Latino Democrat wins open House seat in California, as progressives make gains
By David Weigel June 7 at 2:55 AM
California Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez triumphed Tuesday in a runoff for the state’s Los Angeles-centered 34th Congressional District, a victory for Latino and progressive groups that overcame low turnout and election fatigue. The seat long held by Xavier Becerra, now California’s attorney general, will be held by an aspiring member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and supporter of single-payer health care.
Gomez, 42, defeated former L.A. planning commissioner Robert Lee Ahn, 41, who invested his own money in the race and aggressively turned out Korean-American voters. That strategy powered him through the April 4 primary for the safe blue seat, and worried Gomez supporters — from the top of the California Democratic Party to groups like the Latino Victory Fund. In the primary, 64.4 percent of the vote had gone to Latino Democrats; a week before the June 6 election, ballot returns from Korean-Americans were outpacing ballot returns from Latinos.
At the same time, Ahn was attempting to shift the focus of the race from progressive credential — he was formerly a Republican, while Gomez was endorsed by a Bernie Sanders-founded group — to outsider status. In Ahn’s mailers and debate answers, Gomez, a former congressional staffer before he joined the Assembly, was a “professional politician” whose pile of endorsements made him suspect.
Latino Victory Fund president Cristobal J. Alex said his group put together a direct mail and voter contact campaign that moved ballots, targeting Latino voters with a series of pro-Gomez arguments.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/06/07/latino-democrat-wins-open-house-seat-in-california-as-progressives-make-gains/
