Democratic Montebello Mayor Vanessa Delgado emerged victorious Friday in a tight race for the 32nd Senate District seat left vacant by the resignation of Artesia Democrat Tony Mendoza amid sexual harassment allegations.
An updated vote tally from Tuesday’s special election showed Delgado expanding her lead to 2,536 votes over Republican business owner Rita Topalian. Only about 170 ballots remain to be counted, according to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office.
With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Delgado had a 1,711-vote advantage over Topalian, but there were still about 5,100 ballots that hadn’t been tallied yet, leaving the outcome in doubt.
With that doubt now removed, Delgado will take over Mendoza’s state Senate seat — but only for a few months. Mendoza’s term expires at the end of the year.
Voters in November will cast ballots again to choose a representative for the next full term. Delgado also campaigned in that race, but while she finished second during the June primary to fill the remainder of Mendoza’s term, she fell to third in virtually the same field of candidates in the election to serve a new term.
Topalian will be on the November ballot, giving her another chance at representing the district. She’ll be challenged by Democrat Bob Archuleta.
Delgado had initially expressed some doubt about whether she would accept the Senate seat if she prevailed in Tuesday’s election, suggesting she did not want to surrender her position as mayor of Montebello to serve a short-term post in Sacramento. But she later said she would gladly take the Senate seat, and she’s still awaiting a legal opinion from the city and the state on whether she will have to resign her elected post in Montebello.
“I look forward to serving Senate District 32 no matter the length of the term,” she told City News Service this week.
“Though my term will be short, I intend to make the most of it by working on legislation that addresses California’s affordable housing crisis and ensuring that our district gets its fair share of resources,” Delgado said. “… I am committed to the democratic ideals that this country was founded on.”
The district includes Artesia, Bellflower, Buena Park, Cerritos, Commerce, Downey, Hacienda Heights, Hawaiian Gardens, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Lakewood, Los Nietos, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Rose Hills, Santa Fe Springs, South Whittier and Whittier.