
While Ms. Bass went to Washington on the wings of a cinch race, the common objective of those fleeing Sacramento was to earn vastly more visibility, regular attention in hometown media, and sleeping in your own bed every night.
Who knows what hometown legislators are doing in Sacramento unless they occasionally strike a sexy bill or fall into a controversy?
“Being here makes a difference,” Sen. Price said before going into the fundraiser.
Two years after starting his first full term in the state Senate, tall, erect, handsome and long striding Sen. Price – a popular candidate for termed-out Jan Perry’s seat on the City Council –convened a luncheon fundraiser among a cluster of power brokers.
At this stage of the long Coming Home campaign, 4½ months before the March 5 primary election, fundraising surpasses issues – and breathing – as the main priority.
“Raising money and building support,” he says.
In a distractingly crowded field, Sen. Price is an early favorite. But with 13 rivals, he has to keep at least one eye over each shoulder for anyone gaining on him while fundraising at a blizzard rate.
In a sense, Sen. Price said, the Council agenda and the Senate agenda are not strangers to each other.
“The issues I have been dealing with in the Assembly and the Senate – economic development, affordable housing, small business matters – are the same here,” he said.
Getting to Know You
“Besides, I represent about a third of this (9th) district already,” presenting him with an advantage that will be useful against a bulky field of wannabees. “I am familiar with the obstacles and with the opportunities.”
For Sen. Price, what is the most important aspect of campaigning this far ahead of the primary? “It’s a combination,” he says. “Certainly getting a good cross-section of support is important. Being right on the issues is important. And raising money is important. You have to do all three simultaneously.”
See currenprice.com
