Local congressman Xavier Becerra (Echo Park, Silver Lake, K-Town, Lincoln Heights, Eagle Rock etc) turned down President-Elect Barack Obama's offer to be U.S. Trade Representative last month because he did not want to give up his House seniority. But he may actually be interested in leaving congress to head the Commerce Department after Bill Richardson stepped down yesterday. "Even though he turned down the trade representative slot, Becerra is not only Hispanic, but he has the skill, talent and experience to do the Commerce job," a source told the San Antonio Express-News. "Xavier's name has gone to the top of the list of potential replacements in part because he is a member of the House leadership, he is well liked, he has very good credentials, and, of course, he was an early Obama backer." more ›

Even before President-elect Barack Obama nominated New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, a grand jury investigation was under way regarding Richardson's hiring of Beverly Hills-based CDR Financial Products. CDR won a lucrative contract to advise the New Mexico Financial Advisory in 2004, but not before donating $100,000 to two Richardson organizations. more ›

The stage is set for Barack Obama to accept the Democratic Party nomination for president | Photo by Rocky Mountain News via flickr. more ›

As the Obama ordination slowly takes shape across America this week -- cemented by Hillary Clinton's graceful exit -- the race for next in line will begin to supplant coverage of the Democratic quest to take over the White House. more ›

Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate and Ohio Congressman, will be allowed to participate in tomorrow's Nevada debate in the wake of a lawsuit his legal team filed in Clark County, Nev., his lawyer said today. more ›

By week's end, LA is littered with dozens of free rags. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below. LA Weekly reviewed the gaffe-filled Q & A between Democratic presidential hopefuls and Hollywood gays. While not one candidate came out clearly in support of gay marriage, Bill Richardson slipped so hard as to insinuate that... more ›

While its cool that locals like Alberto Gonzalez, Arturo Moreno, George Lopez, Jorge Ramos, Pablo Alvarado, Mario Molina, Salma Hayek and our mayor make up a third of Time's Top 25 Hispanics in America, we're more interested in some of the quirky information in their poll. For example, Latino is the preferred descriptor in California while the rest of the country seems to prefer Hispanic. more ›