Endorsement: Isaac Bryan for the 54th Assembly District

There is an air of inevitability about Isaac Bryan’s campaign for the 54th Assembly District that can be a bit off-putting. He’s endorsed by the two people who most recently held the office, plus a host of other big names in the political establishment. In a time of rampant homelessness, rising violent crime and other deep challenges, it’s tempting to seek out instead an upstart or a newcomer, unconnected with the powers that be, to fill the legislative vacancy in the May 18 special election.

But here’s the thing: Bryan is a newcomer — young, dynamic, full of ideas and energy, with an idealistic vision and a grounding streak of pragmatism. There’s a reason all those older politicos have endorsed him. They see him as a voice of the generation coming of political age. They will eventually have to work with either him or one of his less collaborative, less thoughtful and less accomplished contemporaries. They’re smart to choose him. Voters would be smart to choose him too.

The district straddles the Westside and South L.A., and takes in Culver City, Ladera Heights and a bit of Inglewood. Its demographics and its history make it unabashedly liberal, and the birthplace of L.A.’s modern coalition politics. The vacancy is a result of political cascading: Holly Mitchell vacated the 30th Senate District when she took her seat on the Board of Supervisors, then earlier this year Sydney Kamlager vacated the Assembly seat to succeed Mitchell in the Senate.

Bryan did not get a promising start in life, and was a poor student until his final year in high school. And then he caught fire, pouring himself into study, ultimately earning a master’s degree in public policy from UCLA and then going to work trying to remedy the racial and economic injustices that undermine Los Angeles’ criminal justice system. He was at the center of landmark efforts that are helping to turn the tide, including the Million Dollar Hoods project documenting the true costs of bail and incarceration, L.A.’s reentry program for people leaving prison, and Measure J, last year’s ballot measure that sets a spending floor for community-based health services, restorative justice and other county social support programs.

So Bryan is both a newcomer and an experienced policymaker.

Five other candidates are seeking the seat, and several stand out. One, Dallas Fowler, has deep ties to the community and experience in the construction industry. She is not a go-along-to-get-along type of person, and that’s what makes her noteworthy. Her willingness to call out other elected officials and to depart from conventional policy wisdom is refreshing. Her advocacy for women in politics and business is an asset. A former Bernie Sanders delegate, she boasts progressive credentials but won’t embrace policy positions she identifies as off-base, such as police abolition, and on that, she’s right on target.

But it’s Bryan who has best demonstrated the ability to work with others to get things done, and it’s he who is the best candidate to represent the district in the state Assembly.