Council contests
Current and former legislators lead in early returns in races bringing the biggest shift since 2001.
Current and former legislators do well in City Council races.
Five current and former state lawmakers were pulling ahead in their races for Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday, raising the possibility that nearly a majority of the council’s 15 seats could be controlled by exSacramento veterans.
With only mail-in ballots counted in races across the city, Assemblyman Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland Hills) was leading in a west San Fernando Valley contest to replace Councilman Dennis Zine. Former Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes held a majority of the vote in the northeast San Fernando Valley, where Councilman Richard Alarcon will step down this summer.
On the Eastside, former Assemblyman Gil Cedillo was ahead of his opponent, council deputy Jose Gardea, in the race to replace Councilman Ed Reyes. And in South Los Angeles, state Sen. Curren Price (D-Los Angeles) was ahead of former council aide Ana Cubas.
Price, who is seeking to replace Councilwoman Jan Perry, said the early results showed that residents wanted “someone who can hit the ground running and bring about some change.”
Fuentes, who represented Sylmar, Pacoima, Mission Hills and other neighborhoods as a state legislator, said the Sacramento candidates will bring expertise to City Hall. “Voters who we spoke with understood that Los Angeles has a real opportunity to leverage the experience of the individuals” who have worked in the state Legislature, he said.
The results of Tuesday’s election will deliver the biggest shift on the council in a dozen years. With incumbents stepping down in six of the eight races, dozens of candidates stepped forward to seek seats on the 15-member council, including several who spent time as legislators in Sacramento.
Two incumbents — Councilmen Paul Koretz, a former state legislator who now represents the Westside, and Joe Buscaino in the harbor district — appeared to be heading to victory outright by capturing more than half of the total vote. In at least two of the remaining six contests, no candidate seemed likely to collect a majority. The top two finishers in those races would meet in a runoff election May 21.
In a district stretching from Westchester to Pacific Palisades, council deputy Mike Bonin was leading in the race to replace his boss, Councilman Bill Rosendahl. Trailing him were city prosecutor Tina Hess, teacher Odysseus Bostick and community advocate Frederick Sutton.Bonin, 45, said Rosendahl’s constituents liked his style and agenda and wanted to stay the course.
“I want to continue the work Bill did in building mass transit and empowering neighborhoods and housing the homeless,” Bonin said.
This year’s campaign was dominated by $1.3 million in unlimited spending by labor unions, billboard companies and other special interests. Three-fourths of that money was spent in the three most competitive contests — one to replace Councilman Eric Garcetti in Hollywood, another to replace Perry and a third to replace Reyes.
In Reyes’ Westlake-toMt. Washington district, Cedillo was running against Gardea and businessman Jesse Rosas. Cedillo was buoyed by more than $330,000 in unlimited outside spending by labor unions, the taxicab industry, a billboard company and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which spent much of its money attacking Gardea.
In Garcetti’s Echo Parkto-Hollywood district, neighborhood council member Sam Kbushyan was pulling ahead of 11 other candidates, according to the early returns. Former city commissioner John Choi was in second place, with former Garcetti aide Mitch O’Farrell in third, mail-in ballots showed.
Other candidates in the race were Deputy Atty. Gen. Josh Post; Matt Szabo, a former aide to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa; Jose Sigala, a former aide to Councilman Richard Alarcon; charitable foundation director Alex De Ocampo; Robert Negrete, a longtime aide to state Sen. Alex Padilla; Assistant Fire Chief Emile Mack; business owners Michael Schaefer and Robert Haraldson, and university professor Octavio Pescador.
Choi had huge support from organized labor, which provided more than $200,000 worth of mailers, billboard advertising, phone banking and other campaign support. At the other end of the spectrum, De Ocampo benefited from more than $70,000 worth of campaign support from the LA Jobs PAC, the political action committee created by the Chamber of Commerce.
Choi said he was encouraged by the early returns. “We’re getting support from across the board,” he added.
Cedillo, Choi and Price all were backed by Working Californians, a political action committee aligned with the employee union of the Department of Water and Power.
All three also received major financial support from the Federation of Labor. And all three favored Measure A, the half-cent sales tax hike aimed at addressing the city’s budget crisis.
The last time the council faced so much turnover was in 2001, the year term limits took effect.
Five council members are leaving due to the restrictions. Rosendahl is giving up his Westside council seat to focus on his fight against cancer.
In the northeast San Fernando Valley, Fuentes was ahead of education advocate Nicole Chase in second, followed by actor Krystee Clark and housing inspector Jesse David Barron, according to mail-in results.
And in the west San Fernando Valley, Blumenfield was leading five other candidates — attorney Joyce Pearson, business owners Cary Iaccino and Elizabeth Badger, investigator Steven Presberg and businessman Scott Silverstein.