GOP fares well among LCF voters
La Cañada voters bucked the statewide trend to vote Democrat and instead largely backed GOP candidates in the Nov. 4 General Election, according to results posted by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters office.
La Cañadans also turned out more heavily at the polls than in some California communities. Out of 13,884 registered voters here, 5,496, — 39.59% — cast ballots in the election. Early results showed a 25.2% turnout rate in Los Angeles County.
Although Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, was victorious in his reelection bid, Republican candidate Neel Kashkari collected more La Cañada votes (2,800) than did Brown (2,487). And so the trend went among La Cañada voters for all statewide offices. They backed Republican Ron Nehring for Lieutenant Governor (2,941 votes to the 2,206 they gave the winner, incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom); Pete Peterson, a Republican hopeful for Secretary of State, was given the nod by 3,237 locals while the winner, Alex Padilla, a Democrat, collected just 1,802 votes here.
In the Controller race, La Cañadans picked Republican Ashley Swearengin (3,209 votes) over Betty Yee, the Democrat who was elected (1,807). For state Treasurer, La Cañada gave 2,741 votes to Republican Greg Conlon and 2,349 votes to the winner, Democrat John Chiang. Atty. General Kamala Harris, a Democrat who was reelected, received only 2,400 votes in La Cañada, compared to the 2,803 ballots cast for Republican Ronald Gold. For Insurance Commissioner, locals remained consistent, giving Republican candidate Ted Gaines 2,847 votes, compared to the 2,252 votes they cast for Democrat Dave Jones, the incumbent who won the race.
Mike Gatto (D-Silver Lake), the state Assemblyman who represents La Cañada Flintridge, was reelected to his seat by his district’s voters, but has not been embraced by this community. He lost here in the primary and again in the Nov. 4 election to Republican challenger Todd Royal, a resident of this city. The local vote for Gatto was 2,122; Royal’s total here was 2,993.
The only Democrat gaining wide La Cañada support was incumbent Rep. Adam Schiff, who represents the 28th Congressional District. He gained 3,069 La Cañada votes while his rival, Steve Stokes, got the nod from 2,011 La Cañadans.
La Cañadans supported Marshall Tuck for State Superintendent of Public Instruction over the winner, incumbent Tom Torlakson. For county Assessor, the local vote went to John Morris over winner Jeffrey Prang. In the vote to seat a new Los Angeles County Sheriff, locals went with the man who won the race, Jim McDonnell, over Paul Tanaka.
In state measures, La Cañada mirrored the statewide results, supporting Props 1, 2 and 47 while spurning Props 45, 46 and 48. They also voted down County Measure P.
