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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Voters will choose among two Democrats Tuesday to fill a vacant South Bay Assembly seat along with the two candidates who will be on the November ballot in the race for a full two-year term.
Nonprofit director/businesswoman Tina Simone McKinnor topped the field of four Democrats in the April 5 special election in the 62nd Assembly District with 39% of the vote. Because no candidate received a majority, she will face Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles, the runner-up with 34.6%, in a runoff Tuesday.
The special election in the district stretching from Venice on the north, Lawndale on the south, the unincorporated Westmont and West Athens areas on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west was triggered by Autumn R. Burke's resignation Feb. 1 citing family priorities.
She later joined the Sacramento-based integrated government affairs, strategic consulting and crisis communication firm Axiom Advisors as a principal.
Pullen-Miles, Burke's district director, announced his candidacy for the seat Feb. 1 and received Burke's endorsement that day.
"As your next Assembly member, I will do for our district what I have already done as mayor and council member -- create good paying jobs, help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, combat our homelessness crisis and keep our communities safe and thriving," Pullen-Miles said in announcing his candidacy.
Pullen-Miles said "addressing the roots of crime, investing state dollars in our neighborhoods and supporting public safety measures are key to keeping our communities safe." He has pledged to "fight to ensure that we are combating our homelessness crisis by providing wraparound mental health services and declaring that the right to housing is a human right."
Pullen-Miles has also promised to "fight to expand rent assistance programs, support tax cuts for small businesses," "work to introduce key legislation to bring environmental justice to our coast, continue to protect our public lands, and protect our environment" as well as enhance California's career technical education programs.
According to a biography supplied by his campaign, Pullen-Miles moved from Oklahoma to California when he was 19 with $25 in his pocket in search of better opportunities. He did not have a job and did not have a permanent place to live when he arrived, spending many months sleeping on couches while staying with friends.
Pullen-Miles was elected mayor of Lawndale in 2014, the first Black person to hold the position. He was previously elected to three terms on the City Council.
Pullen-Miles also worked on the staffs of then-Assemblyman Carl Washington and then-Sen. Jenny Oropeza.
Pullen-Miles has also been endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Reps. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, and Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, eight Assembly members and Los Angeles County Supervisors Janice Hahn and Kathryn Barger.
Pullen-Miles worked on Lieu's staff when he was a state senator.
McKinnor has pledged to support the extension of COVID-19 sick days and support for businesses "that are struggling to recover"; an "all hands on deck" approach to dealing with homelessness, including addressing rising rents, short-term rentals and the lack of affordable housing.
McKinnor also supports efforts to reduce the number of people who are incarcerated; "efforts to close illegal marijuana shops and to increase social equity and minority ownership of licensed cannabis businesses"; "funding that invests in new infrastructure that ensures equitable and sustainable development, housing near transit, public green spaces, broadband access, and EV charging stations"; single-payer health care and "state funding for career and technical education opportunities in state schools."
McKinnor is the director of civic engagement for LA Voice, which describes itself as "a multi-racial, multi-faith organization with a mission to transform Los Angeles into a county that reflects the human dignity of all communities, with racial and economic equity and abundant life for all."
McKinnor is a former operational director for the California Democratic Party and chief of staff to several Assembly members. She was endorsed by the Los Angeles Times March 16, calling her "most likely to be prepared and to support the critical legislation to address the state and the district's biggest challenges."
McKinnor has also been endorsed by Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association, which later merged with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers, state Treasurer Fiona Ma, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, the California Legislative Black Caucus, the California Legislative Progressive Caucus, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, nine state senators and 12 Assembly members.
The district also includes El Segundo, Hawthorne and Inglewood; the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Westchester, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista and Del Rey; and the unincorporated communities of Del Aire, Lennox and Marina del Rey.
The winner will serve until Dec. 4.
McKinnor and Pullen-Miles are also on the ballot for the full two-year term in the redistricted 61st Assembly District, along with the other two candidates from the April 5 special election, Hawthorne City Councilwoman Angie Reyes English and Venice Neighborhood Council member Nico Ruderman, both Democrats, along with environmental consultant James Arlandus Spencer, a Republican.