AD46 (D-Nuñez; OPEN SEAT)

Ricardo Lara, district director to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, has dropped out of the race.  Both he and Nuñez endorsed JOHN PEREZ, a labor organizer and cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

This follows Arturo Chavez, legislative aide to Sen. Gil Cedillo, dropping out of the race earlier.  It appears that Perez will now received no more than token opposition in the June 3 Democratic primary from political neophyte MICHAEL ALDAPA.  

Perez works with the Orange County office of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW 324) and recently resigned from the board of the Los Angeles Redevelopment Agency.

Aldapa, who has served as a volunteer for various community activities, grew up in Boyle Heights, is a USC graduate and is a former reserve officer in the U.S. Army.  He currently resides in Lincoln Heights and has told the local press that he has no ties to any political figure.