Nury Martinez leading in first returns in 6th Council District race
Nury Martinez took an early lead over rival Cindy Montañez in the first returns in the special election to fill an open east San Fernando Valley seat on the Los Angeles City Council.
The winner will be the lone woman on the 15-member council.
In it first report of the night based a count of about 5,000 absentee ballots, the city clerk’s office reported that Martinez received 2,638 votes or 53.4%, compared with 2,298, or 46.6%, for Montañez. Additional tallies of the vote as ballots come in are expected to be released later on the city clerk’s website.
Although there are 89,118 eligible voters in the 6th Council District, which includes the communities of Van Nuys, Pacoima and Sun Valley, turnout appeared to be low, based on visits to polling places Tuesday.
The stand-alone election -- to replace Councilman Tony Cardenas, now a congressman -- fell just two months after city voters went to the polls to pick a new mayor, controller, city attorney and six new council members.
Turnout in that May general election was low, as it was in the March primary, when only 16% of registered voters turned out citywide.
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