Dukakis to aid Brad Sherman congressional campaign

Dec. 30, 2011 5:07 PM PT

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Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor who was the 1988 Democratic nominee for president, is lending a hand to Rep. Brad Sherman, who is locked in a fierce battle for the same newly drawn San Fernando Valley congressional district seat as fellow Democratic Rep. Howard Berman.

Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, are scheduled to be the featured guests at a dinner and “evening of political discussion” to raise money for Sherman, his campaign announced this week. The event will take place Jan. 19 at a home in Studio City. Tickets range from $300 for “friends” to $2,500 for “co-chairs.”

Earlier this month, the Sherman campaign announced that it had secured the endorsement of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. Both candidates are busy lining up labor union backing for their contest in the new 30th Congressional District.

In another intraparty contest for a House seat, Rep. Janice Hahn (D-San Pedro) added Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge to her list of supporters for a newly drawn district in southeast Los Angeles County. Hahn, who served on the L.A. council before winning a special election to Congress in July, earlier lined up backing from some other former colleagues: Councilmen Richard Alarcon, Ed Reyes, Tony Cardenas and Jose Huizar. She is competing in the predominantly Latino 44th District against Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach).

And for an open Riverside County seat, Democrat Mark Takano recently scored the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii). Takano, a member of the Riverside Community College District’s elected board, is expected to face county Supervisor John Tavaglione, a Republican, for the new 41st District seat. Both major parties are expected to target the district.

-- Jean Merl

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Jean Merl

Jean Merl, a hopeless news junkie, covered regional politics for the Los Angeles Times until 2015. She was raised in southern Ohio but moved with her family to Los Angeles at a tender age, which practically makes her a California native. She holds a master’s degree from UCLA and remembers when Otis Chandler was publisher of The Times and Tom Bradley was mayor of L.A.