BATTLE HEATING UP FOR 40TH CHARGES FLY IN RACE TO REPLACE HERTZBERG.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Lloyd Levine left his legislative job in Sacramento in early December and moved to his parents' home in Van Nuys to run for the 40th Assembly seat.

Andrei Cherny came back from the East Coast in June 1999 - after graduating from Harvard University and working as a speech writer for former Vice President Al Gore - to take a job in Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg's office. He lived with his parents before moving into a Van Nuys apartment last spring to be eligible under new district boundaries to succeed his boss.

In what is shaping up as the San Fernando Valley's hottest local election contest, two home-grown young men are battling it out in the March 5 Democratic primary for the right to succeed popular Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who is termed out. In a heavily Democratic district, the primary winner is virtually assured of election in November.

But the wide differences in viewpoints of Cherny and Levine have already become partly obscured by charges of carpetbagging.

Cherny, 26, says his opponent has lived and voted in Sacramento for years, only coming back to the Valley to run for the Assembly, while he's lived more than two-and-a-half years in the 40th District after leaving the White House to work part time as Hertzberg's senior policy adviser.

``I think the carpetbagging issue and him pretending that he lives in the Valley is part of it, but it's also the fact that he's never worked on Valley issues,'' Cherny said.

``(He) worked for a representative from San Bernardino and worked on San Bernardino issues. He worked for him until last month basically; he wasn't registered to vote here, he had no real ties to this community, no real involvement in this community. I came home.''

Levine, 32, whose father is a political consultant spearheading an anti-secession movement in the the Valley, said he has come back to the region consistently over the past few years despite voting through the 2000 general election in Sacramento County, disputing that Cherny can ``out-Valley'' him.

``When I tell people I'm going home, this (the Valley) is what I refer to,'' Levine said. ``He went back East to school, then worked in Washington for a while. Just because you still have a register to vote here doesn't necessarily mean you're any more or less in touch.''

Hertzberg, who hired Cherny, but not Levine when the latter applied for a legislative post, said Cherny has exhibited more concern for the Valley.

When the two first met at the White House, Hertzberg said, Cherny's first questions were about the Valley. By contrast, the speaker said, Levine has expressed little enthusiasm for Valley issues while in Sacramento.

``The first one (Cherny) I meet in the White House, and his first words are about the Valley,'' Hertzberg said. ``The other has been five years in Sacramento, and he's never once - until recently - been seen in the Valley.''

Cherny, Hertzberg said, is `stellar,'' noting his Ivy League education, authorship of a groundbreaking book that advocates taking power away from big government and giving it back to ordinary people (Cherny's ``The Next Deal: The Future of Public Life in the Information Age,'' Basic Books 2000 pointedly notes the author lives in ``Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley''). The speaker lauds Cherny as a prodigious intellect who was indispensable as a sounding board for big legislative ideas.

Hertzberg said Levine never stood out in Sacramento.

``Had he shined, he would have come to my attention and I would have considered him,'' Hertzberg said. ``Rarely have I found a person who has talked to Lloyd (about the race). It's the father who calls everywhere. If Larry Levine wants to run, he should run.''

Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment chairman Richard Close said Cherny has been a key adviser for the past three years in the effort to put Valley cityhood on the ballot, using his White House-honed communications skills on behalf of the movement.

``Who is Lloyd Levine?'' Close asked. ``I've never seen him at any community meetings; I've never heard of him; I don't know anyone who's seen him. I don't think he exists. I think his father intends to sell him like any other product he sells.''

Larry Levine, a prominent political consultant and Valley activist who is a leader of the anti-secession movement One L.A., is not running his son's campaign. He did make an $88,000 personal loan at 3 percent interest to his son, which Lloyd Levine then loaned to his campaign. Cherny has filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission challenging the loan's legality, which both Lloyd Levine and his father defend as proper.

Larry Levine said Hertzberg - who the consultant said he once had a close relationship with - is miffed that anyone would dare to stand up to his hand-picked successor.

``This is Lloyd's decision,'' Larry Levine said. ``It really surprised me. But I said fine, I'll back you up. I'm doing what any proud parent would do, I'm helping.''

Larry Levine charged that without Hertzberg, Cherny wouldn't stand a chance in the race.

``How is it that a 26-year-old kid (Cherny) with two years of law school is up to the job, and a kid with five years in the Legislature is not?'' Larry Levine said.

Lloyd Levine's boss, Democratic Assemblyman John Longville, D-San Bernardino, called Levine a ``very capable fellow.''

``He's very knowledgeable and able to handle complex legislative matters easily; he understands the process very well,'' said Longville, whose losing 1992 campaign was run by Larry Levine. ``In a time of term limits, he could hit the ground running, and not spend time learning the process.''

Gun control issues

Longville said he was angered when Cherny represented Levine as working against gun control, when his office has stood for firearms restrictions.

A flyer handed out Jan. 7 by Cherny at a Democratic Party of San Fernando Valley meeting at which Levine won the endorsement said, ``Levine worked against gun control in Sacramento.'' It noted Cherny had the endorsement of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

While the Brady Campaign did endorse Cherny, whom the group has had a long relationship with, its western director Luis Tolley said it had nothing against Levine, adding that Levine filled out the group's candidate questionnaire late, but well.

``Andrei has come to our meetings and been involved with us, including fund-raisers,'' Tolley said. ``I don't believe I've met Lloyd Levine. We have no history of Lloyd, good or bad.''

Cherny said Levine worked for Sen. Edward Vincent, D-Inglewood, when as an assemblyman Vincent voted inconsistently on gun control bills.

Levine called the charge that he had worked against gun control ``absolutely not true,'' and that as a legislative aide in Vincent's office he did not work on gun control issues. He pointed to a January letter from the Million Mom March, San Bernardino County Chapter, that thanked him for being ``a strong voice for the kind of sensible laws that will stop accidents and killings.''

``It was a hard-fought endorsement battle between the candidates, and it went on for some time,'' said Jeff Daar, chairman of the Valley Democratic group, which has a strongly liberal bent. ``After careful consideration Lloyd was endorsed as best suited on the issues and as having the proper experience.''

Longville, Levine's former boss, questioned Cherny's consistency on issues before different political audiences.

``He seems to have difficulty maintaining consistent positions when talking to different groups and individuals, of being on both sides of issues like school vouchers and secession of the San Fernando Valley.''

Endorsements lined up

Cherny has locked up the endorsements of most of the Valley's current elected officials - with the exception of Board of Equalization member John Chiang - while Levine underscores his endorsements by United Teachers Los Angeles and the California Federation of Teachers.

Former City Councilman Mike Feuer, whose campaigns Larry Levine ran, said Lloyd Levine is ``very straightforward, honest, articulate and an up-and-coming leader. He has a real passion for public service.''

Cherny and Levine have traded charges each has shifted positions to reflect polling data or other political purposes.

Cherny said Levine even opposes allowing a November vote on Valley secession; Levine says he favors a vote, but is proud to be from Los Angeles and opposes secession.

``If I wanted to be from a little city north of Los Angeles, I'd move to Bakersfield,'' Levine said.

`Cities of our own'

He called Cherny a secessionist, citing an article Cherny co-authored in December 2000 that said, ``It is a crusade that will give all of us cities in which the people are in control, cities of our own, cities that work.'' Cherny says the Valley should have the opportunity to vote and that the article combined the views of the other author, Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain, but he's stopping short of calling for a new city at this point.

``He's going around telling people that the Valley doesn't have the right to vote, and that really, really angers me,'' Cherny said.

Levine said Cherny has not adequately explained his spotty attendance record at Berkeley, where he passed the second-year law school exams last May, while also working part time for Hertzberg.

``It's not my proudest moment,'' Cherny said. ``I started law school there and realized law school was not the thing for me. I was there maybe one day a month, and only showed up for finals.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) ANDREI CHERNY

Hertzberg adviser

(2) LLOYD LEVINE

Legislative aide