As the much-awaited June 5 primary elections to the 51st Assembly District get underway Tuesday, two Eagle Rock residents are preparing for a second spell in what happens to be the largest local Democratic Party entity in the nation.
Mark Gonzalez, who readers will recall as Assembly Member Anthony Portantino’s one-time field deputy, is contesting a re-election to the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee for the 51st Assembly District, along with Eagle Rocker Gail M. Burns. The election are being conducted by the L.A. County Registrar of Voters.
On April 29, Gonzalez, now a senior field rep to the California Assembly Speaker John Perez, was among a diverse group of six people who supported each other and were successfully elected to represent the newly drawn 34th Congressional District at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, in September.
As Gonzalez and his fellow delegates did to win that election, the Eagle Rock High School alumnus is once again running on a common platform with six other contestants for the County Central Committee—all of them from Northeast or East L.A.
The contestants include:
• Mark Gonzalez, Eagle Rock native running for re-election to the County Central Committee.
• Gail M. Burns, an Eagle Rock-based member running for re-election to the County Central Committee.
• Mary Garripoli, a resident of Garvanza who is a special education teacher.
• Mary Rose Ortega, a Highland Park-based school teacher who was among the victors of the April 29 election to the 34th Congressional District.
• Carlos J. Leon, an East Los Angeles resident who is a detention services officer.
• Todd A. Sargent, a Mt. Washington-based management consultant.
• Ruby Medrano, a Lincoln Heights-based member running for re-election to the County Central Committee.
