[updated to include Cedillo’s endorsements by LIUNA and UFW per David Dayen’s comment below.]

Man, I just can’t get enough of this CA-32 race.  You’ve got two Democratic heavyweights duking it out for a federal position that offers job security with no term limits.  Plus a bright, charismatic former Obama transition official who I think is younger than I am and not inclined to wait his turn.

It’s fascinating to me!  And that was before my neighborhood got dragged into this.

See, Judy Chu has been racking up her fair share of endorsements–most notably the unanimous CDP endorsement, as well as the recent announcements of an endorsement by Antonio Villaraigosa and, most recently, an email sent on Judy’s behalf by Emily’s LIST (really, no surprise there).  Cedillo, meanwhile, has gotten a few notables of his own, most recently LIUNA and UFW, as well as a nearly unanimous endorsement by the Los Angeles County Young Democrats (n.b. I am the Political Director of the aforementioned LACYD).  Well, Senator Cedillo’s team has decided to take that endorsement by Mayor Villaraigosa and turn that around on its head, using Measure R, a sales tax increase that was passed by Los Angeles County voters with a 2/3rds majority.

Now, for our NorCal friends who aren’t aware of this issue, Measure R was a somewhat controversial and complicated measure that was put before the voters of California in November.  It became somewhat of a big deal because the flagship project of Measure R, which was allowed to be placed on the county ballot by AB1213, sponsored by Mike Feuer (AD-42), was an extension to the sea of the Purple line subway along Wilshire Blvd., which is an expensive but sorely needed project in the mid-city, Century City, and, yes, the infamous Westside (I live half a block from the next stop in line to be built, and it means I could get downtown in 15 minutes, rather than 15 hours).

Well, that fact spurred outraged cries of racism and bias toward the County elite on the wealthy Westside, because more money was being spent per capita in that region than in the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley or South L.A. (for some reason, population size, rather than availability of existing infrastructure or daily commuter population, were the only valid metrics).  And these communities were quite upset with Villaraigosa for being such an ardent supporter of AB1213 and Measure R, before a series of renegotiations about local reinvestment and a whole bunch of other issues.

With that background in mind, here is Cedillo’s camp responding to Villaraigosa’s endorsement of Chu:

“Voters, not endorsements, are going to decide the winner of California’s 32nd Congressional district.  And voters in this district know and respect Gil Cedillo’s record.

Los Angeles politicians like Antonio Villaraigosa actively tried to deny San Gabriel Valley residents their fair share of money from Proposition R – the transportation sales tax – to reduce traffic along the 10, 60 and 605 Freeways so they could build a subway on the Westside of L.A.

It was Gil Cedillo, Supervisor Gloria Molina and Senator Gloria Romero who stood up to Villaraigosa and the other L.A. politicians and said there would be no Proposition R unless the San Gabriel Valley got its fair share of the proceeds.  The efforts of Senator Cedillo and his allies were successful and thanks to them, there are 1.8 billion dollars allocated to local transportation projects that benefit San Gabriel Valley families.

Gil Cedillo is a proven leader who has taken on those big money special interests for years to help workers get better wages and benefits.  He took care of the people of the San Gabriel Valley when Antonio Villaraigosa and the L.A. powerbrokers wanted to take their tax dollars and literally send it down a hole under Wilshire Boulevard.

By standing beside Antonio Villaraigosa today, Judy Chu has shown that she will cozy up to the entrenched political interests, the C-E-Os and wealthy campaign contributors and take care of their interests in Congress instead of putting the hard working families of the San Gabriel Valley first.”

Fine.  I’m sure that message will play really well in the district.  And it’s a great release.  Hard-hitting.  Just the way I like it.  Except for the way it portrays…well…my neighborhood.

Honestly, I’m not a CEO and I, as well as everyone else who would use a subway extensively in this area, do my best to pay my rent every month.  I seriously think they could have played to the interests of the district while playing down the divisiveness just a tad.  That’s my hole down Wilshire Boulevard, thank you very much.