The 47th Assembly District represents communities as diverse as South Los Angeles, Culver City, Palms and Koreatown. It is territory with almost equal percentages of European Americans (31 percent) African Americans (29 percent) and Latinos (25 percent).

The district also tends to be more well-to-do than many in urban Los Angeles with fewer single, female-headed households in poverty.

Pressure groups, including Reverend Al Sharpton, have shown no fear of marching the streets in Arizona to protest the state’s new immigration law. The law requires police to ask for the identification of persons, who they suspect are in the country illegally. Set to take effect in late July or early August, activists claim that outrage over the law has “awakened a sleeping giant,” as rallies demanding federal immigration reform continue to sprout in cities across the country.