Furutani: On to November

Warren Furutani addresses supporters at his campaign headquarters in San Pedro on June 7. (MARIO G. REYES/Rafu Shimpo)

By GWEN MURANAKA, Rafu English Editor-in-Chief

Warren Furutani will face Steve Bradford in a runoff in November for the 35th State Senate District, setting up a battle between two former assemblymembers.

In the June 7 primary, Furutani finished in second place with 31,027 votes (24.5 percent), trailing Bradford — who received 45,473 votes (35.9 percent) with all precincts reporting — by 11.4 points. Democrat Isaac Galvan and Republican Charlotte Svolvos finished third and fourth with 27,883 votes (22.0 percent) and 22,439 votes (17.7 percent), respectively.

The top two vote-getters move on to the Nov. 8 general election. The winner will succeed State Sen. Isadore Hall, a Democrat, who is running for Congress. Hall has endorsed Bradford.

At an election night rally at his campaign headquarters in San Pedro, Furutani said the results were expected and that the margin keeps him within striking distance, particularly because Galvan, who is Latino, is no longer in the race.

Furutani’s strengths have been in the southern part of the district, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington, North and West Long Beach, Harbor City, the Harbor Gateway, Carson and West Carson, Torrance, Gardena, Compton, Lawndale, Lennox, Inglewood and Hawthorne.

“We’ll have enough money to campaign in the entire district. Moving north, we’re going to go all the away to Inglewood and Hawthorne and we’re going to win in the general,” Furutani said.

Pointing to the results in the presidential campaign, Furutani said he was glad his two-year-old granddaughter was with him on the night Hillary Clinton became the Democratic Party’s presumptive nominee.

“My granddaughter came to a political event on the night that glass ceiling that has held women down has been broken, and she now can think about her future in the context that if she’s crazy enough or if she wants to, she can run for president,” Furutani said.