Butler Decides to Run for 50th District

Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-Marina del Rey) has entered the race for California's 50th Assembly seat, she told multiple media outlets late last week.

Butler, a Democrat, currently represents AD53 that includes Manhattan Beach. She won the race for that seat in November; it was her first election. Now, Butler plans to move and is aspiring for AD50, a new district that will represent Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu and West Hollywood, and not Manhattan Beach.

Butler's primary opponents appear to be Torie Osborn—a liberal activist backed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Sheila Kuehl, among others—and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom.

Butler, who has lived in Marina del Rey for 20 years, claims she already represents 1.7 percent of the constituents in AD50, in light of the new district's boundaries.

• Previously: Which Districts Will Manhattan Beach Be In?

"I am considered the incumbent in the 50th District," she told The Argonaut.

Regardless, Butler says she will move north to run in the new district. It is unclear exactly which city she will move to.

Some of Butler's supporters in the South Bay had wanted her to run in the new 66th Assembly District against Tea Party candidate Nathan Mintz next year.

Venice resident and political organizer Marta Evry started a petition recently pledging support for Butler if she ran against Mintz, who Butler beat in November. Evry reasoned that a Butler victory against Mintz would help Democrats reach the two-thirds majority needed in the state Assembly to pass key legislation.

While Butler has spoken with the media about her plans to run for the AD50 seat, her Web site does not have any related announcements.