With only six weeks for a campaign season, the race to fill the congressional seat of the late Juanita Millender-McDonald has been an all-out sprint.
The candidates -- 17 on the ballot and one write-in -- have been in a mad dash to raise funds, set up offices and websites, send out mailers and seek endorsements.
Now, with Tuesday's special election at hand, the two top contenders have emerged as clear leaders in the race to represent the 37th Congressional District, an area encompassing Compton, Carson, much of Long Beach and parts of South Los Angeles.
"This is the home stretch," sighed state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach).
"It's now survival of the fittest," echoed Assemblywoman Laura Richardson (D-Long Beach), the other leading candidate. "If you don't have a campaign office up and people walking the streets and making phone calls, you're in trouble."
Richardson and Oropeza, both fresh off November state victories, were quick to rev up their congressional campaigns to full throttle, garnering more money and endorsements than any of the other candidates. Meanwhile, Valerie McDonald, who has strong support from Rep. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), local churches and other political leaders, has struggled to get her message out in the district formerly represented by her mother. She has distributed only a few mailers and has no website.
"They had faster starts, but this is a grass-roots campaign and I'm not discouraged," said McDonald, executive director of the African American Women Health and Education Foundation in Carson, a nonprofit founded by her mother.
But some potential voters were disappointed when McDonald didn't appear at Wednesday's campaign forum, sponsored by the NAACP Carson-Torrance Branch. McDonald, who sent a representative, said she was unable to attend because of a commitment to a campaign fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
"She should have showed up," said Sybil Brown, who is active in voter education in the Carson community. "Her mother paid her dues, but we don't know her in Carson."
In the final days of the campaign, the top two candidates released polls each showing that person in the lead. Richardson's campaign said she had a nine-point lead over Oropeza; Oropeza's results showed she held a three-point edge. Both surveys indicated large numbers of undecided voters.
