Perrodin Ousts Bradley in Compton Mayor’s Race

Compton’s Omar Bradley was the mayor few thought could be beat. But on Tuesday night, political neophyte Eric J. Perrodin ousted the two-term incumbent.

Hundreds of absentee ballots counted late into the night sealed the mayor’s fate. Afterward, an irritated Bradley left the City Council chambers with a throng of silent supporters in tow.

Perrodin, a county prosecutor, joined his cheering supporters and shouted “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord!”

Perrodin had promised to change Compton’s image from that of being the cradle of gangsta rap. “I’m an ex-Compton police officer and I’ve lived in Compton my whole life,” he said.

Bradley’s dismantling of the city Police Department had prompted a bitter, wide-open campaign in the April election for the four-year mayoral post.

City Clerk Charles Davis said he was sending more than 200 absentee ballots to the county registrar for signature verification, but they were not enough to change the outcome for any of Compton’s races Tuesday night.

Candidates backed by Bradley for two City Council seats also were defeated.

The city’s spokesman, Frank K. Wheaton, lost to Bradley’s strongest critic on the council, incumbent Yvonne Arceneaux. Compton community college board member Melanie Andrews was defeated by Compton school board member Leslie A. Irving for another council seat.

In the treasurer’s race, the Rev. Steve Randle lost to incumbent Douglas Sanders.

Only one in four voters turned out in the city, where Latinos are the majority but African Americans hold every citywide elected post.

In other area elections, Cresia Washington defeated Johnny Young for a seat on the Inglewood school board. A $50-million bond measure in the Covina Valley School District won, while in Avalon, voters overwhelmingly adopted a measure to allow the collection of more tax revenue for redevelopment.

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Times staff writers Richard Winton and Nedra Rhone contributed to this story.