Allen, Fluke Advance to November

Sandra Fluke, the women's rights activist who gave Rush Limbaugh heartburn, finished a surprise second place behind SMMUSD School Board Member Ben Allen, in Tuesday's Open primary. Fluke and her husband Adam moved to California several years ago and bought a house in West Hollywood while she was in law school at Georgetown.* Fluke and Allen both advance to the Nov. 4th General Election

Fluke gained national fame in 2012 when Limbaugh called her a "slut" and a "prostitute" on his radio show for her support of President Obama's health care law.

Then a Georgetown University law student, Fluke had been blocked by Republicans from testifying at a congressional hearing in support of contraceptive coverage by insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act. Limbaugh apologized for his choice of words after a huge outcry from Democrats and Republicans. Fluke went on to become a featured speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and campaigned for Obama.

"Obviously I'm incredibly excited, they're great results," says Senate Candidate Ben Allen, who won his race with 21.8% of the vote. Fluke finished second with 19.7%, Seth Stodder in 3d with 17.5%, Betsy Butler took 4th place with 16.7%, and Amy Horwith finished 5th with 15.5% of the vote.

Allen and Fluke are seeking the state Senate seat of Ted Lieu, who is running for Congress in the district long held by liberal icon Henry Waxman. Lieu was clinging to second place in the 33rd Congressional District primary behind Elan Carr, a gang prosecutor and Republican.

"I have a lot of respect for Sandra, I know she will be a formidable competitor. But I was humbled and honored to have received the support that I received on Election day, " Allen told the Observer.

"This is my community and I'm excited about the prospect of being able to serve this area in Sacramento. I'm going to work to ensure we have a successful result in November," he said.

He described Fluke as "Smart, a person with integrity and courage. I think we're going to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. I was strong everywhere in the district. We have the endorsements the message and the resources to appeal to everyone," he said.

Allen listed the big problems the region faces as "Job creation, coming out of this recession. Transportation and congestion, education. And people here care a great deal about environmental protection."

"These are all quality of life issues. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world an we have challenges about getting around. Government needs to play a role in helping people find opportunities. "

Allen said he favors tax incentives for job creators, and "building really strong relationships with the business community, to fight to keep them here. There's a lot we out to do with runaway production, there's some interesting bills already in the legislature. I'm interested in the efforts to challenge special effect imports before the court of international trade. Special effects products should be subject to the same restrictions as other imports (i.e. it's e mailed). It ought to be subject to the same sorts of import laws as hard products. So that doesn't run away," he said.

* correction from original article which stated that Fluke had only lived in California for one year.