Marianne Williamson, California's New Age Contender for Congress

In the sanctuary above an herbal tonic bar, before a seated Buddha and a pair of mandalas, 48 volunteers for congressional candidate Marianne Williamson close their eyes and meditate as Annelise Balfour, the manager and head facilitator of the Source Spiritual Center, intones a welcome prayer. “Marianne, she’s … Whoa! She’s the s-‍-‍-. I’m so grateful for her. We thank you, God, for more gratitude, more adventure, more transformation. Now I ask all of you, drop your story of the past. Only now do you have the power to transform your world. Visualize gardens growing and dolphins swimming and any dream you care to dream of a government that responds to its people.” When she finishes, a few of those gathered, echoing how Williamson ends her own talks, add, “And so it is.”

Williamson, 61, is the best-selling author of 13 books on spirituality and a renowned New Age guru, although she hates that term. She wants to channel some of her 220,000 Twitter followers and 456,000 Facebook likes—and millions of readers—into a constituency that will vote for her. She’s out to replace Democratic Representative Henry Waxman, who’s retiring after 20 terms, in California’s 33rd U.S. congressional district. Encompassing Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Venice, the 33rd then curves around to include the equally tony enclaves of Hermosa Beach and the Palos Verdes peninsula. The district has the highest per capita income, $60,000 per year, and the highest median home value, $911,000, of any district in the country. It’s rich, white, and liberal; Barack Obama carried more than 60 percent of the vote in both his races, and the district gave millions to his campaign. The 33rd is home to donors such as Jeffrey Katzenberg and Haim Saban and a host of other liberal billionaires. Whoever controls the 33rd becomes a power broker: Almost every Democratic candidate with national aspirations stops in to tap the ATM.