Dr. Chu won a hotly contested Democratic primary, facing Latino opponents in a primarily Latino district. Her convincing primary win showed that her appeal was widespread.
Dr. Chu won the special election by a 62%—33% margin, over her Republican opponent, Betty Chu, a Monterey Park City council member and former attorney who founded the East-West Savings and Trust Savings banks, and holds a doctorate in Jurisprudence.
Dr. Chu’s campaign focused on responding to the financial crisis, pointing out a tax amnesty bill that she authored that raised 4.8 billion dollars for the State of California, and pledging to bring infrastructure funding to the district, for specific projects that were planned and ready to go. These projects would not only create jobs in the district, but would improve life in the district, according to Chu.
She also emphasized helping working class families who were facing foreclosure due to predatory lending practices, and creating “green-collar” jobs, that would help the economy and the environment..
Dr. Chu, a member of the California State Equalization Board, has been representing parts of the 32 district since serving on the school board starting in 1985. She was elected mayor of Monterey Park City in 1988. Dr. Chu then served in the California State Assembly from 2001–2006, when she was elected to the Equalization Board, an elected tax authority.
