Rep. Grace Napolitano's retirement sets up battle for coveted San Gabriel Valley seat

The race to replace retiring Democratic Rep. Grace Napolitano, who has represented swaths east and southeast of Los Angeles since Bill Clinton was president, pits a wealthy outsider against a roster of lesser-known, hometown candidates with deep ties to the San Gabriel Valley congressional district.

Former Navy officer, lottery jackpot winner and Orange County Rep. Gil Cisneros hopes to return to Washington where the Democrat briefly served before being ousted in 2020. Among those scrambling to prevent the former congressman from switching locales are two Democratic state senators from the region: Bob Archuleta, a past Pico Rivera mayor, and former educator Susan Rubio.

The winner of the coveted congressional vacancy will replace a 13-term congresswoman who leaves behind a legacy as a strong advocate for environmental protection and mental health care. Napolitano is one of a handful of U.S. representatives who announced their retirements this year.

Read more: Nancy Pelosi endorses former Rep. Gil Cisneros in L.A.-area House race

Napolitano's congressional district, which has a high percentage of Latino and Asian American voters, encompasses San Gabriel Valley and includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, La Puente, La Verne, San Dimas, South El Monte, and West Covina, and portions of Glendora, Industry and Monrovia.

Cisneros is a millionaire, thanks to a $266-million Mega Millions lottery jackpot he won in 2010 that propelled him into philanthropy and politics. With those funds, he self-funded a large part of his successful 2018 congressional campaign. In his 2018 bid, he spent $9 million, the Los Angeles Times previously reported. During that time, a conservative super PAC used recanted sexual harassment allegation in an attack against Cisneros. The woman called her claims a "huge misunderstanding" and denounced the ads.

During Cisneros' two years in Congress, he represented a district that was mostly in Orange County and also included portions of Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. He was a part of a group of freshman colleagues to first introduce an impeachment against Donald Trump.

"I was proud to fight for what was right," Cisneros told The Times.

Archuleta was elected to the state Senate in 2018 and is a longtime friend of Napolitano, who quickly endorsed him in July. Archuleta has spent most of his legislative career focused on veterans' issues and serves as chair of the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.

Read more: California is losing clout in the U.S. Capitol

In 2021, a former Capitol staff member filed a lawsuit against Archuleta accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation. The case is pending. In an interview with The Times, Archuleta said those allegations were made before he successfully ran for reelection in the Senate.

"They didn't accept it, as I don't accept it," he said. "It didn't hinder my reelection and it didn't hinder my overwhelming popularity. All the women who supported me over the years are with me. And that's why Grace Napolitano is with me."

Rubio has served in the California Senate representing Baldwin Park since 2018. Her legislative priorities have been education and a push to criminalize child trafficking.

Read more: Once deported, the Rubios are the first sisters to serve in the California Legislature

“I represented this community for nine years, so I know very personally and intimately the issues facing families,” Rubio told The Times in November, referring to her time as an elected official in Baldwin Park.

Also running is Mary Ann Lutz, a member of the Citrus Community College board of trustees and former Monrovia City Council member and mayor. She served as a policy liaison to Napolitano on water and environmental issues.

"I was sort of an ambassador for her when she came because she didn’t know much of our district," Lutz said about her relationship with Napolitano when congressional redistricting in 2010 shifted her over to the San Gabriel Valley.

She told The Times she was "shocked" to learn the congresswoman endorsed Archuleta.

"I can't even speak to what her reasons were," Lutz said, speculating that Archuleta's commitment to veterans issues may have won Napolitano's vote. "Congresswoman Napolitano is a very strong woman. When she makes a decision, it's done. There's no discussion."

With ideological differences barely apparent between the top Democratic candidates in the solidly left-leaning district, candidates have resorted to political attacks to gain an advantage.

Cisneros' campaign is promoting digital and TV advertisements that criticize Rubio for accepting campaign contributions from the oil industry, among others.

“Gil Cisneros is using his millions of dollars to lie about Senator Susan Rubio and to try to buy a seat in Congress," said Michael Soneff, a spokesperson for Rubio's campaign.

The Cisneros campaign helped a local resident file a Federal Election Commission complaint last month saying Rubio misappropriated state funds on a pamphlet that directed Baldwin Park constituents to her congressional campaign website. Soneff said the campaign website was included by mistake by the company hired to create the mailer.

In November, lawyers for Cisneros sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rubio's campaign staffers, referring to statements made about the recanted 2018 harassment allegations, saying that the allegations were withdrawn, according to a letter obtained by The Times.

Read more: L.A. will switch to independent redistricting if voters approve in 2024 election

Gregory Hafif, a trial attorney with no political experience, has so far raised the most money, FEC filings from late September show. As of Sept. 30, he had raised slightly more than $700,000, 70% from himself.

So far, the five top Democrats — Archuleta, Cisneros, Rubio, Hafif and Lutz — were the only ones to get a head start on fundraising. Collectively, they have raised $2.6 million, a rare number seen so early on in a considerably safe Democratic district. Cisneros has raised about $612,000 and has spent less than half of that. Archuleta has spent the second most, just about $133,000.

In total, there are six Democrats, three Republicans, and two non-party affiliates running for the seat.

Read more: Rep. Grace Napolitano, a veteran Democrat from Norwalk, to retire from Congress

Sara Sadhwani, a Pomona College politics professor who focuses on voter behavior, said she is interested to see how the fights between the top-level Democrats in the race "play out with voters on the ground."

"Generally, for democracy and representation, having more candidates at the primary is, to me, a healthy thing and creates additional choices for voters," she said. "Even if they don't have a chance at winning, they might change the scope of the conversation."

The primary election will be in early March. The two top candidates will advance to the general election next fall.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.