Laura Richardson, running for a seat in the California State Senate, is a public servant with experience in various capacities. She was part of the Congressional House of Representatives in Washington DC between 2007 and 2013, being succeeded by the current mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass. In addition, he was a member of the California Legislative Assembly between 2006 and 2007 and previously a councilor for the city of Long Beach and part of the team of then Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.
Now he puts that experience at the service of the community in Senate District 35, currently represented by State Senator Bradford Bradford, who is retiring due to electoral term limits.
The district includes the cities of Carson and West Carson, Compton and West Compton, Gardena, Harbor City, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lennox, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington. Also, parts of Inglewood (almost 90%), Long Beach (8%), Los Angeles (6% with 254,000 residents), and Torrance (about half the population).
Nearly one million people live in the entire district, 54% of whom are Latino. 18% are African American, 12% Asian, and 10% non-Latino white.
It is characterized by a high population density, a high number of people with limited resources, the Port of Los Angeles with its commercial and industrial activity and as a focus of environmental pollution and with the same, the 110 highway that connects the port with the center of Los Angeles and Pasadena.
Three out of every four voters in the district or more vote Democratic, a majority that only crystallized in 2012. Before and since 1889, all of its state senators were Republicans.
Richardson’s rival in this race is Michelle Chambers, who for two years was a city council member in Compton, where she resides. Both Democrats prevailed in a group of eight candidates in the March primaries of this year.
The two finalists reach the final weeks of the contest having to defend themselves against allegations of actions taken or phrases uttered in the past, which has diverted public attention from their personalities, positions and projects for the future. In any case, Richardson has acknowledged mistakes made more than a decade ago and his opponent has done the same.
Richardson has a connection to labor unions, which he calls “the cornerstone of modern democracy,” and receives support from several of them: ILWU Local 13, Teamsters Joint Council 42, UA Journeyman and Apprentices Local 250 and the Southern California Pipe Trades District Council 16, as well as the Los Angeles Police Protective League, a group that represents 9,000 police officers in the city.
This San Pedro resident has the support of Karen Bass and veteran Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
He also praises Bass’s Inside Safe initiative, which removes homeless people from the streets and places them in hotels and motels while permanent solutions are developed.
Supports Proposition 35, which establishes harsher penalties for some drug and theft crimes. He is also in favor of Proposition 32, which would increase the state minimum wage to $18 an hour on a case-by-case basis. These positions clarify Richardson’s position on key issues such as housing and homelessness, employment, public safety, education, and environmental justice.
La Opinion considers that although both candidates are worthy representatives, the election of Laura Richardson is preferable for residents due to her experience, her positions and her leadership.
Therefore, she urges her area citizen readers to vote for Laura Richardson for California State Senate, District 35, on November 5.
