Vacant California House Seat to Be Filled Tuesday, With Democrat Richardson a Virtual Shoo-in

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Vacant California House Seat to Be Filled Tuesday, With Democrat Richardson a Virtual Shoo-in
By Rachel Kapochunas | 1:30 PM; Aug. 20, 2007 | Email This Article

California Democrat Laura Richardson, a member of the state Assembly, is virtually certain to become the newest member of the U.S. House as she awaits a special election runoff Tuesday that appears a mere formality.

Richardson is overwhelmingly favored to succeed the late Democratic Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, her former boss and political mentor, in California’s 37th District. The 37th is a Democratic Party stronghold, located in Los Angeles County and based largely in Long Beach, in which minorities — mainly African-Americans and Hispanics — make up most of the population. The district gave 74 percent of its votes to Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

Ethnic politics exerted a major influence on the June 26 special primary election to pick nominees to fill the vacancy that has existed since Millender-McDonald died of cancer on April 22. Of the 17 candidates in the single-ballot primary, 11 of them Democrats, Richardson emerged as the favorite of black activists who wanted to maintain the long run of African-American representation in the district; she achieved that status even though the late incumbent’s daughter, Valerie McDonald, ran for the seat.

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http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/08/vacant_california_house_seat_t.html