A campaign that made the most of Judy Chu's strong ties to the San Gabriel Valley, her skills as a coalition-builder and her support from organized labor is credited with propelling her to the front of a crowded field in Tuesday's hot race for the vacant 32nd Congressional District seat.
Chu, a former local school board member, Monterey Park city councilwoman and Democratic member of the state Assembly -- and current vice chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization -- outdistanced opponents in most of the largely working-class district's communities.
They include Azusa, Covina, El Monte, Duarte, Monterey Park, Rosemead and West Covina, according to voting data released this week by the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder's office.
"Basically, she ran very strongly just about everywhere," Chu campaign consultant Parke Skelton said.
She took nearly 32% of the vote, well short of the majority needed to win the seat outright. In the July 14 runoff, she will face Republican Betty Tom Chu, a cousin by marriage, who got about 10% of the vote Tuesday, and Libertarian Christopher M. Agrella, who won a little more than 1%.
But because the district is so strongly Democratic, Judy Chu is widely expected to win the runoff easily.
"It's over now," said Jaime A. Regalado, director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A.
State Sen. Gil Cedillo, who won a little more than 23% of the vote and finished second among the eight Democrats on the ballot, got the most votes in heavily Latino areas -- such cities as Baldwin Park and South El Monte and unincorporated areas east of Los Angeles.
However, political newcomer and former financial analyst Emanuel Pleitez, who grew up in the Eastside neighborhood of El Sereno, posted a strong first-place finish there and in neighboring Los Angeles city areas.
Pleitez, 26, raised enough money for targeted mail and reached out to nontraditional voters with a corps of volunteers that included young people from across the United States. He finished third overall with nearly 14% of the vote.
Although Pleitez clearly cut into the votes for fellow Latino Cedillo -- as Republican Betty Tom Chu almost certainly drew some voters from Democrat Judy Chu -- most seasoned political observers believe Cedillo would have lost even if Pleitez hadn't run, albeit by a slimmer margin.
Latinos make up nearly half of the district's registered voters, while Asians -- Judy Chu is Chinese American -- account for an estimated 13%.
