Local Elections : Returns in Black Districts Show Mixed Results of Political Backing

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) flexed her political muscle in one Assembly race and proved that she can still pack a powerful punch in some predominantly black districts.

Waters’ aide, Rod Wright, convincingly won the Democratic primary in South-Central Los Angeles’ 48th Assembly District, capturing almost 52% of the vote in a seven-candidate field that included ex-Los Angeles City Councilman Robert Farrell and Museum of Science and Industry Deputy Director Bob Campbell. Because no Republican filed in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, he is assured of victory in November.

Meanwhile, two other races put to rest what one analyst on Wednesday called the myth of another black politician’s influence.

Assemblyman Willard Murray (D-Los Angeles), known for his potent direct-mail campaigns, lost both his own bid for a Democratic congressional nomination and his goal of making his daughter, Deputy Dist. Atty. Melinda Murray, the Democratic nominee for his old Assembly seat in southeast Los Angeles County.

That Waters extended her support to the Murrays was not enough to salvage them, experts said.

The seats the Murrays went after lie a bit south of Waters’ strongest base in South-Central Los Angeles and Inglewood, noted political analyst Kerman Maddox. In Waters’ home base, he said, “when congresswoman Maxine Waters knocks on your door on behalf of a candidate, it makes a difference.”

The Murray losses, suggested another analyst who asked to remain anonymous, may have “wiped out the whole idea of dynasties. People didn’t like the idea that Murray ran his daughter. Maybe this will mean that black voters cannot be taken for granted.”

After decades of political growth, African American politicians dominate inner-city legislative and congressional districts.

Seven Los Angeles County seats held by African Americans in the Assembly, state Senate and Congress were contested Tuesday.

Because Democratic registration in those districts is so heavy, Wright and two other new faces are virtually assured of going to Sacramento from traditionally black-held Assembly districts. The others are the Rev. Carl Washington, best known for his involvement in Watts gang truce efforts, in the 52nd district, and Inglewood Mayor Edward Vincent in the 51st district.

Yet if a pattern emerged in those races after Tuesday’s primary, it was that there is no pattern, political observers said.

“A high-profile endorsement, such as Maxine’s, was crucial in one race, almost meaningless in others,” noted one observer.

Nor did a well-known political name seem to help.

Assemblywoman Juanita McDonald (D-Carson) beat Willard Murray in the race to succeed disgraced former congressman Walter Tucker III in the 37th Congressional District, which covers Compton, Carson, Watts, Lynwood and parts of Long Beach. But she fared no better than Murray in trying to get her offspring elected to her Assembly seat.

McDonald’s son, Keith, lost the Democratic nomination to former Assemblyman Dick Floyd of Wilmington in southwest Los Angeles County’s 55th District. Floyd, who is white, lost to Juanita McDonald four years ago when reapportionment forced him into the same district with former Assemblyman Dick Elder, splitting the white vote. Floyd faced no serious white opposition in this race.

Tuesday also brought defeat to two other candidates with famous names.

Mark Dymally, son of former Lt. Gov. and congressman Mervyn Dymally, finished third after Inglewood Mayor Vincent and Inglewood school board member Thomasina Reed in the 51st District in southwest Los Angeles County.

And Robin Tucker, the wife of former congressman Tucker, who was convicted of federal extortion charges in December, finished far back in the scramble for his 37th Congressional District seat.

In what many analysts see as the most bitter contest in Tuesday’s races, state Sen. Teresa Hughes turned back a challenge from Assemblyman Curtis Tucker Jr., capturing almost 58% of the vote in the 25th Senate District. Both are Democrats from Inglewood, but their race turned nasty after Tucker accepted a $40,000 campaign contribution from Senate Republican Leader Rob Hurtt.

The money outraged Democratic leaders, who promptly pumped $41,000 into the Hughes campaign. The Hughes camp suggested--and Tucker denied--that Tucker might give Republicans the one vote they needed to take control of the Senate.

Political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson suggested that Tucker, who received tobacco industry contributions, “burned his bridges in the community” when he carried a bill to relax restrictions on smoking. “On the other hand, Hughes has generally been on the side of the angels when it comes to education, labor and consumer issues,” Hutchinson said.