4 council members prime for reelection
Mitch O’Farrell and labor organizer Hugo Soto-Martinez appear headed to a runoff.
Four members of the Los Angeles City Council were leading in their contests for reelection Tuesday, while a fifth was looking at a Nov. 8 runoff, according to partial returns.
Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Monica Rodriguez, who represent opposite ends of the San Fernando Valley, were leading their challengers by wide margins, those returns showed.
Councilman Curren Price, based in South L.A., was far ahead of his lone opponent, college administrator Dulce Vasquez.
Price called the race a referendum on his “progressive, positive, inclusive leadership.”
“People said when times are difficult, that’s the type of leader we want,” he said.
In an Eastside district stretching from Highland Park to Pico-Union, Councilman Gil Cedillo held a narrower lead over activist
Eunisses Hernandez, who ran on plans for stronger tenant protections and shifting funds out of the Los Angeles Police Department and into other programs.
In the district that extends from Echo Park to Hollywood, Councilman Mitch O’Farrell appeared to be heading into a runoff against Hugo Soto-Martinez, an organizer with Unite Here Local 11, which represents hotel workers.
Soto-Martinez said that in a runoff campaign, he will focus on O’Farrell’s support from real estate interests and the need for change in the district.
The campaign “was about the city working for the people,” Soto-Martinez said. “And in round two, it’s going to be the exact same message.”
O’Farrell issued a statement expressing gratitude to his supporters: “Serving on the Los Angeles City Council is about public service, making tough decisions and being accountable to constituents — not to purist politics and ideology.”
The results from Tuesday’s down-ballot contests, once final, will deliver the most sweeping turnover at City Hall in nine years, with three new elected officials in addition to at least three new City Council members.
In L.A.’s harbor area, attorney Tim McOsker appeared headed toward a runoff against community leader Danielle Sandoval. Both are running to replace Councilman Joe Buscaino, who is stepping down.
On the Westside, Katy Young Yaroslavsky was holding a commanding lead over attorney Sam Yebri — one that put her on the verge of avoiding a second round. Yaroslavsky, who has served as an aide to county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, said voters want candidates who “have actually done the work.”
“Every conversation I’ve had with people where I’ve had a chance to talk with them about the issues, I win people over,” she said.
With early results tabulated, Yebri was in second place. He said the results so far were “a victory for those with the courage to stand up to the establishment.”
“We’re confident we’re going to move on to November,” he said.
In Tuesday’s citywide contests, accountant Kenneth Mejia and City Councilman Paul Koretz were leading a field of six candidates in the race to replace City Controller Ron Galperin.
Meanwhile, former prosecutor Marina Torres and Deputy City Atty. Richard Kim were leading a field of seven candidates looking to replace City Atty. Mike Feuer. If those numbers hold, they will compete in the Nov. 8 runoff.
Torres said her early lead showed how frustrated Angelenos have become over the issues of homelessness and public safety.
“People believe we need a safer L.A.,” she said. “The quality of life for people in Los Angeles is getting worse.”
Kim offered a similar message, saying his focus on crime and corruption resonates with voters.
“They want safe streets. They want clean streets,” he said. “I want to bring back quality of life to the people of Los Angeles.”
Close behind Torres and Kim was attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, who had campaigned on the idea that she is uniquely prepared for the job — and has no designs on any other political office.
“My message is very much about getting this job done,” she said.
On the Westside, civil rights lawyer Erin Darling and municipal law attorney Traci Park were leading a group of eight candidates looking to replace Councilman Mike Bonin, who is stepping down at the end of the year.
Darling, who was endorsed by Bonin, ran on a promise of stronger renter protections and strategies to combat homelessness that do not criminalize poverty.
“Homelessness definitely defined the race for most voters,” he said. “It was issue No. 1.”
Park campaigned as the candidate who was focused on public safety, promising that her leadership would provide a departure from Bonin’s tenure.
Voters “are really excited to have a new councilmember who is willing to listen, who is going to advocate for them,” said Park, who is seeking to represent a district stretching from Los Angeles International Airport north to Pacific Palisades.
With the issue of homelessness dominating the vast majority of this year’s contests, some candidates highlighted the number of encampments lining sidewalks, and others took aim at a law that allows council members to designate schools, libraries and other facilities as off-limits for camping. Several challengers promised to repeal that law and said they would fight to keep it from being expanded to cover sidewalks around every public school.