Judy Chu: You're Going To Congress

Just a quick congratulations to Judy Chu who won her special election and is now headed to Congress:

The former state Assembly member easily captured a special election Tuesday to fill a vacant seat in the 32nd Congressional District. It's a heavily Democratic area that covers part of Los Angeles and its eastern suburbs. Her win will give Democrats 256 votes in the House. There are 178 Republicans. Chu will be Southern California's only Asian American in Congress.

Nice.

Judy Chu Wins Special Election

In previous posts you've heard me talk a lot about Dr. Judy Chu and her bid for the East Los Angeles Congressional seat - and last week she did in fact win - well sort of - because she didn't win by 50% there'll be a run-off election this July:

"I'm really excited, and I feel so honored by the votes of the people in the district," Judy Chu said at her victory party at Nick's Taste of Texas restaurant in Covina as the ballot tallying neared an end.

Judy Chu, a Chinese American, campaigned on her experience and deep roots in the district and worked to build coalitions across ethnic lines. She will face a Republican and a Libertarian in a runoff.

Read more here.

AAA-Fund Interview: Judy Chu

More On Judy Chu

Got this sent down from the AAA-Fund Blog and thought I'd post up a snippet in case any of you were following:

Judy Chu’s Race Begins

Before hearing our President speak, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm Rep. Hilda Solis as the nation’s Labor Secretary. While it had been percolating for a couple months, the race to succeed her has officially begun.

Now the Governor has two weeks to call the election. As we predicted earlier, he’ll probably set it for May 19, the same day Californians will be voting on the state budget. How will that date affect Dr. Chu’s chances? This morning, Roll Call (subscription only) took a look:

[Gil] Cedillo’s advisers believe the election date — and the heightened turnout — benefits their candidate immensely. If Solis’ nomination as Labor secretary hadn’t run into snags, the special election almost certainly would have been held earlier, magnifying Chu’s early advantage in fundraising and local endorsements. And the greater turnout from the statewide election almost inevitably means more Latino voters going to the polls.

“Fate has been good to us,” said Leo Briones, Cedillo’s media consultant.

But Chu’s team believes the timing of the special election date is a wash. Parke Skelton, a consultant for Chu, said a relatively large number of union members will turn out for the statewide ballot questions. The powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has endorsed Chu in the special election.

Read it in full here.