A congressional race in South Los Angeles pitting two Democrats on the November ballot is resurfacing allegations of misconduct by the candidates in their past public offices.

Former Compton City Councilwoman Michelle Chambers and former Assemblywoman Laura Richardson are running to replace state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) in the 35th Senate District, which encompasses Carson City, Compton and stretches to the port.

For months, the two sides criticized each other. Number of donations, Condemn Another lie and Old scandals resurface.

Chambers now faces accusations that he made racist slurs at the young son of a colleague, who is Latino, during a closed-door meeting three years ago, and that he bullied Compton city employees while on the city council. Chambers denies the allegations.

Richardson said, Rebuked in the House of Representatives When the House Ethics Committee convicted her in 2012 Misuse of government resources Richardson said he illegally coerced his staff into campaign activities and obstructed the investigation into the matter, but he accepts responsibility for his mistakes and says he has since improved his management skills.

Local elections plagued by hostility “are not unique to this election,” said Fernando Guerra, a political science professor at Loyola Marymount University who is not affiliated with the campaign, but the resurfacing of negative allegations at the last minute hampers public participation, he said.

“The fact that this is coming out so late, rather than being announced long before the primary and before people have even announced it, that's a problem,” he said.

Chambers' tense term on Compton City Council

Chambers will not serve out his full term on the Compton City Council, stepping down midway through his four-year term to take up a position with the California Department of Justice in 2022.

Critics say Chambers' premature departure calls into question her commitment to public office. Chambers said she accepted the governor's job to serve the community “on another level” by addressing hate crimes and homelessness, working with Attorney General Rob Bonta and fighting street smuggling. Bonta and Bradford have supported Chambers.

Chambers said he has accomplished more in his two years at Compton than his predecessor. Street lightingA range of initiatives were implemented, including improving employment rates and supporting small businesses. The period also saw a number of internal disputes, including allegations of bullying and intimidation, and one troubled episode in which a fellow councillor accused Chambers of calling his son a racist term.

Isaac Galvan, who served with Chambers on the Compton City Council for two years, said in 2021 that Chambers called his son an “ugly wetback” during a closed-door meeting.

He makes this claim, July 13, 2021 Council Meeting.

“That's not true. You're not telling the truth,” Chambers responded, according to video of the public meeting.

Galvan lost his reelection bid in 2022 and is currently He is awaiting trial on charges of corruption, bribery and election fraud.He did not respond to requests for an interview.

After Galvan accused Chambers of using a derogatory term while talking about his son, the city commissioned an investigation and cleared Chambers of any wrongdoing. But now two people who were at the meeting — who initially swore under oath that they didn't hear Chambers say the derogatory term — have told The Times that they actually remember Chambers saying it.

Compton Mayor Emma Sharif and City Councilman Jonathan Bowers, who have both supported Richardson, said in separate interviews that they heard Chambers use the derogatory language during a meeting in 2021. Sharif said he didn't acknowledge it during the investigation because he wanted to respect closed-meeting rules that prohibit making discussions public.

Bowers called the investigation a “scam.”

“I said I heard some things, and then in the investigation they said, 'Oh, we've determined that Michelle never said anything,' and that's just not true,” Bowers said.

Then-City Attorney Damon Brown, who supported Chambers, defended the investigation, saying it was conducted independently and without bias.

“Within weeks of the incident, they testified under oath to those facts, even though they hadn't heard them,” Brown said. “And now three years later, they're supporting a candidate who is opposing Michelle's candidacy, while at the same time saying something different. So I think these facts speak for themselves.”

Chambers called the whole thing a “political ploy” and adamantly denied making any libelous remarks.

“What's really disappointing is that they're using my Latino community for political ploys,” she said. “They all know I never said that.”

Additionally, during Chambers' time on the Compton City Council, two prominent city officials resigned because of her actions.

Cecil Rambo, who currently serves as police chief at Los Angeles International Airport, wrote a letter of resignation in June 2019 announcing he was stepping down as Compton's mayor due to alleged hostility from Chambers.

Then-City Auditor Raphaela T. King, who resigned a year after Rambo, wrote in her letter that when she first began on the job, “everyone seemed to be on the same page at first, but that changed with the new City Council and new administration. I always defended myself and my staff for daring to do the right thing.”

Chambers reconciled with Rambo but said King was uncooperative and had engaged in politically motivated attacks against her, allegations King denies. Rambo did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Richardson's Shaky Congressional Record

Laura Richardson ran for Congress in 2007.

(Reed Saxon/The Associated Press)

Richardson, who has experience at the local, state and congressional levels, prides himself on strengthening funding for transportation and infrastructure, and said that while he's had some bumps in his political career, he hasn't seen any new issues in recent years.

When she ran for state legislature in 1996, Richardson drew criticism from the LGBTQ+ community after her campaign sent a letter claiming that her lesbian opponent was “an extreme gay rights activist.”

Richardson said his position on gay rights has changed since then, noting that as a state representative he voted in 2007 to support same-sex marriage and that he supports Proposition 3 on the November ballot to remove outdated language in the state constitution that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman.

“I think we've come to a greater understanding of how we can help everyone in our community, and I have a really good track record of doing that,” she said.

Richardson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007. He served three terms before an investigation by the House Ethics Committee prevented him from running for a fourth term.

Report Richardson was found guilty She was charged with coercing congressional staff to work on her election campaign, and obstructing the committee's investigation by “tampering with and concealing evidence” and “deliberately failing to produce documents.”

“On almost a daily basis for months, Congressman Richardson used resources paid for by the American people (a term that is very broad and can include anything from a piece of paper to government employee time, which in this case was) to achieve his own objectives rather than those of the American people,” the report said.

According to reports, Richardson admitted to wrongdoing and accepted a reprimand and a $10,000 fine for the violations.

Richardson said Republicans frequently targeted members of the Congressional Black Caucus during her time in Congress. After the investigation, Richardson said she worked for a recruitment firm to improve her management skills and that she recognized her past mistakes.

“I've been told that voters are very forgiving, and if you stand up and accept responsibility and do better at your job, we need people who have been through hard times, people who understand that we've been through hard times,” she said. “And that's exactly what I did. I didn't hesitate.”