Voters in Compton will choose Tuesday between incumbent Mayor Aja Brown and former Mayor Omar Bradley in a contest that pits the city’s youngest mayor against the man who held the job from 1993-2001.
Brown made history in 2013 when she became the youngest person elected mayor of Compton at the age of 31, beating out Bradley, who narrowly finished ahead of three-term incumbent Mayor Eric Perrodin in that year’s primary.
In this year’s primary in April, Brown got 47 percent of the vote to Bradley’s 27 percent.
Brown, 35, has earned praise from some over the past four years for helping to rebuild the city’s image. She touts a sharp drop in crime and an influx of businesses that once shunned the area.
Bradley, 59, is facing an uphill battle in the race. He was convicted in 2004 of misappropriating the city’s money during his time as mayor, but that conviction was overturned on appeal in 2012, which permitted him to run again. Since he has not much fundraising, his mayoral campaign has largely been grassroots and knocking on doors.
Polls are open until 8 p.m.
–City News Service