One of eight candidates in the most contested of any of the 20 state senate primary races in California, the 33-year-old lawyer is campaigning for environmental protection, affordable education and the repeal of part of the tax-limiting Proposition 13 law. Like her opponents in the Los Angeles-area district, which hugs the coast and stretches inland to Hollywood, she’s an abortion-rights advocate.
Three of the other contenders are current or former elected office-holders and all but one, a lawyer who declined to state an affiliation when he registered, are Democrats, as Fluke is. Going into the last week of the contest, Fluke had the second-largest campaign war chest with $439,000, according to Secretary of State data, compared with the $544,000 raised by Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth. Fluke’s campaign counts two endorsements among the 11 local Democratic Party clubs that have picked a favorite.
“Sandra Fluke really upends the race,” said Marta Evry, a Democratic activist in the beachside neighborhood of Venice who hasn’t decided for whom she’ll vote. “She has really high name recognition that other candidates don’t.”
