Latina legend Gloria Molina suffers landslide loss

*The take here is that the legendary Gloria Molina lost because of her inability to adapt her campaign to the digital age. I wonder if there’s more to it. I’m sure her opponent did many things right. VL

voxxiBy Tony Castro, Voxxi

Latina political legend Gloria Molina, who made her reputation as a giant killer three decades ago,  suffered a stunning landslide defeat in her campaign to unseat a controversial Los Angeles City Council incumbent Tuesday night — and sustained a humiliating blow to her legacy.

Rising star Jose Huizar, who was still in junior high school when Molina was first elected to public office, claimed victory late in the evening and eventually won his third four-year term by a surprisingly easy two-to-one margin.

“I think this was a testament to all the work we’ve done over nine years,” Huizar said at his victory celebration. “The voters spoke to it.”

The unexpectedly overwhelming defeat of arguably once the most powerful Latina in California establishes Huizar as a major force in Los Angeles and Southern California Hispanic politics and, at age 46, potentially a formidable Latino candidate for statewide office.

Final Vote Count:

Jose Huizar 11,081   65.75 percent

Gloria Molina 4,033   23.93 percent
*Three other candidates received the rest of the votes.

For Molina, 66, this was the first election loss ever in a political career that dates back to 1982 when she upset the city’s Latino machine in winning a California Assembly seat.

Latina political legend Gloria Molina, who made her reputation as a giant killer three decades ago, apparently suffered a stunning landslide defeat Tuesday night.

The defeat could cast a cloud over Molina’s legacy, blemishing it as that of a trailblazer who lost touch with a historically Latino council district, as well as no longer having the skills needed for a competitive political campaign in the social media age.

Gloria Molina’s outdate race

“It looks like it’s over for Molina — she ran a race straight out of the 70’s,” longtime Latina activist Sandra Serrano Sewell told VOXXI. “Take a look on how he ran (and) used social media spike on the issues (and) had a great ground operation straight out of the Obama Handbook. (Huizar’s) downtown (office) had captains to insure their voters went out to vote. Feel sad that she ended this way.

“It is refreshing that a Latino realized that you need to utilize these (social media) tools. I am really taken aback by his absentee voter program, and he also had a great reach out to the Chinatown community. I understand she did nothing there. I was told that 20 percent of the absentee vote was Asian. Can this be the beginning of a new partnership?”

In the 1980s Molina became a hero and role model for a generation of Latina political activists, as well as a national feminist champion embraced by the National Organization for Women and appearing on the cover of Gloria Steinem’s Ms magazine.

In her career, Molina broke the glass ceiling in becoming the first Latina elected to the State Assembly, as well as the Los Angeles City Council and County Board of Supervisors.

Latina political legend Gloria Molina, who made her reputation as a giant killer three decades ago, apparently suffered a stunning landslide defeat Tuesday night.

Last year Molina stepped down from the Board of Supervisors because of term limitations, but it was a short-lived retirement.

Huizar was a formidable opponent

Molina decided to challenge Huizar heeding the call of some of his angry constituents urging her to challenge him in what they thought would be little more than a political coronation for a returning queen.

But Huizar proved to be a surprisingly powerful incumbent, raising record amounts in campaign contributions and getting the endorsement of business interests from downtown where his 14th council district begins and runs into the northeastern communities.

Molina ran with the endorsements of the Los Angeles Times, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, Los Angeles Councilman Gil Cedillo and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who owed her his political start.

Huizar was endorsed by 11 of the other fellow council members.

He also appears not to have been hurt by what most observers thought would give Molina her biggest advantage – Huizar’s personal scandals.

Huizar was involved in an extramarital affair with his chief of staff who subsequently filed a sexual harassment lawsuit that has been privately settled.

He was also at fault in an automobile accident in which the city had to pay out $185,000 for the other driver’s medical care.

Huizar is the UC Berkeley and Princeton-educated immigrant prodigal son is the first immigrant elected to the Los Angeles City Council.

“It’s undeniable, the work I’ve done,” says Huizar. “Ms. Molina may have miscalculated the support I have in the district.”

This article was originally published in Voxxi.

Tony Castro is the author of the newly-released “The Prince of South Waco: American Dreams and Great Expectations,” as well as of the critically-acclaimed “Chicano Power: The Emergence of Mexican America” and the best-selling “Mickey Mantle: America’s Prodigal Son.”

[Photos courtesy of Voxxi, Metro – Los Angeles/Flickr]

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