CA-32: Judy Chu Wins Primary Election!

MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Judy Chu won the hotly contested Primary for the Democratic Nomination for the 32nd Congressional District to represent the seat vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. With 100% of precincts reporting Chu leads Gil Cedillo by 4,124 votes, 31.9% to 23.38%, a margin which is less votes than 26-year-old Emmanuel Pleitez received (6,509).

Amusingy, Judy Chu will face Republican Betty Chu in the runoff election, set for mid July. However, in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, Judy Chu is assured to become the first Asian American Congresswoman to represent Los Angeles County.

Congrats to Judy and all my friends who worked on the campaign. Go sleep. You did good.

CA-32: API LGBT Support Judy Chu for Congress

Assemblymember John A. Pérez (46th District) and
Board of Equalization member Judy Chu
MadProfessah with Judy Chu

Curtis Chin, Judy Chu and Jeff Kim

A fundraiser primarily hosted by members of the Asian-American and Pacfic Islander LGBT community in Los Angeles was held for Judy Chu's run for the 32nd Congressional District seat vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. The event was hosted (and primarily organized) by Jeff Kim and Curtis Chin at their downtown loft. It was attended by the first openly gay person of color elected to the California Legislature, John A. Pérez who represents the 46th Assembly District.

MadProfessah was a co-host of the event and has endorsed Judy Chu's run for the seat. She is primarily running against State Senator Gil Cedillo who does not represent any portion of the 32nd Congressional District.

At the event, Judy Chu gave a number of reasons why she expects to win the race, the first was Experience. Since she has been representing different portions of the 32nd district for 23 years, having been elected 9 different times in School Board, City Council, Assembly and state Board of Equalization races. The second reason was money. She said that her goal was to raise $750, 000 and has so far raised $425, 000 and Governor Schwarzenegger has until Tuesday to announce when the Special Election will occur (which is likely to coincide with the statewide special election already set for May 19th). The third was endorsements. She has been endorsed by all three assemblymembers who represent the 32nd Congressional District (her husband)Mike Eng (49th AD), Kevin de Leon (45th AD where MadProfessah lives) and Ed Hernandez (57th AD). In fact she has been endorsed by 75 elected officials who represent portions of the 32nd CD while Cedillo has only 10. In addition, Chu has been endorsed by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has identified 40, 000 union households in the district. In a 15% turnout election, it probably takes less than 20, 000 votes to win the Democratic primary, which is tantamount to winning the election in such a Democratic-leaning CD.

Judy Chu has been a longtime supporter of LGBT and progressive causes and is exactly what DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga means when he says that we need to elect BETTER Democrats and not just MORE Democrats.

If you are interested in supporting Judy Chu for Congress check out her website at judychu.net.

CA-32: Solis Confirmed As Labor Secretary 80-17

The race for the 32nd Congressional District of California begins today since it's current representative Hilda Solis was confirmed as Labor Secretary by the United States Senate Tuesday by a vote of 80-17.

The current leading candidates, according to dday at Calitics are:

Judy Chu is currently on the Board of Equalization. While a Chinese-American running for a seat that is majority Latino, Chu has the support of the California Federation of Labor, which typically cleans up in these kinds of special elections. That alone makes her the favorite IMO.

Gil Cedillo is a State Senator in the adjoining district, and so he represents very few of these constituents. He has been strong on issues around immigration in particular, and will certainly be formidable in this race.

Emanuel Pleitez worked in the Obama transition team on the Treasury Department. The fact that Treasury has practically no senior officers staffing it save for Tim Geithner, over a month after the inauguration, doesn't really speak well to Pleitez' transition capabilities. But he apparently has the most robust campaign apparatus in the district thus far (with 17 volunteer full-time staff members), and he was born and raised in the district.

MadProfessah is endorsing Judy Chu, who is an incredibly strong ally of the LGBT community.

CA-32: Local Ethnic Political Fault Lines Revealed

A little bird told me that Labor Secretary-designee U.S. Representative Hilda Solis would love to endorse Judy Chu to replace her in Congress representing the 32nd District but the Obama Administration has told her that Cabinet secretaries can not get involved in the political fight to replace them. State Senator Gil Cedillo is the only other declared candidate in the potential special election, after Gloria Romero dropped out of the race, endorsing Cedillo, and announced her intention to run for State Superintendent of Education in 2010. Romero also later endorsed Los Angeles Unified School District Board President Monica Garcia for her 24th District State Senate seat.

Capitol Weekly has an article in the Thursday January 22 edition on Solis' confirmation process that also mentions some intriguing details on the intricate positioning that other politicians are doing to fill in the holes in the Southern California political power structure as one of their own is elevated in Washington.

On Thursday morning, both the Service Employees International Union and and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor endorsed Chu.

There have been tensions between Romero and Maria-Elena Durazo, head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. But Capitol sources say Romero decided to focus on the superintendent’s race after consulting with former Sen. Richard Polanco, among others.

The potential Congressional showdown has also divided the Capitol’s Latino Caucus, of which Cedillo is chair. Cedillo has tangled with Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and has even threatened to challenge Perez for his Assembly seat in 2010.

Perez is the cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Villaraigosa is said to be leaning toward endorsing Chu, though his office did not return calls seeking comment.

Cedillo and Villlaraigosa were once close political allies, with Villariagosa using his clout to help Cedillo’s election to the Assembly in a 1997 pecial election. But tensions between the two childhood friends quickly grew, and eventually boiled over after Villaraigosa's failed race for Los Angeles mayor in 2001. Villaraigosa threatened to run against Cedillo for Senate after his 2001 defeat, and the rift has never healed between the two. Cedillo stuck with Hahn when Villarigosa eventually defeated Hahn in 2005.

[...]

If Chu is to win the seat, she will have to earn some Latino support. The 32nd Congressional District is about 62 percent Latino. Asians make up about 20 percent of the district population. Latinos make up about half of the district’s voter registration. Asians comprise about 13 percent of registered voters.

[...]

Chu has already secured the endorsement of Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-El Monte, who has his eyes on Romero’s senate seat in 2010. Chu and her husband, Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Los Angeles, -- two of Hernandez’s top potential rivals -- are said to be backing Hernandez for the Senate seat.

[...]

Romero’s exit from the congressional race sets up a 2010 showdown between Romero and Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, for state superintendent. The current superintendent, Jack O’Connell is being pushed out by term limits, and has announced his intention to run for governor in 2010.

Got all that? On one side you have John Perez, Antonio Villaraigosa, Ed Hernandez and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor with Chu versus Romero and Polanco with Cedillo in a 62% Latino district. I presume L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina (who previously rejected a run for the seat herself) will be on the side of Romero/Polanco/Cedillo, but only time will tell.

CA-32: Romero and Chu Eye Solis' U.S. House Seat

State Senator Gloria Romero

It's all about MadProfessah's hood! Previously, I blogged about a scramble among prominent Latino politicians in Los Angeles that had started when word leaked that MadProfessah's congressman, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31) had been offered a position in President Obama's cabinet as U.S. Trade Representative. Becerra turned the position down, deciding to stay in the House as the #5 Democrat in that chamber and wait his chance to become to the first Latino Speaker of the House. This will not be the last time we hear the name Xavier Becerra.

Now imagine the maneuverings are going on now that U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (CA-32) has accepted Obama's nomination as Labor Secretary, giving up a Congressional seat in East Los Angeles that she has held for 5 terms. This time it's my State Senator Gloria Romero who has given an explicit statement of interest in the job. "

"Absoutely I am very interested in this seat. I have represented this district for over 10 years in the California state legislature," she said. "I know this district well, and this district knows me."

Other names that have been discussed for the seat include Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, Judy Chu, chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization, and her husband Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte.

Both Chu and Romero would be an amazing congressional respresentative and I would be hard pressed to pick between Romero and Chu, although knowing what I know right now, I would pick Chu. I know very little about Hernandez except that he's in his second term in the Assembly. Both Chu and Romero are strong supporters of LGBT equality and have been endorsed by Equality California when they ran for their current elected positions. Interestingly, Romero replaced Solis as the representative of the 24th State Senate district, will she also replace Solis as the representative of the 32nd Congressional district?

The race is on. May the best woman win!