The U.S. Congress will have a new member as of today, Democrat Judy Chu, representing California District 32.

According to the "Semi-Official Results" provided by the California Secretary of State's office, she beat out Libertarian Christopher Agrella and Republican Betty Chu with 61.67% of the vote in Tuesday's Special Election.  Current U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, had previously held this seat.

The U.S. Congress is still incomplete though: Ellen Tauscher resigned from her seat  (California- District 10) on June 27th to become the Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security.  As detailed by Article I, Section 2, Clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution, all vacancies in Congress are to be filled by a Special Election.  California is somewhat unique in that all qualified candidates, including 3rd party candidates, participate in the Special Primary Election, which will be held on  September 1, 2009 in this case.  If one candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, that person is considered "elected" to the office.  If no candidate receives a majority, the top vote-getter for each party moves on to the Special General Election, scheduled for November 3, 2009.  (California Election Code 10700-10707)

Keep an eye out for these Special Election candidates on our site, who will be added to our Voter's Self Defense System once they've been qualified for the ballot.

-Kristen Vicedomini, Quality Control