Dead Woman Wins State Senate Seat, Dead Man Loses City Council Bid

Jenny Oropeza

​Bill Barker did not win one of three open Mission Viejo City Council seats Tuesday, although the fact he received the seventh-most votes out of 12 candidates--and that he died hours before the polls opened--is impressive.

But not nearly as impressive as the feat achieved by state Sen. Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach), who won reelection despite having been dead for 13 days.

• Long Beach's State Senator Jenny Oropeza Passes Away at 53

Bill Barker

​Oropeza received 58 percent of the vote versus Republican John Stammreich's 36 percent. If the 28th state Senate district was in Chicago instead of Long Beach, we could have had a dead elected official voted into office by dead voters.

Alas, the governor will have to call a special election to fill the seat of Oropeza, who represented constituents in Carson, Long Beach, El Segundo, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, Lomita and parts of Los Angeles.

As mentioned in this post (scroll to the bottom) . . .

• Election 2010: Coker is Spun, Polled, Teabagged

. . . Stammreich and California GOP Chairman Ron Nehring filed complaints Tuesday with state and Los Angeles County prosecutors over a last-minute campaign mailer they claim illegally influenced voters to cast ballots for Oropeza.

• Election 2010: Mission Viejo City Council Candidate Passes Away Before Election

Mission Viejo would have had the option of holding a special election or having council members appoint a replacement had Barker won.