Dan Walters
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 30, 2013 – 12:00 am
A seat in Congress is one of the nation’s most sought-after political prizes, and once elected, a member rarely gives it up voluntarily.
Yet Hilda Solis, after representing a Southern California district for eight years, resigned in 2009 to take one of the few positions higher on the political food chain – President Barack Obama’s secretary of labor.
And then earlier this year, Solis resigned again, apparently to begin campaigning for an office that’s a few notches even above a position in the presidential Cabinet – Los Angeles County supervisor.
There are just five supervisors in a county with 10 million residents, and until Gloria Molina joined the board a couple of decades ago, they were known as the “five little kings” for their immense authority.
Los Angeles supervisors were famous – or infamous – for holding onto their seats for decades, even lifetimes, since it was nearly impossible to unseat them via a direct challenge.
Kenneth Hahn served on the board for 40 years, from 1952 until 1992. Mike Antonovich has been there 31 years.
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