New Age spiritual adviser and author Marianne Williamson turned a lot of heads when she moved to an upscale luxury apartment on the Westside of Los Angeles and announced to her hundreds of thousands of loyal Twitter and Facebook followers that she had decided to run for Congress in California’s 33rd District, which spans Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, and Venice down to Hermosa Beach and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. 

Williamson, previously a life-long Democrat, chose to run as a “no party preference” candidate in a crowded field of candidates, each seeking to replace the retiring Henry Waxman in what has been considered a pretty safe Democratic seat. When the dust settled and the 18-way open primary was over, Williamson came in a disappointing fourth place, with the top two vote-getters, Republican Elan Carr and Democrat Ted Lieu, advancing on to the general election.

Today, a full two-and-a-half months after the June primary, the campaign of Ted Lieu put out a release announcing the Williamson has endorsed her former opponent for the November runoff. While perhaps it is not surprising that Williamson, who came in fourth place behind Democrat Wendy Greuel, has chosen to endorse a Democrat over a Republican, it’s fairly worthy of note for two reasons.  

The first is that Lieu’s already-strong position for a November victory is significantly enhanced by capturing Williamson’s endorsement. (Greuel endorsed Lieu in early July.) 

The second is that much of Williamson’s rhetoric on the campaign trail was aimed at the establishment political community, of which Lieu is somewhat symbolic.  

In the Lieu release, Willamson is quoted as saying, “I hope those who believe as I do that Ted Lieu represents a vision of America in keeping with our highest yearnings for our nation’s future, will enthusiastically support his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, CA District 33. He has earned our trust and now he needs our support. Let’s give him both.” The release references the left-wing DownWithTyranny! blog.

Williamson’s bid for Congress generated national media attention, and she raised well over a million dollars during her campaign. At one notable fundraising event, Steven Tyler and Chaka Khan performed at a $5,200-per-person private affair at the Malibu estate of True Religion Apparel co-founder Kym Gold.

Lieu and Carr will again face 33rd congressional district voters on Tuesday, November 4th.