Outcome Could Be A Factor in 1990s Reapportionment

Two veteran Southeast Los Angeles County politicians are in a fierce campaign, and between them could spend $3 million before voters on May 12 elect the next senator from the 33rd District.

Wayne Grisham, an assemblyman from Norwalk, is the Republicans, and Cecil N. Green, a Norwalk City Councilman, is the Democrat. The seat was vacated when Democrat Paul Carpenter was elected to the state Board of Equalization.

The race between Grisham and Green has drawn statewide attention and is seen as the first major skirmish in a battle to control the Statehouse when reapportionment begins in the early 1990s.

Two minor-party candidates--Libertarian Lee Connelly of Buena Park and Peace and Freedom nominee Ed Evans of Cypress--will also be on the ballot, but in the March 17 primary each drew less than 1% of the vote, compared to Green’s 48% and Grisham’s 43.6%. The campaigns of Connelly and Evans have been low-spending, low-profile affairs.

Of the district’s 275,336 voters, 75% live in the Los Angeles communities of Downey, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs, South Whittier, Los Nietos, Lakewood, Cerritos, Artesia, Bellflower and Hawaiian Gardens. The rest live in the Orange County communities of Buena Park, La Palma, Cypress and Los Alamitos. Voter registration is 54% Democratic and 38% Republican.