Yesterday Los Angeles County supervisor Gloria Molina endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. Molina had endorsed previously Bill Richardson.
But for the late timing of the endorsement, Molina's might have been the most important one from a Latino-American in California, particularly in the south. Here's why after the break.
Gloria Molina has been a political prodigy in the Los Angeles area since the early 1980s. She was the first Latina elected to the California State Assembly in 1982; the first elected to the L.A. City Council in 1987; and the first elected to the L.A. Board of Supervisors in 1991. Throughout her career, Molina has been regarded as a political progressive and someone willing to lead political fights on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged.
She has been somewhat forgotten as a star politician because she has not sought higher office since 1991, for very good reason: she holds one of the powerful political positions in the country that you've never heard of. The County of Los Angeles has nearly 9 million people. The County Board of Supervisors has jurisdiction over numerous public services for those people. And, they do not answer to any executive branch, like a city council or state legislature would. For Molina, if she convinces 2 of 4 remaining Board Supervisors, those 3 enact new policy or law. She also holds significant unilateral control over her district, which numbers nearly 2 million people. Thus, she is more powerful than the far-better-known L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who must deal with a city council to enact policy.
Had she desired, she might have by now become mayor of Los Angeles or governor of California. If she played her cards right, Molina might have become a serious candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, who (in my opinion) would have been a much better choice than what Democrats now have. But because of her longstanding progressive politics, it is much more likely she would have beome a mere footnote in a national election, much like Dennis Kucinich. Molina probably senses this, which is why she has happily remained with the Board of Supervisors for almost two decades.
Molina's endorsement should sway many southern Californians, particularly Latino-Americans, although this depends largely on how well the endorsement is publicized. But for the late timing of Molina's endorsement, it would be laughable to argue that it is somehow less important than, for example, Senator Ted Kennedy's among Latino households in the Los Angeles area.