Downey mayor advances to November runoff election for Assembly

DOWNEY — Downey mayor Blanca Pacheco advanced Tuesday to a November runoff election in her bid for a state Assembly seat.

Pacheco, a Democrat, will face Raul Ortiz Jr., a Republican from La Mirada who collected the most votes in Tuesday’s primary election.

Ortiz was the only Republican in the race for the newly-formed 64th Assembly District, which encompasses Downey, Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, La Habra, La Mirada, Norwalk, Santa Fe Springs and South Whittier.

Pacheco collected 25.65% of all votes, outpointing her Democratic opponents Elizabeth Alcantar, the mayor of Cudahy; Ana Valencia, vice mayor of Norwalk; Robert Cancio, a Norwalk-La Mirada school board member; and Rose Espinoza, a La Habra city council member.

If Pacheco is successful in the November election, she will resign her City Council position, triggering a special election for her replacement.