The results are in - and to those of you living in the 36th Congressional District of California - you have a new representative. And the winner is...
City Councilwoman: Janice Hahn
(Keeping a California House Seat for Democrats)
As you may remember in my earlier postings, those of you living in the areas of Westside-SouthBay in Los Angeles, had a chance to #RockTheVote in a special run-off election to pick your congress representative. The coastal district stretches from Venice Beach down to San Pedro and has about 340,000 registered voters - with 45 percent registered as Democrats, 27 percent registered as Republicans, and 22 percent declining to state their party preference, according to the California Secretary of State's office.
This summertime contest between Janice Hahn (Dem) and Craig Huey (Rep), seemed to have a lot of bite - from both sides - and got much more personal than just Medicare. Huey attempted to run mostly on a message of austerity. Hahn constantly framed Huey as a “right-wing extremist” whose views were out of place in the district, comparing him to the likeness of Sarah Palin. Both sides also took to everyone's favorite social broadcast site, Twitter, to express their views on their opponents, and you bet I was following (not to mention @CraigHuey tweeted me on June 27th!). The campaign took a dark twist back in mid-June, when an outside conservative group released an web video that portrayed Janice Hahn as a stripper who helped gang members get out of jail “so they can rape and kill again." The web video never hit the airwaves, but it attracted more than a half a million YouTube hits.
Janice Hahn finished with 54 percent of the vote, with Craig Huey’s numbers at 46 percent. The voting turnout was just more than 23 percent, higher than in the May 17 primary, when less than 13 percent of voters cast ballots to put Hahn and Huey in first and second place, respectively, which amounted in this run-off election.
Though numbers were up, I still ponder why more people didn't exercise their right to vote. I know many friends who live in these beach cities of Los Angeles County, and there was a proper warning to all of them from my side, but there's got to be more that can be done about spreading the word in such elections. These smaller elections can determine the fate of our neighborhoods, districts, counties, states, and our eventually our country. In this case, as neutral as I try to stay when reporting the latest political happs, I am certain that the right official was elected, and am excited to see the first move that Janice Hahn takes towards fulfilling her platforms.
Stay Tuned for more upcoming election information in YOUR area!
Markus Hill #RockTheVote
