Robbins Moves Toward Reelection Bid

State Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana) took another legal step Monday toward becoming a candidate for reelection this year, but repeated that he may yet seek a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors instead.

Robbins said he signed and will soon file “intent to run” papers for the Senate seat he won in 1973. If he seeks reelection, he also must file candidacy papers by March 9 that would limit him to running only for his current seat.

But Robbins emphasized, as he has in the past, that he still wants to run for supervisor, if a new San Fernando Valley seat is created as a result of a historic redistricting trial now under way.

“The supervisors have a great deal of say and a great deal of authority over the local community,” and the Valley has never been adequately represented on the board, he said.

The supervisor’s seat also is appealing because it would allow him to drastically cut his air travel to Sacramento, Robbins said. Robbins, who said he often makes 40 air trips a year to the state capital, has a malformed inner ear that makes flying painful.

However, Robbins indicated it is unlikely he will campaign for a seat on the state Board of Equalization, in which he also has expressed interest. The board collects sales, alcohol, tobacco and other taxes.

“Obviously, I haven’t formed a committee for that, and I haven’t given any speeches outside the San Fernando Valley, and I haven’t lined up any endorsements,” he said. “If I was going to move in that direction, I would have made some movement in that direction by this point in time.”

In December, Robbins took legal steps allowing him to set up a fund-raising committee for a Senate reelection campaign. To date, he has no declared opponents for that seat.