Craig Huey

In a seemingly major upset in the race to replace former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), Republican Craig Huey appears to have captured one of the spots in a July 12 runoff. With all of the election night ballots counted late Tuesday, Huey squeaked past California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, a Democrat, by 206 votes. If the outcome stands after outstanding ballots are counted, Huey will face Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, a Democrat. Antiwar activist and teacher Marcy Winograd, who challenged Harman twice in Democratic primaries, finished fourth.

Voters in the South Bay go to the polls Tuesday to choose Democrat Janice Hahn or Republican Craig Huey to succeed former Rep. Jane Harman as their congressional representative. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the 36th Congressional District, which runs from Venice to San Pedro and juts inland through Torrance, Lomita and parts of other communities. For information about polling places or to report problems, go to http://lavote.net/ . While Hahn, 59, is favored to win, the race has been contentious and hard-fought.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn will face conservative businessman Craig Huey in a July runoff for former Rep. Jane Harman's congressional seat after Secretary of State Debra Bowen, unable to elbow Huey out in final ballots, conceded Thursday. With all but a handful of ballots from Tuesday's primary counted, Bowen trailed Huey by 750 votes in an upset that is likely to draw party resources — and more national attention — to the race. Politics watchers had expected a second-round contest between Hahn and Bowen, both Democrats.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn has raised more than $1 million in her race for Congress, while businessman Craig Huey is relying on his personal bankroll for most of his campaign funds, according to reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. Hahn, a Democrat running to succeed former Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice) in a special July 12 election, had collected $1,097,461 by the June 22 end of the latest campaign finance reporting period. She reported having $323,348 left to spend and had taken no loans.

In a hard-fought special congressional election marked by sharp divisions in ideology and even sharper personal attacks, Democrat Janice Hahn defeated underdog Republican Craig Huey on Tuesday. Unofficial election night returns showed Hahn won 54.6% to 45.4%. Hahn opened with an early lead and held on to it throughout the night. Before even half the ballots were tallied, congratulatory messages began pouring into Hahn's election night party at a San Pedro waterfront restaurant, and one of the would-be successors to her Los Angeles City Council seat declared himself a candidate.

It wasn't supposed to be much of a contest, but the race to succeed former Rep. Jane Harman in Congress has grown increasingly hot — and drawn more and more national attention — as Tuesday's balloting nears. Republican businessman Craig Huey and Democratic L.A. City Councilwoman Janice Hahn took shots at one another Thursday on Larry Mantle's "AirTalk" program on public radio station KPCC-FM (89.3), their only face-to-face meeting of the runoff campaign. Huey called Hahn a "career politician"— she has served 10 years on the City Council — and blamed her and other Democrats for setting the country up for an "economic catastrophe.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn won't have much time to savor her victory in Tuesday's special election for a South Bay-area congressional seat before she has to run again — and in a district that could soon see significant changes. Hahn, a Democrat in an area where her party enjoys an 18-point registration edge, defeated Republican Craig Huey, 54.6% to 45.4%. But she'll need to start campaigning again soon, as next year's primary is less than a year away. In an interview Wednesday, Hahn, 59, said she was prepared for both the challenges of her new job and the rigors of a looming campaign.

The odds may strongly favor the Democrat in next month's runoff to fill an empty South Bay congressional seat, but you wouldn't know it by the vituperative tone of the campaign, a phenomenon more often seen in very close races. Republican businessman Craig Huey, whose second-place finish in the May primary over better-known candidates surprised most observers, is pushing hard for another upset. His rival, Democratic Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, isn't taking any chances, despite her party's 18-point registration edge.

Both Janice Hahn, the Democratic candidate for Congress in California’s 36 th district and her opponent, Republican Craig Huey, have condemned a Web ad (see video below) created by an outside conservative group that some have labeled sexist and offensive. But such viral videos, as the label suggests, take on a life of their own and are hard to kill. The ad, which features a street-gang motif, superimposes Hahn’s face on a stripper dancing on a pole, and suggests that the Los Angeles councilwoman coddled gang members.

Reporting from Washington -- Los Angeles City Councilwoman and Democratic congressional candidate Janice Hahn has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission over a widely criticized hip-hop-themed video that links her to gang members. The ad, which uses stereotypical hip-hop video imagery and features Hahn's face superimposed onto a stripper, was produced by a new third-party political action committee called Turn Right USA. Hahn's complaint alleges that Turn Right is working with the campaign of Republican Craig Huey, her opponent in the race to succeed Jane Harman in California's 36th district.