LA Lawmakers on the Move: Election Results Edition
Editor’s Note: All figures in this column are the latest LACP had at post time and are subject to change. Readers who want the latest tallies for LA County races are encouraged to visit results.lavote.gov, and for statewide races, electionresults.sos.ca.gov. By law, LA County must certify final results by Dec. 3.
Bass, Raman race too close to call
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Nithya Raman (D-Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Hollywood Hills, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Studio City) were locked in a mayoral race too close to call early Wednesday, after Raman pulled ahead of the incumbent shortly after midnight.
Raman led 51.12% to 48.88%, or 377,458 votes to 360,864, a margin of 16,594 votes, according to the latest results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Bass led for most of Tuesday night. No outlet has called the race, and the county will keep counting late-arriving mail ballots in the coming days. Bass is the first Los Angeles mayor forced into a runoff since 2005. If Raman wins, her council seat would become vacant.
“Hopelessness can be fatal for a city. But this campaign refused to accept that. You refused to accept that. You saw hopelessness and you chose hope, because you know that Los Angeles is a city with hope in its soil,” said Raman, speaking to supporters at the Greek Theatre. “There are still a lot of ballots to count … but I’m hopeful. I’m very hopeful.”
“Let me just say it takes a while to count the vote in our city, but pretty soon we shall know and I am confident with all the work that is done here that we will achieve victory,” said Bass, at the LA County Democratic Party’s election night party in Hollywood, where supporters chanted “four more years.”
Luna cruises to reelection over Villanueva
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna won a second term, beating former Sheriff Alex Villanueva by a wide margin in a rematch of their 2022 race, according to the Associated Press, which called the race Tuesday night.
Luna was on pace for more than 70% of the vote in Tuesday night’s returns. Supporters at his watch party in Carson cheered when local TV reported the call, though Luna held off on declaring victory while votes were still being counted.
“It’s a good feeling to know that the voters in L.A. County trust me to move the sheriff’s department forward and make our communities safe. So I think this is a very strong message,” Luna told the Los Angeles Times.
Both related countywide measures were leading in early returns.
Measure A would create binding arbitration for sheriff’s deputies, firefighters and other public safety workers barred by law from striking. Measure E would give structure to the county’s new independent ethics commission and fix administrative errors that invalidated the jail alternatives funding voters approved in 2020.
Gomez trails DSA challenger Gonzales-Torres in early returns
U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Downtown LA, Koreatown, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, Eagle Rock, East LA), facing a House ethics investigation, trailed first-time candidate Angela Gonzales-Torres, a democratic socialist, in his bid for a sixth term representing the 34th Congressional District.
Gonzales-Torres led 58.66% to 41.34%, or 66,187 votes to 46,641, a margin of 19,546 votes, according to the latest results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. The race hasn’t been called. Gomez would need to win about 73.5% of the remaining vote to overtake her, NBC News estimated. The results flip June’s primary, when Gomez finished first with 46% to Gonzales-Torres’ 30.7%. He is the only incumbent in LA County’s House delegation trailing in early returns.
The race turned on scandal. In August, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Gomez, including a claim of sexual harassment and assault. Gomez said he did not violate House Ethics rules and that the interactions were consensual. Gonzales-Torres has called on Gomez to resign and has made the allegations central to her campaign. ballotpedia
Gonzales-Torres, a Highland Park native who describes herself as the daughter of a deportee raised by a single mother, has served as president of her neighborhood council and on Metro’s Public Safety Advisory Committee, the LA Local reported. She was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America’s LA chapter and Justice Democrats, while Gomez was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, among others. The two also split over Israel: Gonzales-Torres has said she ran partly out of frustration with Gomez’s refusal to back legislation restricting U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. Gomez first won the seat in a 2017 special election to succeed Xavier Becerra. The district stretches from Koreatown to East Los Angeles and north to Eagle Rock.
Goldsmith takes big early lead in Westside Senate race
Former journalist Brian Goldsmith built a commanding early lead over West Hollywood City Councilmember John Erickson (D-West Hollywood) in the race for the open 24th Senate District seat.
Goldsmith led 57.98% to 42.02%, or 142,968 votes to 103,611, a margin of 39,357 votes, according to the latest results from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. The race hasn’t been called, and officials are still counting late-arriving mail ballots. The early numbers reverse June’s primary, when Erickson finished first with 20.5% to Goldsmith’s 18.3%. The seat is open because State Sen. Ben Allen is termed out.
Over the summer, Goldsmith picked up endorsements from three former primary rivals, Ellen Evans, Mike Newhouse and Eric Alegria, along with Nancy Pelosi, Allen, the Los Angeles Police Protective League and West Hollywood Councilmember Lauren Meister, who backed him over her own council colleague.
Erickson was backed by UNITE HERE Local 11, the California Federation of Teachers and LA County firefighters. Neither candidate won the state Democratic Party’s endorsement. LACP profiled Goldsmith last week.
Council races: West Valley deadlocked, Ugarte leads in South LA
The race for the West San Fernando Valley’s open City Council seat was virtually tied early Wednesday between Barri Worth Girvan and Tim Gaspar, while Jose Ugarte led Estuardo Mazariegos for South LA’s District 9 seat, according to early returns.
Both seats are open because of term limits, with Bob Blumenfield leaving District 3 and Curren Price leaving District 9.
In District 3, which includes Woodland Hills, Reseda and Canoga Park, Worth Girvan served three years as district director for Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. Gaspar founded an insurance agency in 2008, sold it in 2021 and says he’ll bring a pro-business view to City Hall.
“I’m extremely full of gratitude. For me, it’s always been about the people of the West Valley and making sure we have a voice,” said Worth Girvan at her watch party in Woodland Hills.
“We saw and heard it every day on the campaign trail. The West Valley showed up to have their voices heard on safety, homelessness, and the cost of living. We look forward to the final votes to be counted,” said Gaspar in a statement.
In District 9, the city’s poorest, which is nearly 80% Latino and has been represented by Black council members for decades, both candidates are Latino immigrants.
Ugarte is a former deputy chief of staff to Price, and Mazariegos co-directs the LA chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and is endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Ugarte raised about $1.1 million and drew more than $2.3 million in outside support from groups including Airbnb, Uber, the apartment association and IBEW Local 18. Mazariegos raised about $787,000, with more than $250,000 in outside spending from groups including United Teachers Los Angeles.
“This means everything to me. I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running. There’s a lot of work to be done in the district,” said Ugarte at his campaign headquarters in South LA.
“We still have a lot of votes to count, but already you can see the impact of our campaign, increased youth turnout, and so much optimism at the polls,” said Mazariegos in a statement.
Gray edges Butts as Inglewood mayor’s race eyes runoff
Inglewood City Councilmember Gloria Gray (nonpartisan) took a narrow early lead over Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. (nonpartisan), who has led the city since 2011, though the race appears headed for a runoff, with neither candidate near a majority.
Gray had 32.7% of the vote, or 6,732 votes, to Butts’ 29.2%, or 6,026, in the latest count reported by the Daily Breeze. Fre’Drisha “Sha” Dixon was third with 16.8%, followed by Raina Carrillo, Joe Soto and Arturo Martinez. The early returns came mostly from mail ballots cast before Election Day. If no candidate wins a majority, the top two would likely meet in a March runoff.
Butts has presided over Inglewood’s transformation into a sports and entertainment hub, bringing billions of dollars in development and three major sports teams: the Rams and Chargers at SoFi Stadium and the Clippers at the Intuit Dome. But the boom has also brought residents heavy traffic, soaring costs and uneven development that has left some neighborhoods struggling with blight. Butts raised more than $500,000 over the past two years and had spent nearly $300,000 as of October, while Gray raised about $58,000, according to campaign finance reports.
