16 candidates filed to succeed Rep. Schiff in House

House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questionsSpecial Counsel John Durham during a break in a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 21, 2023 in Washington, DC.
House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questionsSpecial Counsel John Durham during a break in a hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on June 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. Photo credit Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A field of 16 candidates has filed to succeed Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk announced Thursday.

The field in the predominantly Democratic 30th Congressional District consists of 12 Democrats, two Republicans, one Peace & Freedom Party candidate and one with no party preference.

Democrats who filed by Thursday's deadline include former Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer; state Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge; Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale; Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education member Nick Melvoin; West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne; Dr. Jirair Ratevosian, a former State Department official; and actor Ben Savage.

The district stretches from West Hollywood to Pasadena and Echo Park to the Angeles National Forest.

Schiff has not made an endorsement. He is running for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by the late Dianne Feinstein after being a member of the House since defeating then-Rep. Jim Rogan, R-Glendale, in 2000.

The filing period concluded Dec. 8 for most county, state and federal offices in Los Angeles County on the March 5 primary election. However, under state law, the filing period was extended five days to Wednesday when an eligible incumbent does not file to run for re-election.

The filing deadline was extended for two other Los Angeles County congressional races due to the retirements of Reps. Tony Cárdenas, D-Pacoima, and Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk.

Cárdenas, D-Pacoima, has endorsed Assemblywoman Luz Rivas, D-North Hollywood, in the race to succeed him in representing the 29th Congressional District in the Northeast San Fernando Valley.

Community organizer Angélica María Dueñas, a Democrat who lost to Cárdenas, 56.6%-43.4% in 2020 and 58.5%-41.5% in 2022, is among the three other candidates who have filed, along with Republicans Benito "Benny" Bernal, a family and youth advocate, and María Margarita Carranza, who did not list an occupation.

Napolitano has endorsed Sen. Bob Archuleta, D-Pico Rivera, in the race to succeed her in the predominantly Democratic 31st Congressional District in the San Gabriel Valley. Former Rep. Gil Cisneros, who from 2019-21 represented the then-39th District, which ran from Walnut in the north to Chino Hills in the east, Hacienda Heights in the west and Fullerton in the south, is among the five other Democrats to have filed.

Sen. Susan Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, Mary Ann Lutz, a member of the Citrus Community College District Board of Trustees, workers' rights advocate Greg Hafif and health care advocate and businessman Kurt Jose are the other Democrats who filed.

Three Republicans filed -- clinical psychologist Pedro Antonio Casas; lawyer/entrepreneur/educator Daniel Jose Bocic Martinez; and government affairs administrator Elvira Moreno -- along with two candidates without a party preference, teacher Erskine Levi and commissioner Marie Manvel.

The March 5 ballot will also include primaries for president, all of California's 52 congressional seats, 20 of the 40 state Senate seats, all 80 seats in the Assembly, three seats on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles County district attorney.

The list of candidates who have qualified for the ballot will be announced Dec. 29, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder/County Clerk.

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Featured Image Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images