HOLLYWOOD
07-18-2009, 02:06 PM
California - Democrat Chu Wins Congressional House Seat from Relative Republican Chu in Special Election :rolleyes:
WooHoo CHU WINS! :rolleyes:
By Rachel Kapochunas, CQ Staff Rachel Kapochunas, Cq Staff – Tue Jul 14, 7:29 am ET
Democrat Judy Chu easily won Tuesday's special election to fill the vacant House seat in California's 32nd District, where her party holds a lopsided political advantage. Chu, an elected member of the state tax commission, will now head to Washington to succeed Hilda L. Solis, a fellow Democrat and longtime ally who resigned the House seat in February to become President Obama's secretary of Labor.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/15/politics/main5161274.shtml (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/15/politics/main5161274.shtml)
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/07/15/image5161294g.jpg
Chu had 62 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting in the low-turnout election, according to local and state election office Web sites. She enjoyed a wide lead over Republican Betty Chu, (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/cq/pl_cq_politics/storytext/politics3165331/32731418/SIG=10u1g2a8s/*http://www.votebettychu.com/), who had 33 percent, and Libertarian Chris Agrella, who had 5 percent.
The outcome justified Judy Chu's status throughout the general election campaign as a heavy favorite to fill the 32nd District seat, located east of downtown Los Angeles.
In fact, the only real intrigue in the general election campaign involved the identical last names of the two major party candidates. Republican underdog Betty Chu is related to Democratic front-runner Judy Chu by marriage, and is a member of the city council of Monterey Park, on which Judy Chu once served a long tenure.
Judy Chu's campaign was wary of the possibility of name confusion. "Turning out my voters and educating them to vote for the right 'Chu' is costly and critical to our victory on July 14th," Chu stated in a recent fundraising solicitation.
But the Democratic label attached to Judy Chu's name was expected to clear up any confusion for voters in the Hispanic-majority, overwhelmingly Democratic 32nd District, which gave 68 percent of its 2008 presidential vote to Obama. The district's Democratic lean was evident in the May 19 special election primary (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/cq/pl_cq_politics/storytext/politics3165331/32731418/SIG=11vj107fi/*http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003121086), in which candidates of all parties appeared on the same ballot: The eight Democratic contenders combined for 74 percent of the total vote, while three Republicans received a total of 25 percent.
Chu, who is of Chinese heritage, came into the contest with a base of support built over a nearly a quarter-century in local politics as she cultivated ties with the diverse ethnic groups of East Los Angeles and its working-class suburbs. Her longtime alliance with Solis helped her emerge as the Democratic nominee for the House special election in a district where there are roughly three times as many Hispanic residents as Asian-Americans.
Chu scored a solid primary victory, defeating her closest rival, state Sen. Gil Cedillo, by a 10 percentage-point margin. But under California's special election rules, all 12 primary candidates regardless of party ran on a single ballot, and her 33 percent plurality was well short of the majority needed to avoid the eight-week general election campaign. Betty Chu, who topped the Republican candidates with 10 percent of the total primary vote, and Agrella, who took 1 percent as the primary's only Libertarian Party candidate, also qualified for the general election.
Despite the low voter turnout, Judy Chu's campaign had monitored early voting estimates and expressed confidence that the district's inherent Democratic advantage would prevail.
Chu's win will restore the Democratic majority to 256 seats in the House, with the party favored to win an upcoming special election for the seat in California's 10th District that Democratic incumbent Ellen O. Tauscher vacated to accept a State Department post. Tausher was appointed to the position of Under Secretary of the State.
There are currently 178 Republicans in the House.
WooHoo CHU WINS! :rolleyes:
By Rachel Kapochunas, CQ Staff Rachel Kapochunas, Cq Staff – Tue Jul 14, 7:29 am ET
Democrat Judy Chu easily won Tuesday's special election to fill the vacant House seat in California's 32nd District, where her party holds a lopsided political advantage. Chu, an elected member of the state tax commission, will now head to Washington to succeed Hilda L. Solis, a fellow Democrat and longtime ally who resigned the House seat in February to become President Obama's secretary of Labor.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/15/politics/main5161274.shtml (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/15/politics/main5161274.shtml)
http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/07/15/image5161294g.jpg
Chu had 62 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting in the low-turnout election, according to local and state election office Web sites. She enjoyed a wide lead over Republican Betty Chu, (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/cq/pl_cq_politics/storytext/politics3165331/32731418/SIG=10u1g2a8s/*http://www.votebettychu.com/), who had 33 percent, and Libertarian Chris Agrella, who had 5 percent.
The outcome justified Judy Chu's status throughout the general election campaign as a heavy favorite to fill the 32nd District seat, located east of downtown Los Angeles.
In fact, the only real intrigue in the general election campaign involved the identical last names of the two major party candidates. Republican underdog Betty Chu is related to Democratic front-runner Judy Chu by marriage, and is a member of the city council of Monterey Park, on which Judy Chu once served a long tenure.
Judy Chu's campaign was wary of the possibility of name confusion. "Turning out my voters and educating them to vote for the right 'Chu' is costly and critical to our victory on July 14th," Chu stated in a recent fundraising solicitation.
But the Democratic label attached to Judy Chu's name was expected to clear up any confusion for voters in the Hispanic-majority, overwhelmingly Democratic 32nd District, which gave 68 percent of its 2008 presidential vote to Obama. The district's Democratic lean was evident in the May 19 special election primary (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/cq/pl_cq_politics/storytext/politics3165331/32731418/SIG=11vj107fi/*http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003121086), in which candidates of all parties appeared on the same ballot: The eight Democratic contenders combined for 74 percent of the total vote, while three Republicans received a total of 25 percent.
Chu, who is of Chinese heritage, came into the contest with a base of support built over a nearly a quarter-century in local politics as she cultivated ties with the diverse ethnic groups of East Los Angeles and its working-class suburbs. Her longtime alliance with Solis helped her emerge as the Democratic nominee for the House special election in a district where there are roughly three times as many Hispanic residents as Asian-Americans.
Chu scored a solid primary victory, defeating her closest rival, state Sen. Gil Cedillo, by a 10 percentage-point margin. But under California's special election rules, all 12 primary candidates regardless of party ran on a single ballot, and her 33 percent plurality was well short of the majority needed to avoid the eight-week general election campaign. Betty Chu, who topped the Republican candidates with 10 percent of the total primary vote, and Agrella, who took 1 percent as the primary's only Libertarian Party candidate, also qualified for the general election.
Despite the low voter turnout, Judy Chu's campaign had monitored early voting estimates and expressed confidence that the district's inherent Democratic advantage would prevail.
Chu's win will restore the Democratic majority to 256 seats in the House, with the party favored to win an upcoming special election for the seat in California's 10th District that Democratic incumbent Ellen O. Tauscher vacated to accept a State Department post. Tausher was appointed to the position of Under Secretary of the State.
There are currently 178 Republicans in the House.