The pattern of intramural contests and failure in real politics continues. Now in LA, a Democratic state assemblyman and a former Los Angeles planning commissioner have apparently won the top two positions for the run off, leaving the Bernie Sanders wing behind.
Jimmy Gomez, a state assemblyman backed by establishment Democrats, secured a spot in the June runoff with 28 percent of the vote, according to the Associated Press. Rival Democrat Robert Lee Ahn, startled observers with his sizable fundraising and inroads with the district’s Korean American community, was running a solid second, 9 percentage points behind Gomez.
In a district that Sanders narrowly carried last year, Arturo Carmona, a deputy in Sanders’ presidential campaign, and Wendy Carrillo, a progressive activist, were drawing only 5 percent each as of Wednesday morning.
Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo, who supported Sanders in the presidential primary, said at an election night party for Gomez that Sanders inspired “an incredible enthusiasm” among progressive Democrats to run for office. But with their lack of organization and vetting of candidates, he said, “there’s a newness that shows.”