Rubin says he will not seek elected office again
Jerry Rubin renounced his candidacy for the Santa Monica City Council Thursday, citing a recent downturn in his long and sometimes severe battle with depression.
“This was a difficult decision for me to make,” he said to a gathering of reporters at his Ocean Park home. “I have to do my best now (to heal) and say ‘Thank you very much, but don’t vote for Jerry Rubin.’”
Rubin said he has struggled with depression since childhood, and during his lifetime he has attempted five suicides and has been hospitalized for his condition 18 times.
Recently his condition had worsened to the point that Rubin said it affects him on a daily basis.
“Sometimes it gets bad,” he said. “In the most extreme cases, I don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and I ask myself ‘What’s the use?’”
Rubin said this was likely his last foray into electoral politics. He ran for council two years ago and garnered 5,006 votes.
“Politics is a strange thing,” he said. “I don’t like it.”
At the press conference, Rubin thanked his supporters, but he urged them to vote instead for Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown, Councilwoman Pam O’Connor and either Abby Arnold or Josefina Santiago Aranda for the three seats up for election on the city council.
With the election less than four days away, City Clerk Maria Stewart said Rubin’s name cannot be removed the ballot and any absentee ballots will count for him.
Throughout the day, Rubin’s supporters were sending faxes and e-mails to alert people not to vote for him and instead support candidates with similar views as his.
“In all likelihood it would have been better to withdraw sooner,” Rubin said. “If thousands of people vote for me that otherwise might have gone to keep someone with similar views in office, it would only help someone I disagree with win.”
Councilman Richard Bloom, who once lost a council bid by less than 100 votes, said with such a tight race, Rubin’s withdrawal from the election could swing the results in a number of ways.
“There is every possibility that his pulling out could make a significant impact on someone’s race,” Bloom said. “Who’s race that would be I don’t want to predict.”
Throughout the day, Rubin called supporters and other candidates to break the news.
McKeown said he was saddened to hear of Rubin’s health condition, and he said when they spoke Thursday morning the conversation focused mainly on his depression.
“I told him great strides have been made in successful treatment, and he and other sufferers from depression can often find relief if they seek it,” McKeown said. “I certainly wish Jerry the best. He deserves a life of happiness and serenity and peace.”
Bloom heard Rubin was pulling out of the race and also called Thursday morning to check on him.
“Jerry is unpredictable and in a way this is very keeping with his personality,” he said. “He’s to some degree making a statement, and I think that’s what Jerry is all about. He makes statements that are important to him and that he feels should be important to all of us.”
Long an advocate for the homeless and those without a voice, Rubin is known locally for the card table he sets up on the Third Street Promenade from which he sells peace-themed bumper stickers and buttons.
He has sued the city more than a half dozen times for what he believes are unjust acts, and on at least one occasion he has been successful in getting an ordinance revoked.
Rubin describes himself as a peace activist, though he recently lost a court battle to force the city to allow him to use what he considers his profession on his official ballot designation.
Despite his depression, Rubin said he will remain committed to his activism.
“I will continue to be the best peace activist I can be for the rest of my life,” he said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 1, 2002. Read the original PDF.