With some races in the primary election that concluded on Tuesday still to be decided, ballot counting continued on Thursday, March 7, in some cases bringing into slightly sharper focus what the likely outcomes might be.
In both the Los Angeles City Council and Los Angeles Unified School Board races, candidates must receive more than 50% of the vote to win outright and avoid a runoff. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters in each race will face off in the Nov. 5 general election.
Here are the latest results, based on an update from the L.A. County registrar’s office shortly after 4:15 p.m. Thursday. It’s unclear how many ballots remain to be counted. The registrar’s next update will be Friday afternoon. Results won’t be official until they’ve been certified by the registrar’s office, which is tentatively scheduled for late March.
See the latest election results
Los Angeles City Council
The leading candidates in three of the seven races – incumbents Imelda Padilla in District 6, Marqueece Harris-Dawson in District 8 and John Lee in District 12 – have declared victory, all having received well over 50% of the vote.
The races in the four other City Council districts likely won’t be decided until November.
In District 2, former Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian, with 38.2% of the vote, appeared headed to a runoff against either North Hollywood Neighborhood Council member Jillian Burgos or Sam Kbushyan, who runs a public affairs firm. Burgos and Kbushyan were in a dead heat at 18.03% with Burgos ahead by just one vote — 4,396 votes for Burgos versus 4,395 votes for Kbushyan.
Burgos managed to close the gap between her and Kbushyan since Wednesday, when she trailed by 380 votes.
The winner in November will replace City Council President Paul Krekorian, who could not seek reelection due to term limits.
In District 4, Councilmember Nithya Raman was falling short of the majority of votes needed to clinch a March victory, getting 46.7% of the vote versus Deputy City Attorney Ethan Weaver, who had 41.5%.
In District 10, Heather Hutt, an incumbent appointed by her peers to fill a vacant seat last April, led with 37.7% of the vote, with community advocate and former city commissioner Grace Yoo in second place with 26.1%.
In District 14, Councilmember Kevin de León, with 26% of the vote, appeared to have advanced to the runoff. Battling it out for the No. 2 spot were Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, with 21.2%, and tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado, with 20.6%. Santiago and Jurado were separated by a mere 148 votes, with Jurado further closing the gap since Wednesday. Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo remained in fourth place with 15.9%.
Angelenos also voted on a citywide ballot measure to spend up to $3 billion to reshape L.A.’s roads through “road diets,” in which car lanes are removed to widen sidewalks and add bicycle lanes. With 63.7% voter support, organizers who led the Yes on HLA campaign have declared victory.
Supporters said Measure HLA would make roads safer for pedestrians and bicyclists while critics said it would lead to more vehicle congestion that could reduce emergency response times.
Los Angeles Unified School District
In the District 1 race to replace retiring board member George McKenna, Sherlett Hendy Newbill, a policy advisor to McKenna, extended her lead slightly with 24.1% of the vote. In second, with 21.2%, was Khallid Al-Alim. Educational strategist DeWayne Davis was third with 17.4%. Educator Didi Watts was fourth with 16.4%.
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) endorsed Al-Alim but dropped its backing this week after word surfaced that he had “liked” or reposted antisemitic and sexually explicit social media posts. Al-Alim later apologized for his actions.
In District 3, incumbent Scott Schmerelson had 42.8%. In second was Dan Chang, a nonprofit leader and math teacher, with 29.4%.
In District 5, in the race to replace retiring school board President Jackie Goldberg, special education teacher Karla Griego extended her lead slightly with 33.2%, followed by Graciela Ortiz with 31.6%.
Ortiz is a former Huntington Park City Council member and mayor. In February, California School Employees Association Local 500 rescinded its endorsement of her after a lawsuit alleged she was liable for the sexual assault of a minor by one of her campaign workers. Ortiz’s campaign says the lawsuit was politically motivated.
In District 7, incumbent Tanya Ortiz Franklin declared victory with 55.2%. She ran against teacher Lydia Gutierrez, who had 44.8%.
San Fernando City Council
In the race to fill a vacant city council seat, construction law attorney Victoria Garcia led with 41.3%. Sylvia Ballin, a former council member and former mayor of San Fernando, had 32.4% while planning commissioner Sean Rivas had 26.3%.
The winner in this three-person race will win outright and serve on the five-member San Fernando City Council. The seat on the council opened up in October after the death of then-Councilmember Cindy Montañez.
Glendale
In the race for two at-large seats on the Glendale City Council, incumbent Ardy Kassakhian led with 22.1% while Vrej Agajanian was second with 17.8%. The two were followed by five other candidates including Vartan Gharpetian with 17.4%. Just 186 votes separated the second and third place candidates.
In the Glendale Unified school board race, candidates vied for two open seats. Telly Tse led in Area A with 54.4%, followed by Jordan Henry with 36.4%. In Area E, Aneta Krpekyan was ahead with 53.7%, followed by Neda Farid with 46.3%.
The Glendale Community College board races included Trustee Area 1, where incumbent Desirée P. Rabinov, the GCC board vice president, was challenged by Harry Leon; and Trustee Area 5 where incumbent Sevan Benlian, the GCC board president, faced challenger Armine Pogosyan.
After trailing on Wednesday, incumbent Rabinov overtook her challenger in the Area 1 race. As of Thursday afternoon, Rabinov had 50.4% of the vote to Leon’s 49.6%. Only 52 votes separated the two.
In Area 5, incumbent Benlian extended his lead with 63.7% while challenger Pogosyan had 36.3%.
Also in Glendale, Measure A, which would update how the city awards contracts, appeared headed for passage with 60.3% voter support.
Related Articles
Prop. 1 — Newsom’s $6.4 billion mental health bond — holds very narrow lead
Rep. Katie Porter says the U.S. Senate race was ‘rigged.’ What does she mean?
What could be next for Rep. Katie Porter after Senate loss?
Election 2024: Here are the latest results for San Fernando, Glendale races
Election 2024 Results: OC Assembly incumbents leading their races