Lieu Has Commanding Campaign Contributions Lead

Democratic candidate Ted Lieu has opened up a commanding lead in the race for campaign contributions for the vacant seat in the state Senate's 28th District, with about seven times more cash than his nearest challenger.

Lieu had a campaign treasury of $347,227.36 at the end of January, according to data obtained Tuesday from the California Secretary of State's Office. Republican challenger Bob Valentine, in contrast, had only $6,976.34 on hand at the end of last month.

Lieu had total contributions of $508,277 from Jan. 1 to Jan. 29 and Valentine had contributions of $46,749 during the same period.

None of the other eight candidates participating in the Feb. 15 special election had campaign finance information available from the state elections board. 

The special election is being held to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who was posthumously re-elected. Democrat Oropeza died Oct. 20 from complications of an abdominal blood clot, but was re-elected in November. The state Senate's 28th District includes Marina del Rey, Venice, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach and other areas.

The 28th District election and a special election for the state Senate's 17th District will be the first under the provisions of Proposition 14, the open primary law passed by voters in June that went into effect Jan. 1. Under the new election rules, if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary (or in this case special primary election), then the top two finishers will face each other in an April 19 special general election, even if they are from the same party.

Lieu, 41, appears to be the presumptive front-runner in the special election. He previously served three two-year terms representing the 53rd Assembly District before he was ushered out due to term limits. His Assembly district covered roughly half of the state Senate's 28th District.

Democrats hold a distinct advantage in the 28th, with 48.11 percent of the district's 465,278 registered voters identifying themselves as Democrats. Republicans trail with 24.99 percent of the electorate, while 22.2 percent of voters decline to state a party, according to information from the state Secretary of State's Office.