Rep. Laura Richardson

( Los Angeles Times / June 5, 2012 )

Rep. Laura Richardon (D-Long Beach) has the dubious honor of being only the fourth member of the House of Representatives to be disciplined for ethical misconduct. In Richardson's case, the reprimand was for using taxpayer resources, mostly in the form of her own staffers, to support her political campaign, then trying to obstruct the investigation of her wrongdoing. That hasn't stopped most African American members of Congress and the Legislature from continuing to back Richardson against fellow Democrat Janice Hahn in the newly redrawn 44th Congressional District, which covers a big swath of L.A. County from Long Beach to Carson. Yet Hahn has the endorsement (and cash) of the Democratic Party, and beat Richardson by 20 percentage points in the primary. Hahn is decidedly the favorite, but few are counting out Richardson, who might benefit from a high turnout of African American voters casting ballots for President Obama in November.