Incumbents Battle in Southeast Los Angeles Congressional Race

A recent round of redistricting combined with California's new top-two runoff system have given Southland voters some entertaining, colorful and contentious races to decide today.

Last year, a Citizens Redistricting Commission managed the once-a-decade task of redrawing the state's political boundaries to account for population and demographic shifts.

Voters in 2008 approved giving the authority to a commission rather than having elected officials re-draw their own district lines to avoid conflicts of interest. The commission's new districts forced some incumbents of the same party to face each other in primary elections for the new districts.

California voters also approved changing elections in 2010 to allow the top-two vote-getters in an open primary to move on to the general election. That means for the first time during a presidential election, voters in some districts will choose between two Democrats or two Republicans.

In a battle of incumbents, Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach, and Rep. Janice Hahn, D-San Pedro, were forced to run in the new 44th district, which includes San Pedro, Compton, Willowbrook, Lynwood and South Gate.

Both are relatively new in Congress. Hahn was elected in a runoff in 2011 to replace retired former Rep. Jane Harman. Richardson was elected in 2007.

Richardson trailed far behind Hahn in a June primary, and her campaign was dealt a severe blow in August when the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reprimand her for violating standards of conduct.

The charges included abusing her staff and obstructing an investigation into her conduct. She agreed to the penalty for the reprimand, including a $10,000 personal fine for misusing taxpayer funds.

From City News Service

Follow South Gate - Lynwood Patch Latino for the latest on this race, as well as the others. 

Keep up with South Gate - Lynwood Patch Latino by subscribing to breaking news alerts, liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Have an event or announcement you'd like to publicize? Submit them for free.