LOS ANGELES (CN) – Three women of color will vie to represent southern Los Angeles County in the U.S. House of Representatives, in a race that now includes the mayor of Compton, a conservative actress-turned-commentator and incumbent Rep. Nanette Barragán, D-San Pedro.
Compton Mayor Aja Brown, 35, announced her run Thursday morning in a statement on her campaign website.
“The people of the 44th District deserve to be represented by someone who lives, serves and exhibits genuine love for our community, families and children,” Brown, Compton’s mayor since 2012, wrote.
Stacey Dash, 51, a conservative Republican commentator and former actress best known for her role in the movie “Clueless,” filed her candidacy paperwork last month, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Her federal committee to raise money for the race, “Dash to DC,” faces an uphill battle in a district where over 80 percent of registered voters sided with Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election.
Meanwhile, Barragán, 41, has already received endorsements from major players in the region including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and the California Democratic Party.
Barragán, the first Latina to represent the majority Hispanic district, has been taking shots at Dash through social media. Earlier this month, she tweeted for her supporters to “help me stop the Trump clueless agenda and beat #StaceyDash.”
District 44 includes Compton, Lynwood, San Pedro and Watts and was represented by a long string of Republicans, including the late entertainer Sonny Bono, until redistricting in 2013.
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