http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/district/cd32/

Top three in Bold.

Congressional District 32 Primary Election
9.9% (22 of 222) precincts partially or fully reporting as of May 19, 2009, 8:42 p.m.

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Candidate Votes Percent
Teresa Hernandez (Rep) 1,202 7.90%
Stefan "Contreras" Lysenko (Dem) 55 0.36%
Francisco Alonso (Dem) 293 1.93%
Christopher M. Agrella (Lib) 161 1.06%
Betty Chu (Rep) 1,938 12.74%
Judy Chu (Dem) 6,388 41.98%
Gil Cedillo (Dem) 2,628 17.27%
Nick Juan Mostert (Dem) 66 0.43%
Benita Duran (Dem) 174 1.14%
Rafael F. Nadal (Dem) 43 0.28%
Emanuel Pleitez (Dem) 1,233 8.10%
David A. Truax (Rep) 1,036 6.81%

http://www.swingstateproject.com/showDi ... aryId=4985

Despite the district's demographics, Chu has taken on something of frontrunner status in recent weeks in the eyes of observers at The Hill and NPR. Chu has a fundraising edge and some of the most valuable endorsements. This includes the endorsement of the state Democratic Party, as well as United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta and some key Latino politicians, such as LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Rep. Loretta Sanchez. (Cedillo has the endorsements of most of the other Latino Reps. in the area, such as Xavier Becerra, Joe Baca, and Linda Sanchez, as well as the LA County Young Democrats.)

In addition, Cedillo having gone significantly negative in the last few weeks indicates he may be feeling a loss in momentum... not just negative against Chu, but also likely third-place candidate Emanuel Pleitez, a 26-year-old rising star who was a member of the Obama transition team, suggesting that Pleitez is eating into Cedillo's Latino base.

Besides the district's ethnic composition, Cedillo has one other ace in the hole. The main Republican opposition in the race is also named Chu: Monterey Park City Councilor Betty Tom Chu (who apparently has some sort of grudge with the other Chu, and may be in the race at least partly as an attempted spoiler). Cedillo's main hope, though, is to maximize Latino turnout, so this race (in the prohibitively expensive LA media market) is being fought entirely on the ground.


This election is run as an all-party primary, with all candidates listed together (with party ID) in one big pool. If no candidate breaks 50% total (which, with 12 candidates in the race, seems unlikely), the top finisher from each party advances to a July 14 runoff. In a D+15 district, though, any Republican opposition in the runoff would be a formality for Chu or Cedillo