Rep. Torres Testifies He Considered Board Race

U.S. Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-Pico Rivera) testified in Federal Court on Tuesday that he had considered running for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, but rejected the idea because he felt district lines had been drawn to intentionally make it difficult for a Latino to win at the ballot box.

Torres’ testimony came in the voting rights suit brought against the board bythe Justice Department and two civil rights groups, which have argued that supervisors deliberately split the Latino community among three supervisory districts in an effort to dilute its voting power.

“I think there’s ample evidence to show they held meetings and initiated strategies to keep themselves in their current positions,” Torres said of the supervisors.