Aja Brown remains mayor of Compton, beating out former Mayor Omar Bradley

COMPTON, Calif. (KABC) -- Incumbent Aja Brown reclaimed her seat as mayor of Compton in an election against former Mayor Omar Bradley Tuesday, winning by 60 percent of the vote.

The campaign had been marred by personal attacks.

The ammunition for Brown was Bradley's conviction for misappropriation of funds after he left office in 2001. Those charges were overturned on an appeal, but Brown said that's simply a technicality.

"Our city has overcome decades of corruption. We now have the resources. We have the funding. We have the plan, and now we need the time to implement full restoration for our city," she said.

Bradley asked voters if they are getting what they voted for with Brown earlier in the day in an effort to sway voters.

"When you have the highest taxes in the county, you have trees that haven't been trimmed in years, you have potholes on every street - you have to focus your priority and your energies on the services that the citizens need," he said.

He then referred to women on The Hub talk show, stirring the pot in the campaign. In the show he mentioned people "hiding behind this chick."

"This chick, that guy, this dude. This is how I grew up, so to be attacked for that - it kind of threw me off," he said.

But in the same interview, he also said he wouldn't want a woman "trying to fight my enemy because she can't do nothing but get in the way."

The context for the remark, he said, is a scenario in which Bradley would protect a woman if an assailant came after her.

Brown was the frontrunner, who stood on her record of bringing business into the city. She won the primary by 20 points, just shy of what she needed to avoid Tuesday's run-off.

"Our unemployment rate has dropped from 18.5 percent to 7 percent so we're focusing on the last 7 percent to make sure Compton residents are involved in the beautiful restoration of our city," Brown said.

Turnout was low, with one polling place having 800 ballots but only seeing 70 people voting by Tuesday afternoon.

As for Bradley's legal status, he faces retrial and his next hearing is Friday.