California Assembly member Jimmy Gomez overcame an efficient early voting and mail-in ballot effort by opponent Robert Lee Ahn to win a runoff for the U.S. House seat previously held by Xavier Becerra, now the state's attorney general.
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Gomez had been the favorite to win through much of the race between the two Democrats. But Ahn had kept the race competitive by organizing voters of Asian descent, particularly those who shared his Korean origins, and getting them to mail in ballots or vote early. Ahn would have been the first House member of Korean descent to be elected. Heading into Tuesday's runoff, Ahn had a 2,590 vote lead in absentee ballots.
But as in the primary, Gomez pushed ahead on Election Day, helped by areas in the Los Angeles County district that he represents in his Assembly district. His win with about 60 percent of the vote in a low turnout election continues the history of a Latino representing the Latino majority district.
