Marc Levine could face formidable challenge in Assembly race

The race taking shape between Democrats for the North Bay's 10th Assembly District could very well be a case of what goes around comes around.

Two years ago, in the state's first cycle of top-two primaries, San Rafael City Councilman Marc Levine ousted incumbent Assemblyman Michael Allen of Santa Rosa in a hard-fought race between two Democrats for the 10th District seat, representing the southern half of Sonoma County and Marin County.

In Sonoma County, Levine beat Allen by a scant 163 votes. Overall, he won by about 2.4 percent.

Organized labor, which heavily favored Allen, was not pleased, and one group subsequently has given Levine one of the lowest legislative ratings of any Democratic legislator from a coastal county.

So this year, labor may support one of Levine's Democratic challengers, touching off another unconventional contest pitting an incumbent against rivals from his own party.

Labor officials have not minced words in their assessment of Levine, labeling him a "corporate" Democrat who doesn't fit their view of the liberal North Bay, where voter registration skews heavily Democratic.

"Levine got elected and beat an incumbent Democrat who was more labor-friendly and Mr. Levine had a lot of help from corporate independent expenditure campaigns," said Jim Araby, executive director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council, a regional coalition representing 200,000 unionized workers in California and three other western states.

"Our relationship has been rocky since he (Levine) got in last year, and looking at his list of donors - including the Walton families, Ed Voice, Madrone Capital and the Pritzker families - you start to ask yourself where are this guy's values, and looking at his liberal district, who is this guy really?" Araby said.

Three Democrats are challenging Levine - Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Erin Carlstrom, College of Marin Trustee Diana Conti and former Santa Rosa Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi.

Levine shrugged off the intraparty election-year showdown, chalking it up to sour grapes for some over his 2012 win.

"I am being challenged because of hard feelings from the last race and there will always be people who are looking for a political opportunity," Levine said.

The challengers, however, said they have been encouraged to run by voters in the district who are unhappy with Levine's record.

"What I am hearing from people are the votes Levine has cast or not cast are very antagonistic with the interests of this district," said Carlstrom, a first-term Santa Rosa councilwoman. "He came in having defeated Michael Allen as a more moderate pro-business candidate. This is a very safe Democratic district and he is voting as though he lives in a red district."

Conti contends Levine hasn't worked well with others in the Legislature.

"He introduced a plastic-bag ban bill, but it had already been introduced by a state senator," Conti said. "He is not building coalitions."

Electoral history shows that state legislators are typically most vulnerable in their first re-election bid, and Levine appears to have his work cut out for him this cycle in retaining his seat.

With just four months to go until the June primary, some key Democratic constituencies appear skeptical of his remaining in Sacramento.

For starters, instead of supporting Levine out of the gate, as they might with a favored candidate, labor and environmental groups are going through their endorsement procedure, giving equal consideration to his rivals.

Then, last week, at the California Democratic Party pre-endorsement conference, Levine was the only incumbent who did not receive the endorsement of the party. No candidate in the 10th District race received more than 50 percent of the delegates, meaning there will be no endorsement from the party in the contest.

Carlstrom used the moment to ramp up her attack on Levine while seeking to define her own political camp.

"It's time for a change," Carlstrom said in a Feb. 9 statement, at the end of the conference. "We need a legislator who will be our progressive voice in Sacramento, protecting the small businesses, local farms and the beautiful environmental resources that make this community so extraordinary. That's why I'm running."

Environmental groups wield significant political influence in the North Bay, and some of their leaders are angry with Levine over his abstention on AB 976, which would have given the state Coastal Commission the power to levy fines on violators of the California Coastal Act.

Former Sonoma County Supervisor Bill Kortum, a leader of Sonoma County Conservation Action, the county's largest local environmental group, believes Levine's abstention was payback for support he received from the Western Growers Association in his last election.