Editor’s Note: Vote figures are the latest LACP had at post time and are subject to change. For congressional districts shared with Orange County, figures cover the LA County portion only. Latest results are at results.lavote.gov.
Solis heads back to Congress, Durazo to succeed her
Los Angeles County Board Chair Hilda L. Solis (D-Downtown LA, East LA, Boyle Heights, El Monte, West Covina, Pomona) won election to the U.S. House in the newly drawn 38th Congressional District, defeating Republican Pedro Casas, according to the Associated Press, which called the race early Wednesday.
Solis led 72.7% to 27.3% in the district’s LA County portion, or 86,122 votes to 32,335, according to the latest county results.
The district, created under Proposition 50, the redistricting measure voters approved last year, straddles LA and Orange counties and includes Diamond Bar, Industry, Pico Rivera, Montebello and Whittier.
Rep. Linda Sánchez, who held the old 38th, ran in the new 41st instead. Solis returns to the House after serving there from 2001 to 2009, before becoming President Obama’s labor secretary. She was the first Latina elected to the state Senate in 1994.
“I wish Proposition 50 wasn’t necessary – but Trump and his allies in Texas and elsewhere are undermining our democracy. We must fight fire with fire, because too much is at stake,” said Solis on her campaign website.
Solis’ Board seat won’t need a special election. She was termed out as supervisor, and State Sen. María Elena Durazo won the District 1 seat outright in the June primary.
Durazo takes office in December, and Solis is sworn into Congress in January. Durazo’s move will leave her state Senate seat open.
Sánchez wins newly drawn 41st District
U.S. Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-Whittier, Downey, Norwalk, Lakewood, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs) won the newly drawn 41st Congressional District, defeating Republican plumbing contractor Mitch Clemmons, according to the Associated Press, which called the race at 9:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Sánchez led 68.3% to 31.7% in the district’s LA County portion, or 98,274 votes to 45,550, according to the latest county results.
The district was created under Proposition 50, last year’s mid-decade redistricting measure, and covers Southeast LA County communities including Downey, Whittier, Norwalk, Bell Gardens, Lakewood, La Mirada and Santa Fe Springs, plus La Habra and Los Alamitos in Orange County.
Sánchez, who has served in Congress since 2003, previously represented the 38th District, which Prop. 50 split in two. She chose to run in the new 41st, now won by Supervisor Hilda Solis, rather than the new 38th. She is the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee.
“Being chosen to represent my neighbors in Congress is an honor I’ll never take for granted. Throughout this campaign, voters told me the same thing: keep fighting to lower costs, end the corruption, and protect our communities and our democracy. That is exactly what I plan to do,” said Sánchez.
Gipson leads race for state tax board seat
Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson, Compton, North Long Beach), who is term-limited in the Assembly, held a commanding lead for the state Board of Equalization’s 3rd District, which covers all of LA County.
Gipson led fellow Democrat Samuel P. Sukaton, a labor union organizer, 59.1% to 40.9%, or 1,096,293 votes to 758,418, according to the latest county results. The race hasn’t been called.
The seat is open because Tony Vazquez, a former Santa Monica mayor who has held it since 2019, is termed out.
The Board of Equalization is the state’s elected tax board, overseeing how counties assess property taxes and handling certain tax matters, after most of its former duties were shifted to a separate state department in 2017.
Mitchell explores music as a force for social change
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (D-Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Compton, Carson) is inviting residents to her next Racial Justice Learning Exchange, “The Soundtrack of Resistance: Music as a Force for Social Change (1960s–2000s),” exploring the role music has played in movements for justice.
Through archival footage, storytelling and reflection, the program will travel through five decades of music and history and how each era’s sound reflected the struggles and triumphs of the nation’s communities.
The free event is slated for 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Miracle Theater, 226 S. Market St., Inglewood. Reserve a spot at bit.ly/RJLE-Nov21.
