Keith Kamisugi

Dr. Judy Chu today announced the endorsement of her race for Congress by nearly 70 elected officials representing the cities, school districts and water boards of the 32nd District.

Chu, now vice chair of the California State Board of Equalization, has declared her intention to run for the 32nd Congressional District seat that will be vacated by Hilda Solis should she be confirmed as President Obama’s Secretary of Labor.

“I want to thank these local officials for their overwhelming support,” said Chu. “They understand that there is no other candidate in this race that knows the people of the 32nd Congressional District better than I do. I am part and parcel of this district, having taught students at East Los Angeles College for 13 years, and the people of the district have trusted me to be their leader by electing me as their representative 9 times over the past 23 years.”

Chu has so far been officially endorsed by the entire City Councils of El Monte and West Covina, the two largest cities in the district, as well as all five members of the South El Monte City Council. In addition, she has secured the support of a majority of Council members – many of them Latino – from most of the 15 cities in the 32nd District, including Azusa, Baldwin Park, Duarte, Monterey Park and Rosemead.

“Dr. Chu’s support among the vast majority of the 32nd District’s Latino elected officials reflects her reputation as an effective coalition builder, and shows that she understands the issues that matter most to the district’s ethnically diverse community,” said Assemblymember Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, who has endorsed Judy. “I believe she is the best person to represent the San Gabriel Valley in Washington.”

Judy’s avalanche of support from the cities of the 32nd District adds to the considerable momentum her campaign has gained since she first declared her intention to run for the seat on Dec. 22. In addition to Assemblymember Hernandez, Judy has been endorsed by Assemblymen Kevin De Leon and Mike Eng, who along with Hernandez represent most of the district’s residents at the state level, as well as nearly 30 of the area’s school board and water board members.

For a full list of Judy’s endorsements, visit www.judychu.net/endorsements.htm.

Judy Chu was first elected to the State Board of Equalization in 2006 after serving three terms in the California Assembly representing the 49th District, which includes large portions of the 32nd Congressional District. While in the Assembly, Judy chaired the powerful Appropriations Committee and was a champion for immigrants’ rights, authoring bills establishing heat protection standards for farm workers and requiring purchasing contracts to be written in the language they were negotiated in. She also authored a landmark tax amnesty bill which was estimated to bring in $300 million but actually brought in $4.8 billion for the state budget without raising taxes.