Several groups already completed candidate inquires
With the filing deadline to qualify for the November ballot still days away, two-term Board of Education member Jose Escarce became the first candidate to receive an endorsement from a major organization last week when the teacher’s union threw its backing behind the long-time incumbent.
The endorsement for Escarce — a scientist with the RAND Corp. and professor of medicine at UCLA — is the first made by the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association this year, leaving the three remaining spots for the school board open.
“The Escarce endorsement is significant for us because it’s coming out so early and we believe that he has been such an outstanding board member for eight years with a record of accomplishments,” Harry Keiley, the president of the SMMCTA, said. “We will be prepared to do what is necessary to help get Jose elected.”
The union was following an internal protocol — modeled after the California Teacher Association — in which they early on award a “Friendly Incumbent” designation to well-established candidates whom they feel deserve an endorsement. The SMMCTA conducted its interview of candidates on July 24.
“The teachers and the PTA are the most credible with regards to what the school needs and education,” Escarce said. “To be endorsed by one of those most credible voices has got to help.”
The PTA is not allowed to make endorsements.
While the Aug. 8 filing deadline is fast approaching, there might be several potential office-seekers who have yet to pull papers, much less submit the required 100 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
But endorsements before the fact might not be an unusual thing for the politically influential groups in the city. Several groups, including Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, have already conducted their candidate interviews and plan to announce their choices in the coming days.
SMRR, perhaps the most powerful of the bunch, plans to hold its convention on Sunday afternoon at Olympic High School where its members will select their favored candidates. The convention is normally held on the last weekend in July or the first in August.
389,“We need the candidate to show they are making a serious commitment to the election process,” Patricia Hoffman, the co-chair of SMRR, said. “We don’t want to endorse people and then not have them end up not running.
“That is harmful to the process.”
Community for Excellent Public Schools also took the early endorsement route two years ago when it threw its support behind Gleam Davis’ bid for the City Council before the filing period. Davis, a strong proponent for public education, lost the election.
“CEPS’ mission has all along been to strengthen the financial resources to the school district and we wanted to emphasize how important it is for the City Council to make education a priority and Gleam was the perfect embodiment of that,” Shari Davis, the co-chair of CEPS, said. “We hoped her candidacy would succeed and bring more attention to making education a priority for the City Council.”
The educational advocacy group plans to wait until after the filing deadline to interview candidates this year, though Davis said that was more of a result of summer scheduling than anything else.
Other groups like the Santa Monica Police Officers Association plans to wait until after Tuesday to begin meeting with candidates, conducting its interviews at the beginning in September with the Santa Monica Firefighters Local 1109.
“It’s only fair to give everyone the ability to see who is going to run,” Jay Trisler, the head of the police union, said.
An early stamp of approval from a major organization can serve as a big boost to a campaign, boasting a candidate’s credibility to the public, Sharon Gilpin, a political consultant who has worked in local races, said.
“It gives you the early opportunity to raise money and it gets you a whole base that is ready to work for you,” she said.
She added that the early endorsement could send a signal to other potential candidates not to bother to run at all, a form of intimidation.
“The organization is basically shutting the door,” she said. “They’ve made up their minds as to who is philosophically most aligned with them and they’re just ready to go.”
Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, who is running for re-election on the council, said he wouldn’t consider receiving support at this stage in the game as being early, considering the election is 100 days away.
Bloom was first elected to the council in 1999, but ran three times before.
The difference between those three elections and the success nine years ago was the endorsements.
“I had very little of that in the first election,” Bloom said. “People didn’t know me as well as they do now.”
The teachers union plans to announce a few more endorsements in the coming weeks. While it might have its mind made up on the remaining slots, the union still remains open to interviews if more candidates pop up from now until Tuesday, Keiley said.
“A key to us is considering whether or not we interview candidates is whether they are viable,” he said. “We have to make a decision in how we use our union resources and capital.”
Jump hedline: Several groups already completed with interviews
Suggested pullquote: “It gives you the early opportunity to raise money and it gets you a whole base that is ready to work for you.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2008. Read the original PDF.