At least six incumbents win reelection to L.A. City Council

Six Los Angeles City Council incumbents were returned to office Tuesday, another was leading in his race and Richard Alarcon held an early edge in a bid to regain the seat he held for six years in the northeast Valley.

Incumbent Jose Huizar defeated former staffer Alvin Parra in the city’s easternmost district. And Tony Cardenas was holding a big lead over four challengers in his eastern San Fernando Valley district.

The council members who faced either no challengers or write-in candidates included Wendy Greuel, Tom LaBonge, Bernard C. Parks, Greig Smith and Herb Wesson.

It has been decades since so many incumbents ran without competition. Voters last fall approved a loosening of term limits that allowed council members to serve a third term instead of just two, meaning it may be into the next decade before Los Angeles voters are faced with multiple competitive races.

City Clerk Frank Martinez said early Tuesday evening that turnout was about 15%.

The only race for an open seat this year was to replace Alex Padilla -- elected to the state Senate last year -- in the northeast Valley. Alarcon was also elected to the state Assembly in November and it is believed that his tenure would be one of the shortest on record if he resigns to join the City Council, where he would receive a $61,000 pay raise.

Alarcon served on the council between 1993 and early 1999. He said the term limits change in is what attracted him to run again.

Alarcon ran against three opponents, the most prominent being Monica Rodriguez, a former Alarcon deputy on the council and aide to former Mayor Richard Riordan. Although an executive with the California Assn. of Realtors, Rodriguez was not able to raise as much money as Alarcon and in recent days ran a largely negative campaign to try to force a runoff.

“I guarantee you we will begin introducing motions almost immediately,” Alarcon said Tuesday night. “You can expect us to tackle issues relating to poverty, gang violence and public safety in general and, of course, economic development.”

Alarcon said he plans to fill the rest of Padilla’s term and run for reelection in 2009. “Six years on the council will make me a very happy person,” he said.

An Alarcon victory would create a vacancy in the 39th state Assembly District. One candidate has already emerged: Felipe Fuentes, who was Padilla’s chief of staff and who bowed out of the 7th District council race in December in deference to Alarcon.

Fuentes endorsed Alarcon and would have his support in a special election for the Assembly seat.

Fuentes, anticipating an Alarcon victory, held a fundraiser in Sacramento last week that was hosted by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Padilla.

Huizar’s victory may bring some stability to the city’s 14th District, which in recent years has seen a rotation of elected officials, including a two-year stint by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa between 2003 and 2005.

Parra had filed to run just 90 minutes before the deadline in November. He has been a candidate for the seat four times. As a former Huizar staffer, he had used his inside knowledge to hit the incumbent relentlessly in the campaign.

But Huizar built a war chest of nearly $315,000 to Parra’s $65,000, which included a $14,000 personal loan.

The campaign was a “distraction away from regular work as a councilman, but at the same time it allowed us to speak to a lot of constituents about what was on their mind and how we can help,” Huizar said Tuesday.

With the election won, Huizar said he plans to spend much of his time tackling street-gang problems in the district.

Early results showed a lead for a City Charter amendment that would allow police officers and firefighters in Los Angeles to buy service credit for their pensions for time spent in the military or other public agency.

Each of the incumbents who won Tuesday will be eligible to run again in 2011, but it remains to be seen how many of Tuesday’s likely victors do so.

Greuel has been exploring a run for city controller in 2009 to replace Laura Chick, who will be termed out.

Parks and Wesson have also considered running for Los Angeles County supervisor if longtime member Yvonne Brathwaite Burke retires next year, as she has suggested.

Smith has said that he plans to retire from the council in 2011 and teach public policy.

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steve.hymon@latimes.com