CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : LOS ANGELES : Reiner Challenged to Debate Opponent

Buoyed by a new statewide poll showing he has caught up with Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner in the Democratic race for attorney general, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith came to Los Angeles to challenge his Southern California counterpart to debate. “I think we ought to have substantive debates all over the state starting here in Los Angeles,” Smith told a news conference. “We ought to talk about the issues.” Reiner’s campaign manager, Sam Singer, said Reiner would be willing to debate. “We would love to debate Arlo Smith and compare and contrast his record of failure to Ira Reiner’s record of success,” Singer said. “It’s incumbent on all campaigns to debate and have joint appearances.” Earlier this week, the independent California Poll released results showing that 31% of state Democrats prefer Smith, 30% favor Reiner and 39% are undecided.