Southeast Los Angeles Democratic candidates for State Assembly and Congress gathered at Cerritos Park East Oct. 12 to rally its base right before the Nov. 6 election.
Hundreds attended the international dinner that featured Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Lakewood), State Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Democratic State Assembly candidates Ian Calderon and Cristina Garcia speaking in support of their candidacies and President Barack Obama’s re-election. The event also featured dancing and singing from community groups in Cerritos and Artesia.
“It is more than we expected,” said Cerritos City Council Member Joseph Cho, who was one of the organizers of the rally. “I expected about 200 but about 300 people came together [to this event].”
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The Southeast Los Angeles Democrats United event, hosted by local city council members and Democratic Party members from Artesia, Cerritos, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood and Norwalk, brought all its candidates together in one event to help support a Democratic victory.
Sanchez, who currently represents the 39th District but is running for re-election in the new 38th Congressional District, said in her keynote address that Democrats should be proud of what President Obama and Democratic congress members have accomplished in the last four years, including adding manufacturing jobs and implementing health care reform. She said that the Republican Party majority in the House has “been hijacked by right-wing nuts” who are slashing education funding and making senior citizens pay more for their healthcare.
“America has got a good taste at what the Tea Party [movement] is truly doing to this country and now it’s time to tell them what we exactly think about their policies this November,” Sanchez said.
She reminded the audience that they have a part in telling their community that Democratic values “are America’s values” and that the party needs their support more than ever in re-electing President Obama and bringing back a Democratic majority in Congress.
Lowenthal, who currently represents Cerritos and Artesia, is running in a competitive race for the 47th Congressional District against Republican Long Beach City Council Member Gary DeLong. He urged the audience to vote for him so that the Democrats could take back the House of Representatives.
“We have an opportunity now to truly represent the face of America,” he said. “It’s time for us to stand up, rise up and win this election. If we don’t it’s our own fault.”
Cristina Garcia, the Democratic candidate for Cerritos and Artesia’s 58th Assembly District, said if she is elected, she would ensure that everyone has a “say at the table” and would fight to protect the middle class.
“I’m here to ask you to be my partner, my partner in creating a California, in creating an Assembly district 58 where no matter what our age is, we have access to quality education, where everyone has access to a quality job and we allow families to provide and where businesses are also welcome,” candidate Garcia said.
