Politico's Dave Catanese reports:
California Secretary of State Debra Bowen will announce Tuesday that she is joining the race to succeed former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman, according to a source close to Bowen.
Bowen would join Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn in the race. Hahn, whose family is extremely well-connected in L.A. politics (her brother was once mayor), has been rolling out tons of endorsements in just the few days since she announced her candidacy. She now has the support of current mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (the guy who beat her brother), NBA legend Magic Johnson, and Sen. Diane Feinstein. However, Hahn's electoral track-record has some bruises: She got crushed by Gavin Newsom in the Democratic primary for Lt. Gov. last year, and in 1998, she lost an open-seat race for this same seat to Republican Steve Kuykendall. (Al Gore won this district, which was later made bluer, by a 51-44 margin.)
But Bowen's hesitancy in jumping in may have cost her, with large chunks of the local establishment already getting behind Hahn. Still, Bowen will have considerable resources of her own to bring to this contest. And because of California's move to a "top-two" system (all candidates from all parties run together in a single "jungle" primary, with the top two vote-getters moving to a run-off, regardless of party, unless someone gets 50% in the first round), and because the Republican bench in this area is thin, we could potentially see an election decided in the end between two heavyweight Democrats.
UPDATE: Marcy Winograd is still mulling things over:
Marcy Winograd has said she wants to talk to Secretary of State Debra Bowen about her foreign policy positions before she decides whether she'll also get into the special election in California's 36th District. And so far, she's still waiting.
The progressive activist who twice challenged Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) in the Democratic primary said she's emailed Bowen to try to talk and get answers to her questions on Bowen's foreign policy positions. But as Bowen is launching her candidacy Tuesday, the two have yet to connect. Winograd has spoken with Bowen's consultant Steve Barkan, and last Thursday Bowen left a message on Winograd's answering machine, saying she was still researching some of the issues. Winograd emailed her again after that, but hasn't heard back.
UPDATE 2: Bowen makes it official. (Hat-tip: jpmassar)