Politics & Government

Author, Congressional Candidate to Speak in North Redondo

Marianne Williamson will challenge Rep. Henry Waxman for his seat representing the 33rd Congressional District.

This article was originally published at 10:11 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2013. It has since been updated.

Best-selling author Marianne Williamson will make her first political appearance at a Redondo Beach bookstore since announcing her candidacy Sunday to represent the 33rd Congressional District, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D) currently represents the 33rd district, which stretches along the coast from the Palos Verdes Peninsula all the way up to Beverly Hills and Malibu.

Williamson, a lifelong Democrat who plans to run as an independent, will give a short talk, participate in a Q&A and sign books at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in North Redondo Beach, according to the Redondo Beach Patch events calendar.

Upon declaring her candidacy Sunday, Williamson told supporters at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills, "It's time for a politics of  conscience, a new chapter in our history in which love is not minimized, the voices of women and children are not marginalized and the future of the United States is not bartered for a pot of unrighteous gold."

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Williamson said her main issue is the undue influence of moneyed interests on the political system.

"We have developed over the last few decades a system of legalized corruption in the United States in which those with money are accorded much more political influence than those who are without," Williamson said. "And that is not democracy."

Find out what's happening in Redondo Beachwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Williamson said she also plans to discuss gerrymandering, the economy, climate change and sustainable energy, child poverty and higher education in her campaign.

Williamson described herself as a lifelong Democrat, but said she will appear on the June primary ballot without a party designation because of her belief that both parties are too beholden to corporate interests.

"I'm not just concerned by where the parties are different," Williamson said. "I'm even more concerned by where they are too much the same."

Williamson is the author of 10 books, six of which have appeared on The New York Times best-sellers list. She founded Project Angel Food in 1990, which provides food to homebound people with AIDS in the Los Angeles area.

Williamson is also the founder of the The Peace Alliance, which supports creation of a United States Department of Peace.

Williamson said she does not think of Waxman, who has been in the House since 1975, as her opponent.

"We're simply candidates for the same position," Williamson said.

"Mr. Waxman has been a good congressman for 38 years and I believe he deserves appreciation and respect. But a new conversation is required now and the political status quo—even the best of it—cannot provide that.

"Waxman knows many things because he's been in Congress for 38 years, but I know many things because I have not been. Institutional memory is important in any organization, but so are fresh ideas."

Waxman told City News Service he was "gratified Ms. Williamson thinks I'm doing a good job and agrees with me on most issues."

"While some think it would make more sense for her to challenge a Republican and help us regain control of the House, I respect her right to run," Waxman, D-Beverly Hills, said.

Williamson is not the only person who's announced her candidacy for the 33rd District. Brent Roske, a television producer and director, earlier said he would run, according to the L.A. Times.

Waxman held onto his seat last year despite an expensive challenge by independent businessman and former Republican Bill Bloomfield.

—City News Service contributed to this report.


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