Los Angeles City Council races
Other race, between City Hall insiders for vacant Valley seat, is tight
Gil Cedillo takes a wide early lead over Joe Bray Ali in District 1, while District 7 rivals wage a close fight.
Incumbent Gil Cedillo appeared headed for re-election Tuesday night against challenger Joe Bray-Ali in a heated run-off for a Los Angeles City Council seat representing a swath of northeast L.A.
With more than half of precincts reporting, Cedillo led by a wide margin in a district that includes Westlake, Highland Park and Chinatown.
In March, Cedillo was forced into a run-off by Bray-Ali, a Lincoln Heights resident and bicycle advocate who had been a vocal critic of the councilman’s positions on street safety, development and gentrification.
Spirits were high at Cedillo’s election night party at a rooftop bar in Chinatown. Cheers greeted Cedillo’s arrival, and he stopped to dance with one supporter, as a group of women shouted, “Si, se puede!”
“Those voters in the 1st District are smart,” Cedillo said late Tuesday, prompting cheers. “They chose experience. They chose an incredible record . ... They chose someone who wants to bring people together.”
With 15% of precincts reporting, the race between two City Hall insiders to fill a vacant council position in the San Fernando Valley remained too close to call.
In District 7, the seat representing neighborhoods including Sylmar, Pacoima and Sunland-Tujunga has been empty since September, when Felipe Fuentes resigned to take a job as a lobbyist.
Early returns showed Karo Torossian, an aide to Councilman
Paul Krekorian, narrowly leading former city commissioner Monica Rodriguez.
At an election night party in Tujunga, held in a campaign office that was formerly a Denny’s, Torossian, 33, opened the early results on his phone and showed them to a friend, saying, “It’s going to be a long night.”
Shortly after 10 p.m., Rodriguez, 43, addressed a crowd of supporters at a Mexican restaurant in Sylmar, saying she was “very anxious about getting the next set of numbers, but… incredibly optimistic.”
Tuesday was at least the fourth election in a year for many local voters, and turnout was expected to be low, though figures were not immediately available.
The District 1 race caps a bitter, months-long contest between Bray-Ali and Cedillo, who was formerly a state senator and assemblyman. Cedillo, 63, faced criticism from constituents that his office has not been responsive to residents’ concerns.
Cedillo, who heads the City Council’s housing committee, also has been criticized for not doing enough to stop displacement in his district, which has seen a wave of gentrification that has contributed to rapidly rising rents.
Cedillo said Tuesday night that he had listened to voters during the campaign and “learned a lot.”
Bray-Ali, 38, formerly ran a Highland Park bike shop and has advocated for bike lanes on Figueroa Street.
He came under fire last month for comments he made on a provocative website that encourages fat-shaming and racism. He later posted a Facebook video that contained a litany of admissions. He said in the video that he “slept with several other women” who were not his wife, and owed nearly $50,000 in state business taxes and fees.
The comments cost Bray-Ali the endorsements of The Times, City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell and Bike the Vote, a transportation advocacy group.
Bray-Ali was greeted Tuesday night by dozens of cheering volunteers and supporters at the Huron Substation, an event space in Cypress Park. He said he felt “elated,” despite early results that showed him behind.
Addressing the crowd, Bray-Ali said his campaign had been heavily outspent by “a City Hall political machine.”
If he won, Bray-Ali said, he had work to do. He added: “And if I lose, on day one, I’m ready to hold this SOB accountable for every misstep, every false move, every idiotic proposal.”
In an interview, Bray-Ali said he hadn’t been prepared for “personal smear attacks” and had been hindered by some campaign staffers who didn’t react effectively.
“People have still asked, ‘Why didn’t you scrub your web history?’” he said. But he said that wasn’t his regret, saying he had “lived a life where I’ve sort of intellectually let a lot of things f ly. ... It’s part of the package of who I am.”
As guests lined up for Nicaraguan food at Cedillo’s party, City Council President Herb Wesson reflected on the race, which took a dramatic turn after Bray-Ali’s comments were discovered.
“I’m glad it’s over,” said Wesson, who endorsed Cedillo. “It’s not the type of race you would like to see, but Gilbert ran hard and proved he could do the job.”
Other council members at Cedillo’s party included Joe Buscaino, David Ryu and Curren Price. Several top staffers from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office were also in the crowd.
In the District 7 race, Rodriguez and Torossian advanced to the runoff after beating 18 other candidates in the March primary. Most of those candidates endorsed Torossian, but Rodriguez won the endorsements of Wesson and Garcetti, as well as fundraising support from the mayor’s longtime political advisor Rick Jacobs.
If elected, Rodriguez — a resident of Mission Hills and a former Board of Public Works commissioner — would be the second woman on the City Council. She would join Nury Martinez, who represents a district that includes Panorama City, Arleta and Van Nuys.
The winner will face voter discontent on issues as varied as homelessness, illegal dumping and the proposed route of the California bullet train through Sunland.
Torossian, a Tujunga resident, opposes the rail project. Rodriguez supports high-speed rail, but says the route should connect Palmdale to downtown, rather than going through the district.
Tuesday’s was also the last local election in Los Angeles scheduled for an oddnumbered year.
A change in the election schedule, approved by voters in 2015, will shift municipal races to even years to coincide with the gubernatorial and presidential schedules. The move is expected to improve voter turnout.
To adjust to the new schedule, the winners of Tuesday’s races and the incumbents who won reelection in March, including Garcetti, are set to serve 5½year terms that end in 2022.