Raphael Sonenshein, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at California State University Los Angeles, noted that old-fashioned boots-on-the-ground union campaigning won out in the hotly contested Zimmer-Anderson race.

WSJ: Incumbents win 2 slots in Los Angeles school race

How years of simmering tensions between California's Latinos and African Americans will play out in the presidential race is a hotly contested matter.

NPR: Uneasy Black-Latino Ties a Factor in Calif. Primary

The hotly contested race occurred in a newly drawn Democratic-leaning Congressional district northwest of Chicago that Walsh moved into to avoid battling another Republican.

FORBES: Tea Party Darling Goes Down To Iraq War Veteran In Chicago

In the auto industry, as in politics, a third-party entry into a well-known, hotly contested race can cause significant consternation among the rank and file.

FORBES: Best Luxury Car Buys of 2012

But the trial could complicate his bid for higher office in what's turning into a hotly contested mayoral race.

WSJ: Trial opens for aides of NYC mayoral hopeful