Race to replace Becerra gets crowded

An upcoming special election to replace Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) already has five contenders — and there’s no telling how high the number might go.

The seat in a downtown Los Angeles district being vacated by Becerra is certain to go to a Democrat, making it a huge opportunity for up-and-coming members of the party.

“It’s a safe Latino seat,” said Chuck Rocha, president of Solidarity Strategies, a consulting firm that hopes to run one of the campaigns.

{mosads}”This seat should represent what the future of politics looks like,” he added.

The early front-runner in the race is Assemblyman Jimmy Gómez, who’s already landed several big endorsements, including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and State Senate leader Kevin de Leon.

“Jimmy meets a lot of markers,” said Rocha. “Things are lining up well for him, but it’s early.”

Two Hispanic lawmakers from out of state, Rep. Filemón Vela (D-Texas) and Rep. Rubén Gallego (D-Ariz.), have also endorsed Gómez.

Gallego attended Harvard University at the same time as Gómez — Gallego as an undergrad and Gómez as a graduate student at the Kennedy School of Government. The Arizona Democrat said he endorsed Gómez as soon as he entered the race because they “come from the same progressive vein.”

“I want to have someone like that working with me,” Gallego said. “Jimmy has done it the hard way, he has been in the legislature. It’s one thing to say you’re a progressive, but another thing to push progressive policies and legislation, and he has done that.”

The field to replace Becerra is not lacking in progressive credentials.

Wendy Carrillo is a local labor activist and Salvadoran immigrant who, at 36, is representative of the heavily Latino, young and changing district.

Carrillo, who could become the country’s second former undocumented-immigrant lawmaker after Representative-elect Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), announced her run on Medium, a blogging site.

“I am running to represent the 34th because the people of this district who reflect the communities who woke up on November 9th feeling assaulted by our nation’s politics deserve a fighter who will go to Washington,” Carrillo said.

Rocha called Carrillo a “super activist” who could mount a strong campaign with grassroots organization “if the community really rallies around her.”

Sara Hernández, a former assembly staffer who runs the nonprofit Coro Southern California, a leadership program for diverse youth, has also thrown her hat in the ring. The former teacher and attorney has already raised $150,000 for the campaign and attracted the attention of Emily’s List, a powerful progressive PAC.

Two outspoken supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential bid, Arturo Carmona and Kenneth Mejia, have also announced bids for the seat.

Carmona, Sanders’s deputy political director during the Democratic primary, could be a serious contender “if Bernie decides to put his hand on the scale,” said Rocha.

Mejia, who is running on the Green Party ticket, ran against Becerra in 2016 as a Democrat, but failed to advance past the top-two primary.

The scramble for the seat began earlier this month, when Becerra announced that he is leaving Congress to become the attorney general of California. Secretary of state Alex Padilla will set a date for the special election to replace him once he is confirmed, which is expected to happen early next year.

Becerra would be the first Latino attorney general of California, and would replace Kamala Harris, who was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Whoever fills Becerra’s seat could be in Congress for a long time. Becerra got to Washington in 1993, and moved up the ranks to become chairman of the Democratic Caucus.

The contenders will all compete in a primary election and the top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, will move on to the general election.

The ages of the candidates range from the 20s to the early 40s. The urban district they are competing for is attracting many young progressives and has a median family income of about $38,000.

The district is two-thirds Latino and 15 percent Asian, with Republican registration in single digits, according to the L.A. Times.

“It’s exciting to get an opportunity to have new Latino leadership come into Congress no matter who it is, because the next generation of leaders like [Rep.] Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) and [Rep.] Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) will be setting policy for a long time,” Rocha said.