SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Marcy Winograd, an anti-war activist, will join the special election race for California’s 36th district Saturday in Torrance, toward the southern end of the coastal, Los Angeles-area district.

In 2010, Winograd held Rep. Jane Harman to just 59 percent in the Democratic primary. Harman will resign her seat Monday to take over a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Winograd enters a crowded primary field that includes Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn (D), California Secretary of State Debra Bowen (D) and Redondo Beach City Attorney Mike Webb (R). A handful of other Democrats are expected to run as well.

The top two finishers in the all-party primary will advance to the general. Gov. Jerry Brown has two weeks from Monday to set the date for the special election.

Founder of the Los Angeles chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America, Winograd teaches English at Crenshaw High School in South Central Los Angeles.

In a press release, Winograd said her platform would focus on shifting the billions of dollars spent on the military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan to domestic issues that need more funding. “In Congress, I will fight to put people back to work in productive ways and to protect our social safety net from corporate greed and war profiteering,” she said.

“I am not a career politician, jumping ship in search of a better opportunity,” Winograd said. “I am a long-time community organizer, rooted in the labor and peace movements. I am here to serve.”