The race for the state's 38th Assembly District largely mirrors the race on the national scene, with a faceoff between two candidates with very different stands on some of California's most pressing issues.

Incumbent Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita) is battling Democratic challenger Carole Lutness to represent the 38th District, which includes the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and Glendale.

Smyth, 37, a Santa Clarita resident, was elected to the Assembly in 2006 and is seeking his second term. Before taking this office, Smyth sat on the Santa Clarita City Council for six years, during which he served twice as mayor.

Also a Santa Clarita resident, 66yearold Lutness has been politically active since she was in her early 20s, when she joined the NAACP in West Virginia.

She continued to pursue her passion for politics when she moved to Los Angeles in 1998 and joined numerous Democratic organizations.

Running against the odds

Lutness said she is running against Smyth to make the world a better place for her 11-year-old granddaughter and to "restore the balance between corporate wants and the people's needs."

She contends that "unbridled capitalism" has pushed out small businesses and the middle class and has brought the state to "a tipping point."

"We're facing the most difficult environmental, social, political and economic crises," she said.

Despite the challenge of competing in a traditionally Republican district, Lutness sees a transition taking place.

"This is the year of the Democrats," she said. "We're out to win, and we need to win."

Staying busy in Sacramento

Smyth said he hopes voters will judge him according to what he's accomplished since being sent to Sacramento.

He said his ability to work across the aisle has made him an effective legislator, citing the nine bills he got signed by the governor in the past two years.

While it may be a necessity for the Republican minority in the Assembly to work with their Democratic colleagues, Smyth said, it is also his philosophy.

"When I decided to run two years ago, I did it with the intention of getting something done," Smyth said, "not to be a political ideologue, but to be part of the solution."

The candidates agree that the first thing that needs to be solved is the state's budget crisis, and they find common ground on the need for a rainy day fund.

Smyth said the budget has outpaced a natural growth cycle, more than doubling in size since 1996. He said a constitutional measure is needed to curb spending since the Legislature cannot be trusted to control itself.

Still, he said that a spending cap should allow for some growth that will support schools and infrastructure.

How to raise revenues

Where the candidates differ is on how they plan to raise revenues.

Lutness wants the state to look into untapped revenue sources such as the Internet and to tax large special corporate interests and the "super rich" for their fair share.

One of her biggest issues with Smyth is the fact that he and other Republicans signed a "no new taxes" pledge, stating that he would oppose any effort to increase taxes, which Lutness believes has kept the state from resolving its budget woes.

However, Smyth said he has always held the position against raising taxes and would continue to do so whether he had signed the pledge or not.

He argued that the state relies too heavily on property and income taxes, and said increasing taxes only drives businesses—including the 38th District's No. 1 employer, the entertainment industry—out of California.

"I have voted for and endorsed local property tax measures and bonds," Smyth said. "I certainly recognize that funding has to be available to maintain a certain quality of life, but to continually raise taxes . . . I think we're taxed enough."

The candidates are more in agreement on the issue of energy independence.

Both support developing a thriving green industry in California and providing incentives to companies to help them transition to more eco-friendly business practices and technologies.

Lutness also advocates the need for the state to invest in its public transportation.

"We need a real commitment to rapid rail and to developing communities where you can walk to work or bike to the store," she said.

Smyth said Lutness is not walking the walk.

"She talks as if she has a strong environmental record, but there is only one candidate in this race that drives a hybrid vehicle," he said.

Opposites on social issues

The candidates diverge again on social issues such as gay marriage.

Personally, Smyth supports the traditional definition of marriage. He said he is for Proposition 8 because he is concerned about gay marriage being taught in the public school system at the elementary level. He said that job should be left up to parents.

He added that churches could lose their nonprofit status if they refuse to marry a gay couple and are subsequently sued.

Lutness, however, is against the proposition, which she said is about basic civil rights.

"We don't have second-class citizens," she said.

A proponent of public campaign financing, or clean money, Lutness believes she is the best pick because she has a vision for the future of California and is not beholden to any special interests—though she has accepted money from unions, which her opponent calls "the ultimate hypocrisy."

Smyth is confident that his experience as a freshman Republican in the Assembly has paid off, noting that just 17 out of the 48 Democrats have endorsed Lutness.

Still, it will be a close race, Lutness said, with one Democrat versus Republican poll showing the district race to be in a "dead heat."

Smyth was not convinced. "Only one poll matters, and that's the one on Nov. 4," he said.