Furutani Seizes Second Chance
By GWEN MURANAKA
RAFU ENGLISH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007

Sansei narrowly misses avoiding runoff election in primary victory in 55th Assembly race.

Photos by MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo
Warren Furutani declares victory in the Democratic primary race for the 55th Assembly district on Tuesday night in Lakewood. Joining him on the stage include his wife Lisa, sons, Assemblymember Alberto Torrico, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and State Controller John Chiang.

Aiko Herzig Yoshinaga, Furutani’s mother-in-law, does
a victory dance with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa and his daughter Marisela Villar.

The second time around was sweet for Warren Furutani. The loser in a hard-fought 2006 campaign for the 55th district, Furutani, 60, was victorious on Tuesday night, defeating fellow Democrat Mike Gipson with 8,620 votes or 49.24 percent to 6,727 votes or 38.42 percent.

“Every once in a while life gives you a second chance and we took full advantage of that,” Furutani declared to more than 200 cheering supporters gathered at Laborers Hall Local 507 in Lakewood. “But I’m telling you that this campaign was built on the shoulders of the last campaign that we ran.”

Just short of the 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff, Furutani will next go to a general election on Feb. 5 to face candidates from the American Libertarian and Independent parties. Be­cause the district is heavily Democratic, his victory is considered a near certainty. The Assembly seat was left open when incumbent Laura Richardson, who defeated Furutani in ’06, resigned after winning a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election following the sudden passing in April of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald.

Speaking to The Rafu Shimpo, Fu­rutani said he had yet to speak with Gipson, 41, a member of the Carson City Council.

“Mike and I know each other, we’ll talk,” Furutani said.

Furutani said when Millender-Mc­Donald passed away, he initially didn’t think of running again.

“Lisa and I just refused to get on the rollercoaster of ‘What if.’ We just let this thing play out and suddenly this crazy opportunity presented itself,” Furutani said. “People were not sad when I lost, they were mad. So it was easy to get that emotion going ... Last time it took me two years to run. This time we did it in five and a half months.”

Lisa said she fully supported her husband’s decision to give it one more try.

“I know it’s his calling. He has loved public service and that’s what makes him feel whole and good and fulfilled. How can you deny someone and not encourage them to go follow that dream. Because, hey, if he’s happy then we’re happy,” Lisa said.

The race pitted Furutani’s years of experience in politics against Gipson, who billed himself as a candidate for change. Furutani received support from labor, including California State Council of SEIU, Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building & Construction Trades Council, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and ILWU Southern California District Council. Richardson backed Gipson, who also received en­dorsements from the Legislative Black Caucus, AFSCME District Council 36, and Councilmembers Janice Hahn, Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks.

Early results from absentee ballots showed Furutani ahead of Gipson by 12 points. Furutani emerged with his fam­ily to greet supporters after 10:20 p.m. when final results were coming in.

Assemblymember Mervyn Dymally, chair of the Black Legislative Caucus, joined Furutani at the podium and declared the election was not about race. Other political leaders at the rally included Assemblymembers Alberto Torrico, Kevin de Leon and Ted Lieu, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Lillian Kawasaki, member of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners, and State Controller John Chiang.

“Tonight is a historic night. We have buried race politics and we have emerged with issue politics,” Dymally stated.

Assemblymember Torrico agreed with Dymally’s assessment. If elected, Furutani will join Torrico and Republi­can Assemblymember Alan Nakanishi as the third Japanese American in the State Assembly.

“I know some people made this out to be a campaign between the Asian
Pacific Islander caucus and black caucus,” Torrico said. “I never saw it that way. People are ready to elect candidates based on who is the best candidate and who can build the broadest coalition.”

Torrico and members of his staff came from the Bay Area to campaign for Furutani. Volunteers manned phone banks and walked the precinct in the final weekend leading up to the election.

“When you find someone like Warren Furutani who wants to step up and serve, then everybody has to get out their tennis shoes and come down and get him elected,” said Torrico.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, celebrating results that showed four of six schools voting for his partnership to improve the schools, stopped by later to congratulate Furutani.

Waiting politely as Asian American volunteers posed for a photo, Villaraigosa noted that the two have known each other since their days at UCLA. Furutani also served as a consultant for the mayor when he was Speaker of the Assembly.

“Warren, we’re so proud of you. We love you and we know you’re going to do a great job as assemblymember representing this district,” Villaraigosa said.

While Furutani still faces one more election, he is ready to hit the ground running, and flew to Sacramento Thursday, Dec. 13 to meet with legislative leaders. Reducing pollution will be a major issue in the 55th district, which consists of the cities of Los Angeles (Wilmington, Harbor City and the Harbor Gateway), Carson, and parts of Long Beach and Lakewood. He said he also wants to look at developing young Japanese American leaders as well as elect the first Filipino American and South Asian to the Assembly. He noted there is a gap in political leadership among younger JAs.

“You have Sen. (Daniel) Inouye, you have (former Transportation Secretary) Norman Mineta, they’re of my parents generation that are still serving. Then we have a few of my generation and then where do we go? That’s going to be a conscious effort that I’m going to put in play which is leadership development in the API community,” Furutani stated.

The Sansei said he is ready to bring to Sacramento a mixture of wisdom that comes with age and broad experience in consensus-building.

“What I’m proud of is I’m 60 years old and I still have the fire in the belly to do this kind of work, this kind of organizing... Politics is hard work, it’s not for the lighthearted. But it’s something I’m committed to and if I get to the right places I can make some changes that will benefit the community at large.”