Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-El Monte) cruised to an easy 27th Congressional district primary victory Tuesday night and will face runner-up , a Monrovia businessman, when the two square off in the November general election.
Chu currently represents the 32nd Congressional district that was reshaped by last year's redistricting process. Now running in the 27th, Chu said Tuesday that she looked forward to campaigning further in a new district that she characterized as very politically active.
Chu received nearly 59 percent of the vote with 90 percent of the precincts reporting as of 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. Orswell bested fellow Republican Bob Duran, garnering 23 percent of the vote to Duran's 18 percent.
"I'm honored to get the votes of so many people," Chu said in an interview with Patch. "I'm looking forward to representing this district because it has so many active people in the community."
Chu attributed her success in the primary to outreach she did and will continue to do in the area.
"I presented a positive vision for what I thought we could do in the district," she said. "I talked about what things I had done so far in congress and, most of all, I wanted to communicate to them that I was going to be a very active congress member in the district."
Chu identified transportation as a key issue facing the 27th district, which includes Monrovia, Altadena, Arcadia, South Pasadena, San Marino, and Glendora. She said she would work to make sure the Gold Line Foothill Extension is completed to Claremont and eventually Ontario.
Environmental issues facing the 27th would also top Chu's priority list, she said. She wants to clean up contamination in the area's underground aquifers and work toward getting the San Gabriel Mountains recognized as a national recreation area.
Orswell said in an interview late Tuesday that he was pleased with early results even though Chu was ahead by a wide margin. After taking down Duran, Orswell said he will now be able to consolidate his party's support.
But he also acknowledged that he will need to court independent voters and some Democrats if he hopes to defeat Chu in November.
"Up to this point the campaign has been focused on my Republican opponent, making sure I get to the general election," Orswell said. "I need to get all the Republicans voting for me and I also need to get the independents and Democrats."
