In a district that is 60% Democrat, it is the other 40% of voters who are going to make the difference in Southwest Los Angeles where two Democrats are in a close and bitter race to replace state Senator Steven Bradford in Senate District 35: Laura Richardson and Michelle Chambers.

Richardson is a former US representative. Chambers is a former Compton city councilmember. The two Senate hopefuls bested a primary field that included seven Democrats and one Republican.

With public safety and moderate interests coalescing around Richardson and labor and progressives lining up behind Chambers, the November election is likely to come down to which candidate No Party Preference (NPP) voters support.

In general, the two candidates are fairly evenly matched, and no clear front-runner has emerged.

​​“What is very clear about this campaign is that there is a lot of bad blood between these two,” a political insider recently told L.A. Focus.

The top issues the candidates are focused on include housing and homelessness, jobs, public safety, education, and environmental justice.

SD35 is in Los Angeles County and includes the cities of Carson, Compton, Hawthorne, Inglewood, and Lawndale, along with portions of Gardena and Los Angeles. Residents in SD35 tend to be low-income, working class, and predominantly Latino and black.

Bradford, who is termed out, won the seat in 2016. To understand how close the race between Richardson and Chambers will be, Bradford faced another Democrat in the 2016 election and won with 53% of the vote.

When faced with general election opponents outside his party, he received over 70% of the vote.

In a district like this one, public safety could play an outsized role. If either candidate takes a stronger stance on the issue, it could create a clear contrast for voters in favor and against the reforms pushed broadly in Los Angeles County under the progressive leadership of District Attorney George Gascón. 

Sen. Bradford has endorsed Gascón’s re-election bid, and is also backing Chambers to replace him

Will Chambers and/or Richardson be afraid to alienate progressive Democrats critical to turnout operations? Or will one or both try to appeal to Republican and NPP voters, who may side with a more conservative approach to public safety when selecting one Democrat over the other?

Laura Richardson: Drawing Support from Public Safety Groups

A lifelong Democrat, Richardson is eyeing a comeback of sorts. A former US representative, she lost her seat to Janice Hahn in 2012.

In this race, Richardson has secured endorsements from several public safety agencies, including the Los Angeles Police Protective League. She also has the support of some labor groups, including ILWU Local 13.

And she is endorsed by US Rep. Maxine Waters, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, and Citizens for Accountable Leadership.

Richardson was elected to Congress in a 2007 special election. She was re-elected in 2008 and 2010.

Born in Los Angeles, she earned her bachelor's in political science from UCLA in 1984 after playing collegiate basketball at UC Santa Barbara. She went to work for the Xerox Corporation in 1987 and later earned an MBA from USC.

She resides in San Pedro.

She was elected to the state Assembly in 2006 and was in the middle of her first term when she ran for Congress. Prior to that, she served on the Long Beach City Council from 2000 to 2006. 

Michelle Chambers: Securing Democrat and Progressive Support

Chambers has focused a lot of her campaign on highlighting Richardson’s past. In the primary, Chambers finished with 24% of the vote compared to 28% for Richardson.

However, she has racked up a long list of traditional Democratic endorsements. Following the primary, she was able to secure the endorsement of the California Democratic Party.

“Chambers is the only candidate for State Senate supported by L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Holly Mitchell, nurses, social workers, classroom teachers, civil rights organizations, Planned Parenthood, the California Federation of Labor Unions and the Democratic Party,” her campaign website says. 

Chambers was elected to the Compton City Council in 2019, but resigned in 2022 before she completed her first term to take another job.

Prior to her election to the city council, she worked as a field representative for Asm. Mike Gipson, and most recently worked as a communications and public affairs representative for L.A. County Assessor Jeffrey Prang.

She resides in Compton.

What’s at Stake?

The race for the SD35 isn’t going to change the party in control. But, the race could represent what shade of blue that party wears in the California Legislature.

Under a traditional primary system, where Democrats and Republicans face off in the general election, this heavily Democratic district wouldn’t have much to talk about.

But with two Democrats going head-to-head in this close race, the 40% of voters in the district who do not identify as Democrats, might make their political voices heard in Southwest Los Angeles.