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When former state attorney general Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate on November 4, 2016, she set off a game of electoral musical chairs/dominoes that is still playing out in California politics.
Quick refresher: On December 1, Governor Jerry Brown nominated then-Democratic Congressman Xavier Becerra to fill Harris' role as state AG—meaning Becerra would have to vacate his own seat representing California's 34th District in Congress. A special election to fill Becerra's former seat followed, with a primary in April and a runoff in June. Former Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez emerged victorious in the runoff, but his ascendance to Congress meant that he himself would be vacating an Assembly seat in Sacramento, necessitating yet another election.
On Monday evening, Governor Brown announced that a special election to fill Gomez's former seat representing California's 51st Assembly District will be held on December 5, with a primary on October 3. The L.A. district that spans from Echo Park to East Los Angeles is primarily urban and heavily Latino. The race for the seat is already crowded, and candidates include Los Angeles Community College District trustee Mike Fong, community advocate Wendy Carrillo, and Franky Carrillo, who spent two decades in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
The 51st District has almost a half a million constituents.
