Los Angeles goes to the polls

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa shakes hands with Bianca Bethune, who didn’t vote earlier because of school but promised she would later today.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa hugs Studio City Hand Car Wash owner Ben Forat. The mayor said his visit to the Studio City Hand Car Wash was his good luck charm, and said he stopped there on election day in 2001 and 2005. He called Forat a great American for offering free washes to voters.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

A baby Jesus figure reclines in the window of a store selling religious objects, across from a very quiet polling place in El Mercado of Los Angeles. As of 10 a.m., workers reported that only 14 voters had cast their ballots there.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A voter has the polling place at Hollenbeck Jr. High School to himself as he casts his ballot.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Voter Santiago Gonzales casts his ballot inside the St. Louis Drug Co. Pharmacy in the Hollenbeck area of Los Angeles.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles city attorney candidate Carmen Trutanich, who mailed in his ballot, leaves a polling site in Harbor City with his wife, Noreen.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Jack Weiss, who is running for city attorney, casts his ballot in the garage of a Brentwood home. With him are his daughter, Mollie, 15, and son, Jacob, 13.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Sisneros, a polling inspector and Vietnam War veteran, secures the American flag while waiting for voters to arrive at Los Angeles Harbor College in Wilmington. “I expect maybe 45 people to show up today,” Sisneros said of the expected low turnout.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Richard Sisneros is ready for voters at the Los Angeles Harbor College polling site in Wilmington.  (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa greets neighbors after casting his ballot at his local polling place.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Alex Brown, 27, votes at Casanova’s Beauty Salon in Echo Park.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)