Democrat-vs.-Democrat races intensify divide in California party

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has drawn the support of "labor Democrats." Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has drawn the support of "labor Democrats." Photo: David Mcnew, Reuters Photo: David Mcnew, Reuters Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Democrat-vs.-Democrat races intensify divide in California party 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Los Angeles --

For the party that dominates blue state California, 2014 could be a year of the great divide - one that pits "business Democrats" against "labor Democrats" in key campaigns and at the polls.

San Francisco Labor Council head Tim Paulson drew cheers this weekend at the state Democratic Party convention when he defined the two rival factions - and left no doubt where his troops would put their muscle.

"We want labor Democrats, not business Democrats," he said. "We're talking about the fact that there's more wealth in this nation and state than there's ever been. ... I don't care if (Democrats) have a supermajority, if people aren't voting for the values of the American dream."

With just three months until voters begin casting ballots in the June primary election, the increasingly intense debate in overwhelmingly Democratic California regarding which candidates are "real Democrats" has emerged from the new "top two" primary system that will be tested in statewide races for the first time.

The system calls for the top two candidates - regardless of party affiliation - in June races to advance to the November election. It has pitted Democrat against Democrat in a handful of legislative races that the party's most vocal activists say will define the future of the party.

The new system has caused frustration among Democrats, who must now prioritize races - even as they face a reshuffled deck with regard to their political strategy.

'New fundraising style'

"In the old days, you'd have different Democrats running, and the fight would happen in the primary. Then you'd go on and take on the Republican in the general" election, said Steve Preminger of the South Bay Labor Council. Now, "it makes us have to go through a whole new fundraising cycle - to raise huge amounts in the primary, and then again in the general."

Among the high-profile contests that pose challenges for the party is East Bay Assembly District 16, where Dublin Mayor Tim Sbranti, who heads the California Teachers Association's political action committee, is pitted against the more moderate Democrat Steve Glazer, an Orinda city councilman and a longtime adviser to Gov. Jerry Brown who has earned the ire of labor by supporting a ban on future BART strikes.

Labor vs. business

And in the South Bay, the challenge to seven-time Rep. Mike Honda - a longtime labor favorite - from former Obama trade representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat backed by scores of Silicon Valley's prominent high-tech leaders, worries state labor leaders.

And statewide, labor has put out the call for its troops to support Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson.

He is being challenged by Democrat Marshall Tuck, 40, who was tapped by former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to run a nonprofit for alternative schools and who has pushed to turn around failing schools.

Already, such Democrat-vs.-Democrat contests are firing up the passions - and the rhetoric.

Real Democrat

Over the weekend before an animated meeting of the Democratic labor caucus, secretary Bonnie Shatun lambasted Glazer - whose roots in the party go back to volunteering for Brown's first gubernatorial campaign in 1973 - as a "so-called Democrat" funded by big business, who's trying "to win by bashing unions and by calling for an end to the right to strike."

"Is this a Democrat?" she asked. "No, not a real one ... an antiunion Democrat? I don't think so.

"This is a race that's going to be won or lost in June," she said. "We need your help now. ... Every one of us must do something."

Glazer defended his position.

"Thousands of people who signed the petition are Democrats. In fact, many are union members, even BART union members who believe that transit is like police and fire, too critical to allow strikes," he said. "We'll let voters, not party bosses, determine who the so-called 'real Democrats' are."

Daraka Larimore-Hall, the outgoing chair for the labor caucus, received a standing ovation from Democratic activists this weekend when he delivered a scathing rebuke of the "business Democrats."

"If you're running a campaign saying workers should be stripped of the right to strike, you're not a f- Democrat," he said to cheers. "If you're saying we should change public education ... and rebuild it on the model of Walmart, you're not a Democrat.

"That's why the labor caucus of the Democratic Party is huge - and there is no labor caucus of the Republican Party."

Glazer counters that his campaign is not antiunion, and he defines himself as "a progressive Democrat who is fiscally conservative." In supporting legislation to ban transit strikes, he has said he is willing to take on "the biggest special interest in the state" in order to stand up for working Californians affected by last year's weeklong BART strike.

'War' is on

Khanna, who has talked about the importance of creating jobs in manufacturing and the tech sector, says he's a proud Democrat who's willing to debate Honda - an invitation that the congressman so far hasn't accepted - regarding Democratic values and other critical issues in the South Bay race.

But Torlakson, addressing delegates Saturday, warned them that the "war" is on.

"This is an election year, meaning people who have never done your job are going to be telling you how to do your job," said Torlakson, a former teacher, in a speech that never directly mentioned his opponent's name.

In California's "top two" primary year, he said, Democrats have to beware of other Democrats who are "straight out of a Wall Street playbook," where "it's about buying low and selling high."