Former Assemblymember George Nakano (D-Torrance) has endorsed former Assemblymember Betsy Butler (D-Marina Del Rey) for the 26th Senate District.
Butler, who represented the 53rd Assembly District from 2010 to 2012, is running for the seat currently occupied by State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance), who is running for Congress. The newly redrawn 26th Senate District includes Beverly Hills, Redondo Beach, Santa Monica, Venice, Westchester and Hollywood.
“Betsy Butler understands our community and has always been there for us,” Nakano said. “We can trust her to always be our champion.
“When members of our community wanted to build a Japanese American Memorial Marker to honor citizens in our area, Betsy was there to sponsor the resolution that made it happen.”
The marker, which commemorates the forced removal and confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II, is to be located at the corner of Venice and Lincoln.
A mailer directed at Japanese American voters features a photo of Butler with Nakano and community leader and former college president Jack Fujimoto.
The other Democrats in the race are Amy Howorth, mayor of Manhattan Beach; Sandra Fluke, social justice attorney; Ben Allen, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board member; Patric Verrone, a television writer and attorney; Vito Imbasciani, California Medical Association trustee; and Barbi Appelquist, attorney. Independent Seth Stodder, a law professor, is also running.