Her Own Vote of Confidence Leads to Victory : Politics: Juanita McDonald’s determination, coupled with anti-incumbent fever and a newly drawn district, helped propel her past two veteran legislators.

Listen to Juanita McDonald describe Juanita McDonald and it’s not hard to see how she knocked off two incumbent state legislators this week to become the odds-on favorite to represent the 55th Assembly District.

“She’s a hard-working, no-nonsense, team-playing person,” McDonald says of herself. And she doesn’t hesitate to add that she is also someone “with an extraordinary sense of compassion.”

If the words seem self-congratulatory, they are. And if they seem a bit cocky, well, so be it.

For if McDonald is anything, she is confident and, as political observers and voters will soon learn, it is both confidence and determination that made it possible for the 53-year-old school district administrator to quickly rise from the Carson City Council to a stunning win in the Democratic race in the 55th.

With no Republican running in the overwhelmingly Democratic district that includes Carson, Compton, Wilmington and North Long Beach, only Libertarian Shannon Anderson of Long Beach stands between McDonald and a seat in the 80-member Assembly.

In Tuesday’s primary election, McDonald defeated two veteran assemblymen, Dick Floyd and Dave Elder, who combined had more than a quarter of a century in the state Legislature. She prevailed despite those who doubted her, including a couple of local unions that were so skeptical of her candidacy that they refused to meet with her, she said.

But McDonald always knew that she could not fail running in a district that was tailor-made for her politically, both in location and in timing.

The newly drawn 55th District includes all of Carson, where McDonald won a seat on the City Council two years ago. Capitalizing on the anti-incumbent fever among voters, McDonald also made the case that it was time for a change in Sacramento, a change that neither Floyd nor Elder, as longtime legislators, could deliver.

Moreover, as an African-American and the only woman in the race, McDonald was able to strike a chord in a district where 52% of voters are women and 80% are minorities--half of them black.

“I always knew I would win,” says McDonald, who won the Democratic nomination with 45% of the vote, 16% more than her closest challenger, Floyd.

A self-described “moderate Democrat,” McDonald may be a newcomer to political office, but politics has long been a passion. And like the man she supports for President, former California Gov. Jerry Brown, McDonald has something of a rebel streak in her polished, stylish demeanor.

She has embraced Brown’s “We the People” approach to politics, as demonstrated by her barnstorming the district last weekend in a motorcade--complete with loudspeakers.

Campaigning hard the last few months among the district’s largely low- to moderate-income voters, McDonald advanced a message of hope and opportunity, of rebuilding communities with new jobs, better schools and less crime. Those issues have shaped the political agenda she promises to take to the Legislature:

* Bringing new manufacturing jobs and job-training programs--particularly for former aerospace workers--to the district.

* Launching an integrated curriculum in local schools to both improve math and science scores, and provide vocational training to prepare students for the job market.

* Expanding gang intervention programs and drug education and counseling efforts to local communities.

On other issues, the self-described “moderate Democrat” favors abortion rights, opposes the death penalty, supports gun control, and advocates workfare programs and welfare reform.

But it is on that last topic that McDonald’s refusal to be pigeonholed is evident.

“I think we have to have reforms in a lot of areas, including welfare,” she said. “But--and it’s a big but--we cannot begin to roll people off welfare until we have created significant job-training programs and have created jobs that give people a sense of worth, jobs where people can earn a living and feel good about themselves.”

A native of Birmingham, Ala., McDonald and her husband, Jim, a roofing contractor, have lived in Carson more than 23 years. The mother of five children, the youngest of whom, Keith, 28, ran her campaign, McDonald began her professional career as a math and English teacher and has spent more than 25 years with the Los Angeles Unified School District, where she now serves as an administrator.

“I am a hard worker,” she said, saying her brief time as a Carson councilwoman is proof of that claim.

“I will stay up all night to look at a (City Council) agenda item” to ensure that she has all the information she needs and that the information is accurate, McDonald said. “I am just that intense.”

While she was not on the Carson City Council long enough to establish a significant track record on programs or policies, McDonald’s self-confidence was sometimes seen as pushy and arrogant. And among some at City Hall, she developed a reputation for being defensive.

“To be in politics, you have to have an ego. And there’s a lot there,” said one longtime city observer. “She would always grandstand . . . (and) she would get defensive if you questioned her.”

Even as she basked in the glory of her victory Wednesday, the unrelenting side of McDonald led her to rehash what she considered the nasty and ultimately unsuccessful campaigns of her opponents, particularly Floyd, who claimed she was beholden to special interests in Carson.

Likewise, she complained that her campaign was poorly covered by the media.

But when asked if her complaints showed she was too thin-skinned for politics, McDonald strongly disagreed.

“I am not angry. I am just concerned,” she said.

Notwithstanding her critics, McDonald wins praise from others who predict she will represent the district well.

“She’s a good person,” said Joe Mendez, a Wilmington activist and unsuccessful candidate Tuesday for the Democratic nomination in the 37th Congressional District. “We need someone new. We need someone to address issues. And she is already working on some.”

Engaging and energetic, McDonald promises she will deliver for voters who want both action and access from their elected officials.

“I want to work for the people of this district,” she said. And if elected in the fall, she pledges that 55th District voters “will have a leader they will know, someone they will see outside of a campaign year, and someone who will address their needs.”

And while she knows being an elected official can be grueling, McDonald said it is more than worth the effort.

“I know what I am getting into,” she said. “And I love every minute of it.”