'Hollywood's congressman' may fall

If Howard Berman is the Oscar, Brad Sherman’s the People’s Choice Award in the race to represent a new district in the shadow of Hollywood.

That’s the prevailing view among Democratic strategists and congressional aides keeping close tabs on an increasingly bitter race between the rhyming congressmen, who were lumped together this year by California’s unforgivingly independent redistricting commission. Berman’s won the unofficial primary among Hollywood and D.C. elites, they say, but it’s Sherman who has the edge right now among voters who live among the backyard swimming pools and porn sets of the sprawling San Fernando Valley. “If you live in the Hollywood/D.C. bubble Berman is lapping Sherman,” said Mike Trujillo, a Valley native who ran Hillary Clinton’s California campaign in 2008 and was a political aide to Rob Reiner. “If you live in the Valley, Brad’s the choice for most Valley folks right now.”