Diane Watson Breezes in House Race

Former state Sen. Diane Watson, benefiting from a heavy Democratic registration edge, sailed to victory Tuesday night for the congressional seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Julian Dixon.

Watson, 67, will become the oldest freshman member in the current House of Representatives when she is sworn in as the 32nd District’s congresswoman Thursday.

Watson was virtually assured of victory in April when she won a hotly contested Democratic primary. The special election was called after Democrat Dixon died at 66 on Dec. 8 of a heart attack after more than two decades in the House. Watson beat two other leading black Democratic politicians: state Sen. Kevin Murray and Los Angeles City Councilman Nate Holden.

On Tuesday, Watson was pitted against Republican Noel Irwin Hentschel, Green Party candidate Donna J. Warren and Reform Party candidate Ezola Foster. All four candidates campaigned vigorously throughout the ethnically and economically diverse 32nd District, which stretches from Mar Vista to USC and from the Inglewood border to Koreatown.

Watson’s campaign got off to a slow start because she was out of the country completing an 18-month appointment as U.S. ambassador to Micronesia when Dixon died. After she returned, she declared her candidacy and picked up several key endorsements.

In winning the primary, Watson had to overcome criticism that she was too old to run for Congress, where power is attained through a rigid seniority system. That victory was credited largely to the strength of her greater name recognition, built over 20 years in the state Senate. Watson contended that she was the only candidate prepared to “hit the ground running” in Washington.

She was so confident of success that her campaign staff had for several days been circulating a copy of her itinerary--including her swearing-in--during her first week in office.