L.A. City Council incumbents hold wide leads over challengers in primary race voting
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- Los Angeles City Council members up for reelection held comfortable leads over their challengers Wednesday as vote tallies continued to be counted from Tuesday’s primary.
- In the Westside’s District 11, incumbent Traci Park held a wide lead over Faizah Malik, a public interest attorney.
The mood was celebratory in Los Angeles City Council chambers Wednesday, as incumbents up for reelection held wide leads over their challengers as vote counting from Tuesday’s primary continued.
Councilmembers Traci Park and Eunisses Hernandez, who both faced well-funded challengers, were greeted with cheers, applause and hugs as they entered the council chambers.
“Big affirmation of the work of the members of this body by the voters of the city of Los Angeles,” council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said before launching into the regular meeting.
The latest returns Wednesday showed Park with a wide lead over Faizah Malik, a public interest attorney who had been endorsed by the Los Angeles chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, in a Westside district that includes Pacific Palisades.
Park reported raising $1.3 million in campaign contributions, according to the latest campaign finance reports filed with the city, compared with about $540,000 for Malik.
Park said Tuesday night that she felt good about the early returns in District 11.
“It confirms that we have been right on the priorities and the results have spoken for themselves,” she said. “I have been writing a comeback story for the Westside for the last three years, and I’m super excited to finish it.”
Malik remained upbeat in a speech to supporters at the Lincoln, a bar in Venice.
“This campaign has demonstrated that we can chart a new course for a sustainable future and we can lead the way here on the Westside,” Malik said.
Los Angeles voters cast ballots for eight of the 15 City Council seats in Tuesday’s election, including races in two districts where the incumbents are leaving because of term limits.
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In races with more than two candidates, the top two vote-getters will compete in a Nov. 3 runoff unless a candidate gets a majority vote in the primary.
Hernandez was leading four challengers in her District 1 race, which includes Highland Park, although it was unclear whether she would hold on to a narrow majority vote.
Maria Lou Calanche, executive director of the nonprofit Expanded Learning Alliance, had the most votes of any challengers in partial returns, followed by Raul Claros, chief executive of UNO Partners; Nelson Grande, president of Grande Enterprises; and Sylvia Robledo, who worked as an aide to several elected L.A. officials.
Hernandez said she was grateful for the support that put her far ahead on the first night of results.
“I just feel reassured that all these fights we’ve been taking on for the last 3½ years have been worth it and people have been watching,” Hernandez said.
Other council incumbents who faced primary challenges — Tim McOsker, Katy Yaroslavsky and Hugo Soto-Martínez — had comfortable leads and were poised to avoid runoffs. Councilmember Monica Rodriguez faced no opposition in her bid for reelection in District 7, in north San Fernando Valley.
Councilmember Imelda Padilla handed out sunflowers to her colleagues who were up for reelection.
In one of the races with termed-out incumbents, Jose Ugarte was leading Estuardo Mazariegos in the field of six candidates for the District 9 seat held by Councilmember Curren Price.
Ugarte is a former deputy chief of staff for Price, and Mazariegos is co-director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Los Angeles and is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America.
Mazariegos said he felt confident he would make it into the Nov. 3 runoff against Ugarte.
“I feel a sense of relief and accomplishment,” he said.
The other candidates in the race were trailing Ugarte and Mazariegos in partial returns. They are Elmer Roldan, executive director of Communities in Schools of Los Angeles; Martha Sánchez, a therapist; Jorge Nuño, an entrepreneur; and Jorge Hernandez Rosas, an educator.
The district includes the Convention Center, USC and communities along the Harbor Freeway.
In the San Fernando Valley’s District 3, Tim Gaspar and Barri Worth Girvan were leading the field of three candidates vying for the seat being vacated by Bob Blumenfield.
Gaspar is the founder of an insurance company, and Worth Girvan is a district director for Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Worth Girvan said she was confident she would face Gaspar in a runoff in November.
The campaign “has been about ensuring the West Valley gets its fair share of resources,” Worth Girvan said.
In a statement, Gaspar said he was feeling “incredibly optimistic” about the coalition of business owners and community leaders he built during his campaign.
“They are showing they want a fresh perspective in City Hall,” he said.
The third candidate, tech entrepreneur Christopher Robert “C.R.” Celona, trailed behind.
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