California's 37th congressional district special election, 2007 was held on August 21, 2007 to replace the seat of
Congresswoman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Juanita Millender-McDonald
Juanita Millender-McDonald (September 7, 1938 – April 22, 2007) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional distr ...
, who died of cancer on April 22, 2007.
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The A ...
member
Laura Richardson
Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for ...
received the plurality of votes in an
open primary
Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...
election on June 26. Since no candidate won a majority of votes in that contest, the special election was held on August 21, in which Richardson was the winner.
Jenny Oropeza
Jennifer Ann Oropeza (September 27, 1957 – October 20, 2010) was the California State Senator for the 28th district which included the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance; the Lo ...
-
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
Laura Richardson
Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for ...
Ed Wilson
Ed Wilson is an American media executive. He has been President of Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting and has held top-level executive roles with Fox Television Network, NBC Enterprises and CBS Enterprises.
Wilson sits on the Board of the USO ...
Jeffrey "Lincoln" Leavitt
Jeffrey may refer to:
* Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name
* ''Jeffrey'' (1995 film), a 1995 film by Paul Rudnick, based on Rudnick's play of the same name
* ''Jeffrey'' (2016 film), a 2016 Dominican Republic documentary film
...
- teacher
*
Teri Ramirez
Teri is a given name directly from Teresa. Notable people with the name include:
* Teri Ann Linn (born 1961), American actress and singer
* Teri Anulewicz, American politician
* Teri Austin (born 1957), Canadian actress
* Teri Byrne (born 1972), ...
- Businesswoman/mother
Green
*
Daniel Abraham Brezenoff
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
- Clinical social worker and activist
Libertarian
*
Herb Peters
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
received 74% of the vote and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
received 25% of the vote. The district has a
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...
score of D +27. The district's high
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
and
Mexican American
Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexica ...
populations also make the district lean Democrat because those groups have tended to vote with the Democrats. It came as little surprise when Republican John M. Kanaley received 5,309 votes or 25.24% of the total. After the June 26 election, various articles that appeared in the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' and the ''
Long Beach Press-Telegram
The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Lynw ...
'' all but declared Richardson the eventual winner (see references below).
Democratic Party Involvement
Democratic Party endorses Oropeza, May 19, 2007
A spokesman for the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises ...
told TheHill.com that the committee had no plans to get involved in the election. Despite making claims to originally stay out of the Congressional race, the Democratic Party endorsed Oropeza on May 19, 2007. Oropeza took 119 of the 168 ballots cast by party delegates, or 71 percent, reaching the 60 percent threshold needed to win the party's endorsemen
Involvement from out of district officials
Richardson accused Senate President Pro Tem
Don Perata
Don Richard Perata (born April 30, 1945) is a California lobbyist and former In the race, Perata supported fellow State Senator Oropeza. Richardson was endorsed by several
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento.
The A ...
members that included Speaker Fabian Nunez, Majority Leader
Karen Bass
Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician, social worker and former physician assistant who is serving as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Bass had previously served in the U.S. ...
, Assembly member
Mervyn Dymally
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Californi ...
McDonald won only two votes from party delegates at the Democratic party endorsement. The vast majority of black delegates in attendance voted for Richardson, while Oropeza won all but a few of the Latino, white and
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
delegates. Blacks make up roughly 25% of registered voters. Many black leaders saw this election as a test of their political clout. As Millender-McDonald was
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, Black leaders wanted to hang onto the congressional seat that had been held by an African-American, even as the seat's
Latino
Latino or Latinos most often refers to:
* Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America
* Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States
* The people or cultures of Latin America;
** Latin A ...
population has grown rapidly. Black Congresswoman
Maxine Waters
Maxine Moore Waters (née Carr; born August 15, 1938) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1991. The district, numbered as the 29th district from 1991 to 1993 and as the 35th district from 1993 to 2013, incl ...
also endorsed Richardson, as did many black state representatives.
The McDonald factor
Originally, the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus was divided between those who supported Richardson and those who supported Valerie McDonald, daughter of the late Millender-McDonald. McDonald was backed by US Congresswoman
Diane Watson
Diane Edith Watson (born November 12, 1933) is a former American politician who served as US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011, after first being elected in the 32nd District in a 2001 special election. She is a member of the Demo ...
and some local churches and other political leaders. McDonald is the executive director of the African American Women Health and Education Foundation in Carson, a nonprofit founded by her mother. Some black leaders feared that the two black candidates would split the vote and lead to an Oropeza victory. Polls that were conducted began to justify that fear. Seeing this fact, many Black leaders began to rally around and throw their support to Richardson over McDonald.
The Latino vote
While the growing Latino vote represented 40% of the district's population, the Latino vote was about 21%. Most major Latino leaders and organizations, including the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...
, also supported Orepeza.
Labor versus Indian gaming
The race can also be seen as a contest between two of California's interest groups: Labor and Indian gaming. The two groups clashed over five tribal compacts that would doubled the number of slot machines at Indian casinos. Labor groups fought the compacts because they believed the compacts did not adequately protect workers.
Richardson had strong financial support from organized labor that included the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
County Federation of Labor, which provided volunteers to walk precincts and make phone calls in the final days of the race. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor spent $275,000 on Richardson's campaign and put more than 1,000 union members on the street, made 45,000 phone calls and distributed 166,000 pieces of mail.Mitchell, John L. "Racial issues take a back seat in 37th'Multiracial support has Laura Richardson poised to represent a largely Latino district. Her take: `We are a new America, very diverse.'" ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. July 3, 2007. Accessed July 16, 2007. Oropeza voted for the compacts. The tribes showed their gratitude by spending $457,000 of independently on television ads in Oropeza's support. Morongo Band of Mission Indians spent $440,000 alone.
Polling
Results
Of the 25 candidates who originally filed, 17 appeared on the ballot; running were eleven Democrats, four Republicans, one Green, and one Libertarian.
Low turnout
Voter turnout was very low during this special election. Many voters were unaware that a special election was occurring. The absentee ballot drives were a part of both sides campaign strategies because of the expected low turnout. Over 10,000 absentee ballots were processed by the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder despite there being 265,000 registered voters. 11% of the district's 265,000 registered voters cast ballots in the primary, and only 8% cast ballots on August 21.
Analysis
While race was a factor in the results of the election, some Blacks voters and leaders supported Orepeza and some Latino voters and leaders backed Richardson. Richardson's victory in the primary did depend on Black voters but final results showed that Richardson won over many Latino voters and leaders.
Current population estimate in California project a large increase in the Latino population in California over the next 40 years while the population of Blacks,
Asian Americans
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
, and
Whites
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as " ...
as a percentage of total population is expected to decline The dynamics of race relations in the special election could be foretelling of some political races in the future.
Interesting Election Information
*Laura Richardson during her victory speech: "It's not just about money and it's not just about the number of years you've served. It's about what's in your heart
*Oropeza and Richardson released polls, each showing that person in the lea
*Richardson was a former aide to Millender-McDonald.
*Richardson used a mailing, just days before the primary, to criticize Orepeza for missing votes, but did not mention that Oropeza missed these votes because she was being treated for cancer. Two other mailers also targeted Oropeza "for taking pay raises and claiming to have a bachelor's degree from Cal State Long Beach, when, in fact, she had failed to get credit for two classes, leaving her without a diploma.""CA:37 Orepeza, Richardson Lead Ahead of Tuesday's Special Election." Bulletin New Network, Inc. The Frontrunner. June 25, 2007. Accessed July 16, 2007.
* Richardson pledged on a
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
Public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
show candidate debate that she will not vote for any new funding for the Iraq war. After being elected, she said she had not made up her mind how she will vote.
See also
*
List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
Below is a list of special elections to the United States House of Representatives. Such elections are called by state governors to fill vacancies that occur when a member of the House of Representatives dies or resigns before the biennial genera ...