Judy Chu

Judy Chu can trace the beginnings of her career as a San Gabriel Valley activist and political leader back to the early 1970s and her freshman year in college. As the young math major, intent on a career in computer science, was crossing the UC Santa Barbara quad one day, someone thrust into her hand a flier about a new Asian American studies course. She decided to give it a try. "It was like a light went off in my head," Chu recalled.

Political leaders and outdoors enthusiasts expressed dismay Thursday over new details about an Interior Department recommendation for changes in federal management of a popular region of the San Gabriel Mountains. "The proposal raises many questions, and I want answers from the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service as to why this hybrid came about," U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) said in an interview. The Interior Department announced Wednesday that it is recommending to Congress that the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service collaborate in the region, which includes a portion of the Angeles National Forest stretching from Sylmar to roughly five miles west of Interstate 15. Under the proposal, the region essentially would remain national forest land managed by the cash-strapped Forest Service.

State Board of Equalization member Judy Chu, who forged multiethnic coalitions during more than two decades in public office, was winning Tuesday's special election to the San Gabriel Valley-based 32nd Congressional District as returns were being tallied. If Chu's wide lead in early returns holds up as expected, she will become the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, according to the Office of the House Historian and the Congressional Research Service.

With Los Angeles facing the imminent possibility of having no female elected leaders at City Hall, some of California's most prominent female politicians joined forces Thursday to promote Wendy Greuel's mayoral candidacy. Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi, the only woman to serve as the speaker of the House of Representatives, announced she was endorsing Greuel to become the city's first female mayor. "She's operational, she gets the job done," Pelosi (D-San Francisco)

The state Democratic Party unanimously endorsed Board of Equalization member Judy Chu on Saturday for the 32nd Congressional District seat in next month's special election. Twelve candidates, including eight Democrats, are on the May 19 ballot in the contest to succeed former Rep. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), who resigned to become U.S. Labor Secretary. Chu and state Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) are widely considered the front-runners in the strongly Democratic, San Gabriel Valley-based district.

They stood in a long line, deep in the heavy afternoon heat Saturday--the Latino city councilman, the young Asian professional, the union activist, the Democratic voter--for the chance to shake hands and snap a photo with their new hometown victor: Assemblywoman Judy Chu. More than 500 supporters from El Sereno to El Monte gathered at a local park to congratulate the former Monterey Park councilwoman, who won a special election in May in the heavily Latino 49th Assembly District.

Fanning the flames of her underdog campaign, Monterey Park Mayor Judy Chu has intensified her attack on Assemblywoman Diane Martinez, calling her an ineffective legislator who cannot get bills passed or even hold on to her staff. Martinez (D-Monterey Park) gave Chu new ammunition when she brought up one of her most closely watched bills for a vote last week--only to have it fall one vote short of passage.

With Los Angeles facing the imminent possibility of having no female elected leaders at City Hall, some of California's most prominent female politicians joined forces Thursday to promote Wendy Greuel's mayoral candidacy. Democratic congressional leader Nancy Pelosi, the only woman to serve as the speaker of the House of Representatives, announced she was endorsing Greuel to become the city's first female mayor. "She's operational, she gets the job done," Pelosi (D-San Francisco)

"Shame on Judy Chu," says a flier that arrived in voters' mailboxes this week, accusing the candidate for a state board that regulates cigarette sales of being a shill for Big Tobacco. What the flier doesn't say is that the group that mailed it received much of its funding from ... the tobacco industry. Chu, a Democratic assemblywoman from Monterey Park, is a staunch foe of the industry and refuses to accept its campaign cash.

Judy Chu and Mike Eng arrived on the political scene in the early 1980s during a tumultuous moment in Southern California's Chinese community. Thousands of immigrants had moved into Monterey Park from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong -- sparking a backlash among longtime residents in the suburb who sought a ban on Chinese-language storefront signs.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-El Monte) e-mailed a letter this week to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office requesting a review of all rape cases submitted for prosecution in 2009 by the West Covina Police Department. Addressed to Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, the letter asks the office to look into allegations of misconduct by West Covina authorities to ensure that proper investigative procedures were followed. The letter came after a series of articles ran in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune about sex crimes investigator Tyler Kennedy, who recently was suspended over allegations of sexual harassment of an alleged rape victim.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday appointed Jerome Horton, a business-friendly former Democratic lawmaker, to the state tax board. The choice is likely to shift the balance of power on the Board of Equalization, which, despite its low public profile, holds broad influence over corporate taxes. Horton's appointment is a coup for California's business lobby, which has regular dealings with the board.

Judy Chu's election to Congress on Tuesday after more than two years on the state tax board could change the balance of power on the panel, which can affect corporate taxes to the tune of millions of dollars. Her now-vacant board seat gives California's business lobby a coveted opportunity for more influence on its decisions, especially if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a longtime ally, makes a business-friendly appointment to replace her, as he is expected to.

Judy Chu can trace the beginnings of her career as a San Gabriel Valley activist and political leader back to the early 1970s and her freshman year in college. As the young math major, intent on a career in computer science, was crossing the UC Santa Barbara quad one day, someone thrust into her hand a flier about a new Asian American studies course. She decided to give it a try. "It was like a light went off in my head," Chu recalled.

State Board of Equalization member Judy Chu, who forged multiethnic coalitions during more than two decades in public office, was winning Tuesday's special election to the San Gabriel Valley-based 32nd Congressional District as returns were being tallied. If Chu's wide lead in early returns holds up as expected, she will become the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress, according to the Office of the House Historian and the Congressional Research Service.

Voters in the San Gabriel Valley-based 32nd Congressional District will choose a new representative in a special runoff election Tuesday. Board of Equalization member Judy Chu, 56, a Chinese American, is the heavy favorite in the strongly Democratic, largely Latino district. She parlayed strong roots in local communities, support from labor and a broad multiethnic coalition into a hard-fought primary victory in May.

What's in a name? Just about everything, it turns out, in the 32nd Congressional District. Democrat Judy Chu and Republican Betty Chu, along with Libertarian Christopher M. Agrella, rose out of a field of 12 in Tuesday's election to advance to a July runoff. Judy Chu's campaign consultant, Parke Skelton, calls it "the Chu-Chu runoff." Judy, who outpolled Democratic state Sen. Gil Cedillo and six other party members, is considered the heavy favorite, given the district's strong Democratic tilt.

In the final weeks before the special election to fill the San Gabriel Valley-based 32nd Congressional District seat, Judy Chu, the heavily favored Democrat, is confident enough to have moved into smaller campaign headquarters. Her Republican opponent and cousin by marriage, Betty Tom Chu, determined to make a strong bid despite long odds, has opened a campaign office for the first time since entering the race April 6. And the Libertarian in the three-way runoff, Christopher M.

Blanca Figueroa is the mayor of South El Monte and a proud Mexican American who sometimes signs off her e-mails with the Spanish translation of her official title: "alcaldesa." One of the first things she'll tell you about herself is that, as a teenager, she met Cesar Chavez. And that when her family moved from East Los Angeles to South El Monte in 1960, they endured the racist comments of certain neighbors who soon joined the "white flight" out of that place.