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LOWENTHAL WINS! Svorinich Loses By Double-Digit Margin
by Arthur R. Vinsel, Community News Reporter
What does it foretell of evolving politics in the pivotal 54th Assembly District of Los Angeles County now that voters have soundly rejected LA City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, Jr.'s bid for State Assembly? With all precincts counted, incumbent state lawmaker Alan Lowenthal easily defeated Svorinich garnering nearly 60% of the vote.
Did the hometown native who held no office outside the fraternal Dalmatian-American Club before his surprise 1992 win over Joan Milke Flores simply perform poorly and alienate the majority, or are the demographics of the region changing significantly?
The 54th Assembly District is comprised of nearly 205,000 voters, broken down into ethnic shares of 11 percent Latino; 6 percent African-American and 5 percent Asian-American. Among the total, 20 percent claimed to be undecided in a poll conducted.
As to whether the loss by Svorinich--such a severe loss in particular--might signal some watershed of change in Harbor Area politics, the five candidates vying to succeed him on the Los Angeles City Council differ in their responses.
The consensus leaned toward the possibility that the vote reflected personality differences to a greater extent than political principles, in light of the Svorinich performance over the eight years in which he has warmed the 15th-district seat at that big council table downtown.
"I think it makes a testament as to how people view his performance as a city councilman," says candidate Hector J. Cepeda, an aide to several LA area political figures including Svorinich early in his two-term tenure.
Cepeda cited the rough-and-tumble...