La Cañada voters saw red only twice in June 5 primary, largely leaning toward Dems
La Cañada Flintridge voters largely leaned toward Democratic candidates in the June 5 primary election except in the top two spots, where they favored Republican John Cox for governor and Cole Harris for lieutenant governor, county voting records indicate.
Information released by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office following last Tuesday’s election breaks down the 3,826 ballots cast — 26.08% of the 14,671 La Cañadans registered to vote participated — in all races.
Although the race for governor drew 27 contestants, local votes favored only five with three-digit returns. Businessman Cox led the pack in La Cañada with 1,371 votes, while current Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom trailed with 954. Fellow Democrats State Treasurer John Chiang and former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa earned 579 and 487 votes, respectively, while state Assemblyman Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) received 195 local endorsements.
Returns were tighter for the office of lieutenant governor, where 11 candidates sought election. Republican Cole Harris received 829 votes from La Cañada to Democrat Eleni Kounalakis’ 753 votes, with fellow Dem Ed Hernandez trailing with 637 votes.
Except in the race for insurance commissioner (where La Cañada voters favored no-party candidate Steve Poizner with 1,641 votes over Democrat Ricardo Lara’s 1,200) local voters roundly selected Democratic candidates to all offices where those running were asked to state party affiliations.
Incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was chosen by 1,676 La Cañadans, with second-place Republican challenger Arun Bhumitra trailing her with 437 votes. In California’s 28th Congressional District, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) won 2,078 local votes to Johnny Nalbandian’s 1,488. Incumbent Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) ran unopposed in District 43.
Voting records indicate the number of La Cañadans registered as Republicans had declined from 6,936 in 2008 to 6,182 in 2016, while the number of Democrats climbed during the same period, from 4,231 to 4,822.
Twitter: @SaraCardine
