STRICKLAND FACES CHALLENGER LARKIN JUMPING INTO RACE FOR SEAT IN 37TH DISTRICT.

Byline: HARRISON SHEPPARD Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Earlier this year it seemed like first-term Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Westlake Village, was facing an easy path to re-election.

She had no challenger in the primary and was a conservative incumbent in a heavily Republican district who would be facing a Democratic candidate in the general election that she had easily defeated two years ago.

But that changed a few weeks ago when Bob Larkin, a Ventura County businessman and former county Republican chairman, decided to jump into the race for the 37th district seat.

Larkin said he was motivated to run when he saw that Strickland and her husband, Tony, the district's former assemblyman, were endorsing a Democratic challenger to incumbent Republican county Supervisor Judy Mikels.

Also, he was unhappy about reports that the Stricklands were paying each other for services through their campaign accounts, a controversial practice but one which they defend as legal and which has not led to the filing of any charges.

For the past five years, the Stricklands have reportedly paid each other more than $100,000 from campaign accounts for various political services.

They have defended the practice, saying that when Tony Strickland was in the Assembly, Audra ran a political firm that provided legitimate services to his campaign.

Her campaign later made donations to the California Club for Growth, a nonprofit conservative group headed by Tony Strickland, who is also now running for state controller.

Larkin, 69, owns a State Farm insurance office in Simi Valley and lives in Westlake Village. An Air Force veteran, he has been involved with the Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce and was Republican county chairman in the early 1990s.

Larkin also is running in an effort to reform and decrease the power of the Legislature. The first thing he would do is eliminate the ability for the Legislature to draw its own political districts, which he believes have been gerrymandered to create too many safe seats.

"We should give it to a junior high school student council," Larkin said. "It's not a hard job. It's only hard for people who have a vested interest. It's not hard for any group who can read and is honest."

Next, he would like to see a part-time Legislature that meets about three months a year, with legislative salaries of $25,000. He would also expand term limits to up to 16 to 20 years. He would also return more power to local communities on how to spend property tax revenue.

Audra Strickland remains unfazed by the primary challenge, saying she welcomes the chance to talk about her record. She said the campaign finance activities were legal, and there have been precedents of spouses being paid to work on political campaigns.

"These stories are always politically generated," she said. "Everything we did was absolutely legal and was run by lawyers first. All these issues have been looked at in the past."

She said she endorsed Mikels' opponent because she did not believe the supervisor was serving her district well and noted that a number of other Republicans have also not supported her.

In her first term in office, Strickland said she fought for lower taxes and opposed benefits for illegal immigrants such as cheap tuition in community colleges and driver's licenses.

She has introduced a bill requiring students to show proof of legal residency before entering community college. She also introduced a bill last year to give tax breaks to first- time home buyers, but the bill died in committee.

In a second term she said she hopes to work on some suggestions brought to her by constituents, such as tax credits for the purchase of hearing aids and allowing schools that have been fined because of noncompliance with minor regulations to receive their funds back once they have fixed the problem.

"Frankly I'm very proud of my record in fighting for lower taxes, in working for meaningful reform in our education system, in fighting to end benefits for illegal immigrants," Strickland said.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Ferial Masry in the fall. Masry, who ran against Strickland in 2004, is a government teacher at Cleveland High School.

An immigrant who came to California in 1979, she hopes to become the first woman born in Saudi Arabia to hold public office in the United States.

She faces a challenge, as registration in the district is 45-34 in favor of Republicans.

The district includes parts of the northwest San Fernando Valley and Ventura County, including Camarillo, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

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37th Assembly District race

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37th Assembly District