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Bloomberg Businessweek: Sandra Fluke Tears Off Limbaugh's Label in California Campaign; 'She Really Upends the Race'

By Kurt Gonska on May 28, 2014


8th-post-featured

By James Nash. Originally published in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Sandra Fluke is six days from finding out if her fame as the woman Rush Limbaugh branded a “slut” translates into political currency in California.

Fluke, denounced by the talk-show host for testifying in favor of requiring employers to cover birth control, is trying to capitalize on the incident without being defined by it in her first run for office. Voters are surprised to learn she’s the daughter of an evangelical pastor, she said, “because that’s not the Sandra Fluke of the Rush Limbaugh situation.”

One of eight candidates in the most contested of any of the 20 state senate primary races in California, the 33-year-old lawyer is campaigning for environmental protection, affordable education and the repeal of part of the tax-limiting Proposition 13 law. Like her opponents in the Los Angeles-area district, which hugs the coast and stretches inland to Hollywood, she’s an abortion-rights advocate.

VIDEO: Fluke Employs `Slut' Swipe to Run for State Senate
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Three of the other contenders are current or former elected office-holders and all but one, a lawyer who declined to state an affiliation when he registered, are Democrats, as Fluke is. Going into the last week of the contest, Fluke had the second-largest campaign war chest with $439,000, according to Secretary of State data, compared with the $544,000 raised by Manhattan Beach Mayor Amy Howorth. Fluke’s campaign counts two endorsements among the 11 local Democratic Party clubs that have picked a favorite.

“Sandra Fluke really upends the race,” said Marta Evry, a Democratic activist in the beachside neighborhood of Venice who hasn’t decided for whom she’ll vote. “She has really high name recognition that other candidates don’t.”

‘Progressive Champions’

It was her experience on Capitol Hill and her subsequent run-in with Limbaugh that nudged her to seek public office after years as a behind-the-scenes activist for women’s rights and victims of domestic violence, Fluke said in an interview at Bloomberg News’ Los Angeles office.

“To me it felt hypocritical that I was walking around talking about how important it was to have women in leadership, women running for office,” and to not run herself, she said. “We don’t have enough women in elected office. We do need a new generation of progressive views and champions.”

Fluke (it rhymes with book) was a third-year law student at Georgetown University in February 2012 when she testified to the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee about requiring religious-affiliated institutions to include birth control in insurance plans.

Democratic Majorities

After the Republican-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee rejected Democrats’ request to allow Fluke to speak (she was in the audience as an all-male lineup of religious leaders addressed that committee) she was invited to appear before the Democratic panel.

In her testimony, she said she used contraceptives and that without coverage from Georgetown, a Jesuit institution, it could cost a student like her as much $3,000. Limbaugh told the 13 million listeners of his radio show that she was asking taxpayers to subsidize her sexual habits. “She wants to be paid to have sex,” Limbaugh said, calling Fluke a prostitute. He later apologized.

At first, Fluke considered vying for the seat being vacated by U.S. Representative Henry Waxman, a Democrat. Instead, Fluke said she decided that, with Democratic majorities in both statehouses and Democrats in every statewide office, Sacramento is more fertile ground for progressive legislation.

Proposition 13

“I’m a strong progressive. I’m proud of that,” she said. Fluke grew up in what she called the “one-stoplight” town of Saxton, Pennsylvania, where her father was a machinist before becoming a minister and her mother was a schoolteacher. Her conservative upbringing, she said, makes her a well-rounded candidate who can appreciate “notions of self-sufficiency.”

Fluke says her positions place her in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing. During a recent candidates’ forum, only Fluke advocated the legalization of marijuana for recreational use without conditions. She also argued for striking down parts of Proposition 13, the 1978 law limiting annual increases in property taxes and requiring two-third legislative majorities for tax increases; Fluke advocates removing commercial property from the caps and changing the tax-hike requirement to a simple majority. Other candidates also called for changes to the law.

Fluke has the potential to nudge the Democratic majority in the state senate to the left, said David Graham-Caso, who led the Los Angeles County Young Democrats from 2010 to 2012.

Leveraging Limelight

“She’ll provide a necessary shakeup in the state senate and provide leadership on progressive issues,” said Graham-Caso, who supports Fluke.

As an undergraduate at Cornell University, Fluke majored in policy analysis and management and feminist, gender and sexuality studies. After graduation, she worked in New York for Sanctuary for Families, which provides services to victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking.

In 2007, Fluke and her now-husband, comedy writer and producer Adam Mutterperl, moved to Southern California and later bought a house in West Hollywood; she said she would have gone to law school at the University of California, Los Angeles, if it had offered a better financial package.

Fluke passed the California Bar in December 2012. Since then, she’s been a consultant for Planned Parenthood and a fellow for the political group Young Invincibles, and has represented victims of human trafficking.

Campaign Mailers

In the state senate race, Fluke hasn’t been shy about trying to leverage her time in the limelight. Two campaign mailers mention Limbaugh, including one that declares, “Sandra Fluke Fought Rush Limbaugh, and Won. Imagine What She Will Do in Sacramento.” Her website includes a photo of her addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2012 and a video of President Barack Obama calling her “generous” and “brave.”

At the same time, she said both she and voters have moved past 2012. “It used to be that if I was introducing myself at an event, people would say, ’Oh, you’re the one,’ and Rush Limbaugh and that kind of thing,” she said. “Now they say, ’Oh, you’re running.’ The message is getting through.”

Fluke’s campaign is still leaning too hard on the Limbaugh notoriety, said Cara Robin, the president of the West Los Angeles Democratic Club, which has endorsed a former state assembly member in the race.

“When you see her message, ‘I’m going to stand up for you,’ you have to ask who she’s going to stand up to,” Robin said. “There’s no Rush Limbaugh in California.”

Fundraising Race

To advance to the November election on June 3, Fluke will need to come in first or second place. Under a ballot measure approved by voters in 2010, the top finishers in a non-presidential primary face off in the general election regardless of party affiliation. There have been no independent opinion polls conducted in the race, which drew no Republicans.

The Torrance-based Daily Breeze, one of the district’s main newspapers, endorsed Fluke and Ben Allen, a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Board of Education, in that order of preference. The weekly Argonaut, based near Marina del Rey, endorsed Fluke. Allen has raised almost as much as Fluke: $396,000.

Fluke’s campaign treasury includes $100,000 that she loaned to herself, along with more than $45,000 from people with the last names Fluke and Mutterperl. Attorneys were the largest category of donors with $31,000 in contributions. Other contributors include the National Abortion Rights Action League’s political-action committee and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs.

Best Strategy

As for Howorth, she gave her campaign $100,000 and loaned another $100,000. Manhattan Beach-based apparel company Skechers USA Inc. gave $4,100 and its president, Michael S. Greenberg, added $8,200. Political-action committees for landlords, insurers and sheet-metal workers also gave to Howorth. Attorneys chipped in $32,500.

Allen loaned his campaign $50,000 and reported a $4,100 contribution from Powell Jobs. Attorneys accounted for more than $85,000 of his contributions.

Manhattan Beach developer Bill Bloomfield has backed Allen with $440,000 in expenditures not coordinated with Allen’s campaign, and Howorth benefited from $116,000 in independent expenditures from the business-backed Alliance for California’s Tomorrow, filings indicate. Fluke hasn’t benefited from independent expenditures.

She was endorsed today by U.S. Representative Julia Brownley, a Democrat who represented the area in the assembly.

Fluke’s best strategy over the next week is to drive turnout among core supporters, such as younger women and abortion-rights activists, said Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant who lives in West Hollywood. That may explain her campaign’s references to Limbaugh in mailers sent as people began filling out vote-by-mail ballots.

“It is a real smorgasbord of candidates,” he said. “The bottom line is, those with name ID have a real advantage.”

Stand with Sandra


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Endorsements

  • Sandra Fluke is a champion for California women and their families. She bravely spoke up on Capitol Hill in defense of contraceptive coverage and has been a tireless advocate in California on behalf of legislation like last year’s Abortion Access Bill (AB 154, Atkins). She is not only a pro-choice candidate, but part of a new generation of progressive leaders fighting for reproductive justice. In the Senate, Sandra will join a committed pro-choice majority. Endorsing Sandra was an obvious choice, because we know that she will be a champion and leader for reproductive rights in Sacramento. We’re so excited to help her get there.

    -Amy Everitt, State Director, NARAL Pro-Choice California

  • She is one of a fresh, new generation of feminists, and it is exciting to see her take this step in her political career. I know Sandra will fight in Sacramento for progressive values and change to better the lives of everyone in her district. I look forward to supporting her campaign from now until Election Day!

    -Gloria Steinem

  • Although I would have loved to have her as a colleague in Congress, the people of the 26th Senate District will be lucky to have Sandra fighting for them. Sandra will be able to create the progressive change in Sacramento that unfortunately Congress is unable to achieve in this political climate. This is a great first step for Sandra’s political career and I wholeheartedly endorse her for State Senate.

    -Congresswoman Janice Hahn

  • I am thrilled to endorse Sandra’s bid for State Senate. She is a true progressive leader who has already worked to pass important legislation here in California. As chair of the Education Committee, I know the importance of early childhood education, one of many issues Sandra has championed. Her future constituents will be lucky to have her be their voice in Sacramento.

    -Carol Liu

  • I’ve had the privilege of working with Sandra Fluke several times. I’m impressed with her expertise and eloquence. She is just the kind of advocate with a fresh perspective that we need in Sacramento. I’m confident Sandra will stand up for what is right to protect reproductive freedom, and she’ll be a strong voice as a leader from within a new generation of progressives. I’m proud to support her for election to the California Senate.

    -Sarah Weddington, Attorney who argued the Roe v. Wade case

  • I am pleased and delighted to endorse Sandra for the State Senate. Sandra and I have worked together on legislation to advance issues of gender equality and reproductive justice and as Vice Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, I am proud to offer her my support.

    -State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson

  • I am proud to stand with Sandra Fluke in her bid for California State Senate. Sandra is a strong, hardworking, and dedicated individual with an impressive passion for public service. She is a strong role model and is the right choice to fight for equality and progress in Sacramento.

    -Jennifer Siebel Newsom

  • I am proud to stand with Sandra Fluke in her bid to serve in the California State Senate. Sandra has long been a fearless advocate for women’s rights especially those of women veterans. I am confident that she will, with unwavering courage and endless commitment, continue to serve all who have served our country.

    -Kristen Kavanaugh, Chair, CDP Veterans’ Caucus, Committee on Women Veterans

  • During my 2012 campaign, Sandra came to Rochester and stood with me. I got to know her and I was deeply impressed with her willingness to fight for what she believed in. She remains a champion for women’s health, and has spoken out this year in support of equal pay and access to contraception. She also speaks out for issues that don’t get as much coverage: human trafficking, skyrocketing student loan debt and workers’ rights. I’m proud to support Sandra’s run for State Senate.

    -U.S. Representative Louise Slaughter (NY-25), Ranking Member on the House Rules Committee

  • Sandra Fluke is a fighter, and I know she will make a real difference in the lives of her constituents. Sandra is an incredibly effective champion for the issues that matter to Angelenos. I’m impressed by the work she’s done for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, as well as her legislative advocacy for worker protections and access to education. I’m proud to endorse Sandra Fluke for State Senate.

    -Honorable Joy Picus, Former Los Angeles City Councilmember

  • I’m proud to endorse Sandra Fluke for State Senate. From our water crisis, to fracking, to the region’s significant transportation challenges – we need an environmental champion in the State Senate fighting every day to protect our communities, and Sandra is that champion. Sandra is a pragmatic and experienced leader who will be a strong advocate for the environment.

    -Nancy Sutley, Former Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality

  • As a veteran and survivor of sexual assault in the military, I have learned that real strength is the courage to stand up in the face of adversity regardless of how tall the challenge may seem. I support Sandra Fluke because she has the strength and dedication required to represent women and veterans and will ensure that veteran issues are a top priority when she goes to Sacramento.

    -Kate Weber, Mom, Veteran, Advocate, Survivor. 2013 Veteran of the year by the California Democratic Party and Woman Veteran Leader of the Year by Cal Vet

  • In 2012 when I was running for Congress, Sandra came and stood with me. I got to know her as we campaigned together, and I was incredibly impressed by her commitment to California and her willingness to fight for change. Sandra is definitely never one to back down from a challenge! I’m proud to stand with her now and I fully endorse her campaign for State Senate.

    -Congressman Scott Peters

  • I’m endorsing Sandra’s run for California State Senate. She represents a new generation of progressive leadership and she’ll be a fresh voice in government. I’m standing with Sandra and I hope you will, too.​

    -Congressman Joaquin Castro

  • I am so happy to endorse my friend, Sandra Fluke! Sandra has been a strong advocate for social justice and the LGBTQ community. Even before she was known on the national stage, she co-founded a statewide coalition that passed legislation to eliminate discrimination against LGBTQ people in family court, helping protect parents like mine. I know she’ll be a fighter for her constituents and she’ll bring to Sacramento a fresh perspective on progressive issues.

    -Zach Wahls, LGBTQ Rights Activist

  • I strongly admire Sandra’s public service on a number of issues and I am so excited for her to step forward and run for State Senate. Sandra Fluke will be an effective voice for her community and her generation.

    -Christine Pelosi, Chair, Women’s Caucus, California Democratic Party

Paid for by Stand with Sandra Fluke for State Senate 2014 FPPC ID # 1363476
PO Box 146, Agoura Hills, CA 91376

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