California's 37th congressional district special election, 2007
Encyclopedia
California's 37th congressional district special election, 2007 was held on August 21, 2007 to replace the seat of Congresswomen
Juanita Millender-McDonald
, who died of cancer on April 22, 2007. California State Assembly
member Laura Richardson
received the plurality of votes in an open primary
election on June 26. Since no candidate won a majority of votes in that contest, the special election was held on August 21, in which Richardson was the winner.
Republican
Green
Libertarian
, John Kerry
received 74% of the vote and George W. Bush
received 25% of the vote. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index
score of D +27. The district's high African American
and Mexican American
populations also make the district lean Democrat because those groups have tended to vote with the Democrats. It came as little surprise when Republican John M. Kanaley received 5,309 votes or 25.24% of the total. After the June 26 election, various articles that appeared in the Los Angeles Times
and the Long Beach Press-Telegram
all but declared Richardson the eventual winner (see references below).
told TheHill.com that the committee had no plans to get involved in the election. Despite making claims to originally stay out of the Congressional race, the Democratic Party endorsed Oropeza on May 19, 2007. Oropeza took 119 of the 168 ballots cast by party delegates, or 71 percent, reaching the 60 percent threshold needed to win the party's endorsement http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5940022.
of having "dumped 130 people here" from outside the district to throw the democratic party vote to Oropeza http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5940022. In the race, Perata supported fellow State Senator Oropeza. Richardson was endorsed by several California State Assembly
members that included Speaker Fabian Nunez
, Majority Leader Karen Bass
, Assembly member Mervyn Dymally, and former Speaker Willie Brown
.
delegates. Blacks make up roughly 25% of registered voters. Many black leaders saw this election as a test of their political clout. As Millender-McDonald was Black
, Black leaders wanted to hang on to the congressional seat that had been held by an African-American, even as the seat’s Latino
population has grown rapidly. Black Congresswoman Maxine Waters
also endorsed Richardson, as did many black state representatives.
and some local churches and other political leader. McDonald is the executive director of the African American Women Health and Education Foundation in Carson, a nonprofit founded by her mother. Some black leaders feared that the two black candidates would split the vote and lead to an Oropeza victory. Polls that were conducted began to justify that fear. Seeing this fact, many Black leaders began to rally around and through their support to Richardson over McDonald.
, also supported Orepeza.
Richardson had strong financial support from organized labor that included the Los Angeles
County Federation of Labor , which provided volunteers to walk precincts and make phone calls in the final days of the race. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor spent $275,000 on Richardson's campaign and put more than 1,000 union members on the street, made 45,000 phone calls and distributed 166,000 pieces of mail. Oropeza voted for the compacts. The tribes showed their gratitude by spending $457,000 of independently on television ads in Oropeza's support. Morongo Band of Mission Indians spent $440,000 alone.
Current population estimate in California project a large increase in the Latino population in California over the next 40 years while the population of Blacks, Asian Americans, and Whites as a percentage of total population is expected to decline The dynamics of race relations in the special election could be foretelling of some political races in the future.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Juanita Millender-McDonald was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional district, which includes most of South Central Los Angeles and the city of Long Beach, California...
, who died of cancer on April 22, 2007. California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
member Laura Richardson
Laura Richardson
Laura Richardson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district encompasses the inland section of Long Beach, Carson, Compton and Signal Hill, as well as parts of other municipalities.She previously represented the 55th district in the...
received the plurality of votes in an open primary
Open primary
An open primary is a primary election that does not require voters to be affiliated with a political party in order to vote for partisan candidates. In a traditional open primary, voters may select one party's ballot and vote for that party's nomination. As in a closed primary, the highest voted...
election on June 26. Since no candidate won a majority of votes in that contest, the special election was held on August 21, in which Richardson was the winner.
Candidates
Democratic- Lee Davis - publisher
- Mervin Evans - Army veteran, businessman, and frequent candidate
- Felicia Ford - Corporate Executive Officer
- Bill Francisco Grisolia - Paralegal/Businessman
- Peter Mathews University Professor
- Valerie McDonald - daughter of deceased Rep. Millender-McDonald
- Jenny OropezaJenny OropezaJennifer Ann "Jenny" Oropeza was the California State Senator for the 28th district which includes the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance; the Los Angeles communities of Cheviot Hills, Bel Air, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Lennox, Mar...
- State SenatorCalifornia State SenateThe California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
, 2007-Present; State AssemblywomanCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
, 2001-2007; Long Beach City Councilmember, 1995-2001 - George Parmer Jr. - truck driver
- Jeffrey Price - Workers Compensation Attorney
- Laura RichardsonLaura RichardsonLaura Richardson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district encompasses the inland section of Long Beach, Carson, Compton and Signal Hill, as well as parts of other municipalities.She previously represented the 55th district in the...
- State AssemblywomanCalifornia State AssemblyThe California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
, 2007-Present, Long Beach Councilmember, 2001-2005 - Ed Wilson - Signal HillSignal Hill, CaliforniaSignal Hill is a small city in California located in the Greater Los Angeles area. Signal Hill, completely surrounded by the city of Long Beach, was incorporated on April 22, 1924, roughly three years after oil was discovered in Signal Hill. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
Councilmember, 1997-Present
Republican
- Leroy Joseph Guillory - minister
- John M. Kanaley - War Veteran
- Jeffrey "Lincoln" Leavitt - teacher
- Teri Ramirez - Businesswoman/mother
Green
- Daniel Abraham Brezenoff - Clinical social worker and activist
Libertarian
- Herb Peters - Retired aerospace engineer
Historically Democratic district
The district has been historically Democratic. In the 2004 Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
, John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
received 74% of the vote and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
received 25% of the vote. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...
score of D +27. The district's high African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Mexican American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
populations also make the district lean Democrat because those groups have tended to vote with the Democrats. It came as little surprise when Republican John M. Kanaley received 5,309 votes or 25.24% of the total. After the June 26 election, various articles that appeared in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
and the Long Beach Press-Telegram
Long Beach Press-Telegram
The Press-Telegram is a daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Tracing its history to 1897, it is currently published by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a division of newspaper conglomerate MediaNews Group, which purchased the newspaper from Knight Ridder in 1997; Ridder and Knight...
all but declared Richardson the eventual winner (see references below).
Democratic Party endorses Oropeza, May 19, 2007
A spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign CommitteeDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. They play a critical role in recruiting candidates, raising funds, and organizing races in districts that are expected to yield...
told TheHill.com that the committee had no plans to get involved in the election. Despite making claims to originally stay out of the Congressional race, the Democratic Party endorsed Oropeza on May 19, 2007. Oropeza took 119 of the 168 ballots cast by party delegates, or 71 percent, reaching the 60 percent threshold needed to win the party's endorsement http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5940022.
Involvement from out of district officials
Richardson accused Senate President Pro Tem Don PerataDon Perata
Don Richard Perata is a California Democratic politician, who was President pro tempore of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008. He came in second place in the November 2010 ballot for Mayor of Oakland...
of having "dumped 130 people here" from outside the district to throw the democratic party vote to Oropeza http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5940022. In the race, Perata supported fellow State Senator Oropeza. Richardson was endorsed by several California State Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
members that included Speaker Fabian Nunez
Fabian Núñez
Fabian Núñez has been a labor union adviser and a Democratic politician. He served three two year terms as a member of the State Assembly, leaving office late in 2008...
, Majority Leader Karen Bass
Karen Bass
Karen Ruth Bass is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to her election to Congress in 2010, she had served as a member of the California State Assembly representing the 47th district since 2004...
, Assembly member Mervyn Dymally, and former Speaker Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
.
The Black vote
McDonald won only two votes from party delegates at the Democratic party endorsement. The vast majority of black delegates in attendance voted for Richardson, while Oropeza won all but a few of the Latino, white and FilipinoFilipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
delegates. Blacks make up roughly 25% of registered voters. Many black leaders saw this election as a test of their political clout. As Millender-McDonald was Black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
, Black leaders wanted to hang on to the congressional seat that had been held by an African-American, even as the seat’s Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
population has grown rapidly. Black Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
also endorsed Richardson, as did many black state representatives.
The McDonald factor
Originally, the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus was divided between those who supported the Richardson and Valerie McDonald, daughter of the late Millender-McDonald. McDonald was backed by US Congresswoman Diane WatsonDiane Watson
Diane Edith Watson is a former US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party...
and some local churches and other political leader. McDonald is the executive director of the African American Women Health and Education Foundation in Carson, a nonprofit founded by her mother. Some black leaders feared that the two black candidates would split the vote and lead to an Oropeza victory. Polls that were conducted began to justify that fear. Seeing this fact, many Black leaders began to rally around and through their support to Richardson over McDonald.
The Latino vote
While the growing Latino vote represented 40% of the district’s population, the Latino vote was about 21%. Most major Latino leaders and organizations, including the Congressional Hispanic CaucusCongressional Hispanic Caucus
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus comprises 21 Democratic members of the United States Congress most of whom are of Hispanic origin. The Caucus is dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States and Puerto Rico...
, also supported Orepeza.
Labor versus Indian gaming
The race can also be seen as a contest between two of California’s interest groups: Labor and Indian gaming. The two groups clashed over five tribal compacts that would doubled the number of slot machines at Indian casinos. Labor groups fought the compacts because they believed the compacts did not adequately protect workers.Richardson had strong financial support from organized labor that included the Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
County Federation of Labor , which provided volunteers to walk precincts and make phone calls in the final days of the race. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor spent $275,000 on Richardson's campaign and put more than 1,000 union members on the street, made 45,000 phone calls and distributed 166,000 pieces of mail. Oropeza voted for the compacts. The tribes showed their gratitude by spending $457,000 of independently on television ads in Oropeza's support. Morongo Band of Mission Indians spent $440,000 alone.
Polling
| Source | Date | Kanaley (R) | McDonald (D) | Oropeza (D) | Ramirez (R) | Richardson (D) | Wilson (D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks, Maslin, Maulin, and Associaties | Jun 5-7, 2007 | 5% | 7% | 16% | 2% | 25% | 2% |
| Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research | May 17-22, 2007 | N/A | 16% | 27% | N/A | 24% | N/A |
| David Binder Research | May 5-6, 2007 | N/A | 17% | 26% | N/A | 13% | N/A |
Results
Of the 25 candidates who originally filed, 17 appeared on the ballot; running were eleven Democrats, four Republicans, one Green, and one Libertarian.Low turnout
Voter turnout was very low during this special election. Many voters were unaware that a special election was occurring. The absentee ballot drives were a part of both sides campaign strategies because of the expected low turnout. Over 10,000 absentee ballots were processed by the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder despite there being 265,000 registered voters. 11% of the district's 265,000 registered voters cast ballots in the primary, and only 8% cast ballots on August 21.Analysis
While race was a factor in the results of the election, some Blacks voters and leaders supported Orepeza and some Latino voters and leaders backed Richardson. Richardson's victory in the primary did depend on Black voters but final results showed that Richardson won over many Latino voters and leaders.Current population estimate in California project a large increase in the Latino population in California over the next 40 years while the population of Blacks, Asian Americans, and Whites as a percentage of total population is expected to decline The dynamics of race relations in the special election could be foretelling of some political races in the future.
Interesting Election Information
- Laura Richardson during her victory speech: "It's not just about money and it's not just about the number of years you've served. It's about what's in your heart" http://www.presstelegram.com/ci_6238425?source=most_emailed.
- Oropeza and Richardson released polls, each showing that person in the lead http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-race27jun27,1,2407506.story?coll=la-headlines-california.
- Richardson was a former aide to Millender-McDonald.
- Richardson used a mailing, just days before the primary, to criticize Orepeza for missing votes, but did not mention that Oropeza missed these votes because she was being treated for cancer. Two other mailers also targeted Oropeza "for taking pay raises and claiming to have a bachelor's degree from Cal State Long Beach, when, in fact, she had failed to get credit for two classes, leaving her without a diploma."
- Richardson pledged on a cable TV Public-access televisionPublic-access televisionPublic-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
show candidate debate that she will not vote for any new funding for the Iraq war. After being elected, she said she had not made up her mind how she will vote.